(and the origins of Halloween)
The heart of a society is often best expressed through its rituals and traditions. Hindu India joyfully joins together in the spring to fling colored powders at each other in the Festival of Holi, celebrating new beginnings. At the cusp of the year, whether it is the lunar year of Chinese or Jewish religions or the Gregorian calendar year, people gather to "ring out the old" and "bring in the new." All over the world fall harvests are marked with feasting: Sukkoth, Thanksgiving, or Pongal (rice festival).
As cultures develop, practices change as religions demand. Christianity has had a strong impact on the pagan origins of many customs, shaping the dates to honor saints or to match differing concepts of afterlife and renewal. Samhain is one of four Celtic shoulder holidays, all set between the solstice and equinox celebrations. Beltain (or Beltane or Beltine, meaning "Fire of Bel") is in the summer. Sometimes druids drove the cattle through the smoke of two fires as a protection from disease. The choice of wood was important. Oak can bridge the worlds and is a way of connecting with ancestors. Birch symbolizes new beginnings. Scotch pine stimulates and refreshes, and rowan can protect. Imbolc is an early spring feast of purification for the lambs and is associated with Brigid (later St. Bridget). The principal symbols of Imbolc are milk or whiteness. Lughnasadh, at the beginning of August, is the feast of the pagan god Lugh. But it is Samhain that is one of Celtic culture's most important celebrations, happening at a time when it is believed that protections are most fragile between the world of us, the living, and the other world of the dead or demonic. Falling on the night of Oct. 31 and, if followed strictly, lasting until the morning of the next day, Nov. 1, Samhain is generally translated as "Summer's End."
Over the centuries the rituals have been changed to adapt to Roman and then to Christian ideas. The Romans added their own autumn festival of Feralia, the passing of the dead, and inserted the figure of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest. Christians bundled things together into All Saints' Eve or All Hallows' Eve, which came to be known as Halloween. The North American and British habits of dressing in disguises and trick-or-treating come from Samhain practices originally meant to confuse the dangerous aos sí, or sidhe (fairies), who, if they caught a mortal, could whisk him or her away for centuries, while only a few years seemed to have passed to the victim.
The fairy lands had poetic names: Honeyed Plain of Bliss, Fortunate island, Summerland, Isles of the Blessed. Whatever was left in the fields after harvest on Samhain's Eve belonged to the aos sí and they were fierce about protecting their rights. Modern Samhain practices usually have less to do with farming and other-worldly spirits and more to do with honoring and preserving traditions.
The Celtic Community of Alaska (CCA), a group of people with Celtic heritage or with an interest in celebrating Celtic culture, has presented a traditional Samhain céilí (a party with entertainment, music, dancing) at the Anchorage Senior Activities Center for more than 15 years.
An Ancestors' Table is arranged for photos and favorite foods brought from home. The Old Fire is doused and the New Fire is started. In the past, people took home embers in turnips carved into goblin faces, which became our jack-o-lanterns made of pumpkins. Today's bonfires will have a fire dancer, but no longer offer take-aways. Samhain still includes costumes. There is a contest (all ages welcome) with prizes. A silent auction funds CCA's Spring Festival of Workshops. Celtic-themed foods are available for dinner. A self-directed game, A Passage to Discovery, will reveal the meanings behind nine Celtic symbols.
