On
October 31st some communities are celebrating the festive of
Halloween. Although celebrations take place mostly in English speaking
countries or in places with strong North American influence, It is believed
that its origin comes from the British Isles, having its roots in old Celtic
traditions.
According
to http://www.etymonline.com/ the
online Etymology dictionary, the word Halloween, has its origin in Scotland,
being the Scottish term for All Hallow Even, the name of the Eve of All Saints
day the last day of October. The word “Eve” in Scotland is Even and is
contracted as “e’en” or “een”.
Many
ancient Celtic celebrations have their prints in Modern Halloween, but it is
generally believe that we should look for its roots in an Irish celebration
called “Samhain”.
In http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/samhain.shtml
it is written that Samhain is a celebration marking the end of the Harvest
season. It is related with the Celtic New Year. Samhain is also believed to be
a celebration of the end of the summer. According to http://www.livinglanguage.com The prefix
“Sam” means “Summer”. Today the Irish word for summer is “samhradh”. The Night
of Halloween is also known in Irish as “oíche samhna” and is the time when the
veils between this world and the other world were believed to be at their
thinnest allowing the spirits of the dead to mingle with the living. The “Púca” (Ghosts) and the “bean sí” (Irish
word that came to English as “Banshee” describing a fairy woman who appears to
announce a death) were thought to haunt dark roads and graveyards during this
celebration.
To celebrate Samhain, the Druids built sacred
bonfires. With this fire, after the festive, they lit the fires in their homes
to help protect their homes. The Celts wore costumes made with animal skins and
share a big communal dinner. Special
foods from the Irish tradition are “cál ceannann”, known also as Colcannon, a
dish made with Mashed potatoes and Cabbage, and “báirín breac”, also known as
Barmbrack, a sweet bread made with dried fruits.
In Wales,
on November 1st they celebrate “Calan Gaeaf” that is the first day
of Winter. “Gaeaf” is the welsh word for winter. According to the page http://louespiritucelta.blogspot.ca/2010/11/nos-calan-gaeaf.html
The Night before is called “Nos Calan Gaeaf”, also known as “Ysbrid Nos” or “Night
of the Spirits”. Tradition recommends to avoid cemeteries and crossroads, preferred
places for spirits to gather. Some welsh
traditions for this night are: “Coelcerth” (Bonfire), “Twco Fale” (Apple
Bobbing) or docking (in Welsh “Docio”) an apple (Afal). Some traditions warn
about the legend of “Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta” or the tail-less black sow, that roams
the countryside with a headless woman.
In Cornwall,
SW of England, on October 31st they celebrate a festive called “Allantide”,
in Cornish: “Nos Calan Gwaf”. According to https://cornishculture.co.uk/ there
are some traditions common with the rest of Celtic people, as celebrating the
end of summer and the fact that the veil between this world and the spiritual
world was most thin. It is also disputed if Cornish celebrated New Year in this
festive during Pre-Christian times. One of the best kept traditions related with
this festive is the Use of Allan apples, for apple docking, as a gift or even
for predictions. Other tradition is associated with the light of “Tindle Fires”.
In the
Isle of Man, on oct 31st they celebrate “Hop-Tu-Naa”, the
celebration of the Celtic New Year or “Oie Houney”. According to the page in Internet http://www.isleofman.com/attractions/arts-culture/ceremonies-and-festivals/hop-tu-naa/
the origin of this name comes from the Gaelic Manx expression “Shogh ta’n Oie”
that means: “This is the Night!”. Most of their traditions are very similar to
what we see today in Halloween.
In the
French Brittany, they have also a celtic celebration during the days of
Halloween. It is called “Noz Kalan Goañv”. I did not find much information
about this festive, but I read about customs of pouring milk in the graves and children
wearing fancy dress.
Halloween
is one of the greatest gifts that Celts have given to humankind, a festive that
for different reasons, not all of them truly dependent on Celts themselves,
have become more popular in very remote locations, many of them not at all
related with this ancient European culture. I personally consider unfortunate
that we do not have enough sources written in Celtic languages explaining the
meaning of this special period from today´s October 31st to November
1st. Most of the sources regarding this festive are in English and written
by outsiders. In other hand, I heard different comments about Halloween in
different areas and by different people. Most of them are made by people who do
not really understand the meaning of this festive and are not really interested
to do so.
This week,
on October 31st, I had the opportunity to see the community of my
area celebrating Halloween during my way back home. It was nice to see Children
walking with their parents, visiting their neighbours early in the night asking
for their sweets while wearing Costumes. Not all the homes were participating,
but everybody knew that homes with Jack-o-lanterns were the ones to be visited.
During my way, I could hear families who were speaking Spanish and Chinese. The
neighbourhood has a lot of families of Portuguese and Italian origin so I would
expect that those languages were used that night alongside with English. I see this
as a rare opportunity for the community to integrate and join efforts to make
their children happy while neighbours interact, no matter their origin. For immigrants
it was an opportunity to meet their neighbours and integrate. Many cultures in the
past used their celebrations to socialize and to have a moment to enjoy the
best of life with family, friends and Neighbours. Was this the real origin of Halloween?
Or was a way to remind their people that whenever there is darkness, they must follow
the light? Now we can teach this to our children, or Maybe, in Halloween, we can
teach our children that light can dissipate any darkness.
