History of Halloween: Pagan or Christian?
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- čas přidán 17. 10. 2016
- Halloween was not always a holiday of candy, costumes, and parties. Its history stretches back almost two thousand years. But what is this history? And what extent can we call Halloween a Christian holiday...if at all?
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Bibliography and image credits:
Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, 2002.
Santino, Jack. Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life, 1994.
Souling picture: archive.org/details/cheshires...
Oengusso calendar: ia802604.us.archive.org/10/it...
Halloween Frolics painting: artuk.org/discover/artworks/ha...
Guy Fawkes Effigy pic: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Most other images came from Stephen Reid. An artist from the early 20th century who specialized in paintings of Celtic mythology.
In the 60s and early 70s in Scotland we went round the neighbourhood houses singing songs and reciting poetry in return for small gifts, we called it guising. We were told then it was a pre-christian activity, and it could invoke old magic, which made it more fun. We were still using lanterns made from turnips, I'd never seen a pumpkin.
@bre xe Jesus loves u so much he even died for u to have everlasting life. Hope u turn to him and turn away from ur pagan religion. God bless ❤️
@@aukevandekken917 niemand zit te wachten op jouw bijgeloof, Auke. Houd het lekker voor je, of ga naar kanalen van mede-bijgelovigen.
@@kellydalstok8900 ach wat jij zegt ook niet. Met de kont door de helft 🕋
do you know when/why /if it stopped in scotland? I have a book written by an officer in WW1 who said "We had our halloween before we went into the trenchs' but doesn't say what that meant. My passion project is discovering how halloween disappeared form the UK. a friend of mine from yorkshire who's in his early 60's says he remembers hearing about it on tv when he was a child in the 60's but it was presented as something country folk did.
Turnip lanterns sound fun
that turnip jack-o-lantern is much scarier that anything carved from pumpkin!
Yeah for real
Neepy lanterns
yeah they used turnips because pumpkins are native to the americas, so they didn't become popular elsewhere until halloween became commercialized during the cold war
I think it in that way:
Samhain is Celtic☘️
All Hallow's Eve is Catholic 🇻🇦
And modern "Halloween" is Capitalism💵
Modern Halloween is literally about people giving away candy to strangers (typically children) for nothing in return, not very capitalistic if you ask me.
@@bito2041 candy companies profit
F5ck capitalism!!!!
The whole month of November is still called Samhain in Irish...
Still, or once again?
@@geekdivaherself nope, still*. The Irish language names for the calendar months have not changed in centuries.
@@sevatarlives185 - Thank you very much for answering my question! I suspected that to be true, but wasn't sure.
Love Irish Culture💚
And the month of May is still Beltaine in Gaelic.
FINALLY! Someone offering an historical, comprehensive explanation of All Hallow's Eve!
Ok Catholics you might want to educate yourself a little more. czcams.com/video/75hVrv392BY/video.html
In ancient Greece one of the most important (if not the most important) holidays was the "Eleusenian Mysteries" they were held during the months september-october and it was about the goddess of agriculture and nature called Demeter who descended to the realm of Hades (the dead) in order to find her daughter Persephone who was abducted by Hades the god of the dead
The Eleusenian Mysteries persisted well into the Roman era and were even celebrated by the Romans themselves until it was banned by the Christian emperor Theodosius I and slowly declined
Now a minor holiday is held only in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki dedicated to a saint named Demitrius on october 26
I thought you should know
The most important liminal date in fall where I live is the end of daylight savings. Very disorienting. All the spirits are out and slightly sleep deprived.
Makes me want to make a Dia de Los Muertos video
You definitely should. Tis the Season!
Dia de Los Muertros is a much better tradition than Halloween.
A soul cake
A soul cake
Please, good missus, a soul cake
An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry
Any good thing to make us all merry
One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all....
The cake is a lie.
@@hamaljay your a lie!
I don't care if it is just a random holiday it is still my favourite day of the year.
Its more than just a random holiday...its Satan's Day where people really do channel evil spirits and open their minds to this stuff. That's why so much evil happens on this day. I'm staying far from it
@@ashleechan22 By all means stay away from Satan. But don't deny children good clean fun. It is the responsibility of adults to keep it clean. For example costumes that are wrong any other day are still wrong on Halloween. Also if every house but yours is passing out candy you probably should too, but take advantage and pass out pamphlets with the candy.
it’s my favorite holiday I actually thought it came from Celtic origins
It's religion for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper! Amazing channel! Thanks a lot!
Thank you for this channel! As an artist I've learned a lot!
You missed to mention Dia de los Muertos, celebrated in Mexico and maybe in all Latin American countries, where families go to the cemetery and hang out all night at the graves of their departed. It is believed that the departed actually return on this day. There are also many traditions surrounding El Dia de los Muertos, specific types of flowers, decorated skulls made of sugar, creation of very ornate temporary altars. In Mexico, death is not something really to be feared, but a friend that one makes fun of...
To a Norwegian, the parallels to old Yule traditions & ideas/stories are interesting: julebukk, Oskoreia, the belief that the dead and various dangerous spirits were likely to come visiting... people would leave food out for them.
Your video is well made, I learnt a lot of new things from it
Hello again, what a great theme and my favourite holiday of the year. Well done on the pronunciation of Samhain, the month of November is called Samhain, not just the holiday, in Gealic, December is curiously called Nollaig, which means Christmas. Both months don't have names separate from the holidays. If the date was to stand true to fairy lore that at the equinoxes, the spirit world is more easily seen, then Halloween would have occurred earlier, probably by a whole month.
I have several theories for the date, but in modern elemental folk belief, it marks the start of the dark season properly and those who are prone to depression, S.A.D. cold, sickness, drink too much alcohol to numb the cold....any sort of seasonal negative activity would make one weak and prone, drawing negative spirits in to pull the person down a deeper spiral. These negative spirits have a vampiric effect on the person, draining them, or give them a temporary sense of power to give them the strength to continue a negative behavior. Technically, its time to "ward them off" from the start of the season with scary costumes and lights like a scarecrow for spirits or perhaps like an invisible cloak to be by-passed as the spirits look for someone to possess or attach to, confusing the costumed one as one of their own. Christians also believe in tempting demons or nature spirits so I can see how this mostly pagan holiday survived and evolved into its present form.
As for divination, just about every token or prize you win, you put under your pillow and you dream of your future spouse. Bobbing apples, the apple you bite and pull out of the water, put it under your pillow. The barn brack fruit loaf, a ring was baked in the cake, in more complex versions of the tradition, you put a coin and thimble in there too....which ever piece of the cake with a prize baked in it, is yours and to be put under your pillow for a dream about your future. A lock of your hair was to be thrown into the bonfire, and you'll have a dream of your future spouse, (again). The ashes of the bonfire were spread across the field for good luck the next day. Again, as a warding tool, fire having burning/purifying effect. Bonfire in Gealic translates as tine cnamh (tinah can-awv) or bone-fire. Bones have been used for divinatory practices around the world so I wouldn't be surprised if there was a connection. Our family did the barn brack loaf every year until we left home.
Very interesting theory about the physiological and and psychological factors in this holiday! I never thought about that....how S.A.D, coldness, and shorter days might have affected pre-modern societies, especially in more northerly latitudes. I wonder if anyone has written about that.
Sarah Harris
There's also S.A.D in the Summertime>www.webmd.com/depression/summer-depression
It's much more commen in places near of the equator.
Great insight there. We still do the ring in the barn brack every Halloween.
@@Nothin2seehere-e4z Places near the equator don't have seasons, it's summer all the time, so S.A.D. can't exist there, that's nonsense.
@@daragildea7434 I grew up in a place where it was/is hot for 9 months of the year, not equatorial, rather on the Tropic of Capricorn, I always hated the heat, and even now that I live somewhere with 4 seasons, I get down when summer is approaching, and stay pretty unhappy because of it throughout the whole of summer, lucky only for three months of the year now, so it's not such a strange idea.
A few years back I asked a truly hardcore Catholic colleague of mine who had kids if he was going to take them "trick or treating" on Halloween. I was shocked when he said, "We don't celebrate that pagan holiday."
Bet he celebrated Christmas.
@@adamplentl5588 yaaas lol
Most Catholics don't even know they're Christians, so why were you surprised at his ignorance?
@@sb4040 What? Don't know they're Christian?
It's pagan
Thank you for not pumping out distracting music in your background.
Great content! Thank you!
Been flipping through and I really like you channel thanks!
Good video! 👍
It was practiced in Ancient Gaul (modern France) too, since it was of Celtic culture, and was called Samonios. If I'm not mistaken we know this from the inscription on Coligny calendar. So arguably it did not start in Ireland since Celts originate from Austria/Central Europe and were in Gaul/France before being in the British Isles. But because of historical events, Irish monks etc we have more traces of how it was practised in Ireland.
It very much did start in Ireland and is pre Celtic and totally of Irish origin, the mound of the hostages is 5000 years old, and the sun shines through the tomb on samhain for that it was built to celebrate
@@rutgersplague4595 So it would be originally a neolithic "festival" then? Any theory as to why and how it would have crossed to Great Britain and France? Unless these places also had this tradition back in Neolithic times?
I was already wondering whether the Druids were from Neolithic times too. Ceasar thought they originated from GB.
@@AriaIsara like how Briton influenced Brittany, it was thought it had spread from Brittany to Briton, but it has been found that it was the opposite way, and there has never been proven to be an invasion of Celts in Ireland, there's no pottery or artifacts to show such a movement, new thinking has it that Goidelic culture may have spread from Ireland out, the modern people of Ireland arose around 4000 years ago here, and they would be the beginnings of the people called Celts, actually one of our legends has people leaving ireland and eventually returning, the fir bolg, they would have brought the culture with them to Greece, and when they returned they would have been the people who were called the Scots, as they had seen it as their promised land, now these are myths, but DNA in 3 bodies dug up under a pub in Ireland prove that those people were the original people of Ireland and our modern DNA is virtually identical, so no big invasion displaced that
Thanks for sharing 🙂
I would have also mentioned the influence from Devil's Night. I think Devil's Night started in New England and spread West from there. Youth's would dawn maskes and reek havoc on their local community. It was a difficult thing to police until a Kansas woman had the idea to replace their antics with community hosted parties. Her strategy worked and Halloween parties actually became encouraged by police throughout the US. The weariness toward Devil's Night is still present in American culture.
I once heard that Halloween also incorporated practices from the festival of Pomona, which is where our custom of bobbing for apples comes from.
To be fair; we don't know exact dates for samhain, either. Celtic calendars didn't align well with the Gregorian calendar. We just know that it was the very end of harvest and about halfway between the autumnal equinox and hivernal solstice.
We can easily calculate it now. Check "astronomical cross quarter days" here: buhlplanetarium4.tripod.com/astrocalendar/2019.html#samhaint1
A decently done video - check out the Manx 'Hop Tu Naa' - the oldest continuous holiday on Mann. It is essentially a modern 'Sauin', as it celebrates the old Celtic New Years Eve/Day.
Do you live on the Isle of Man ?
@@TheHumbuckerboy
I do not, but I'm familiar with some of its culture, particularly Hop Tu Naa via my interest in Manx Gaelic and Celtic folk music.
@@kavikv.d.hexenholtz3474 During the 70s I holidayed in Douglas on 3 separate summers and I last visited Douglas in the early 80s. I was a child back then and I really loved my times on the Isle of Man ! Things have inevitably changed now in Douglas in various ways but I will always have very fond memories of and a great affection for the Isle of Man.
In the Philippines we don't really celebrate Halloween, though kids from more affluent neighborhoods do especially in recent years. Also, it coincides with All Saints Day and All Souls' Day where families go visit their dead relatives in cemeteries and spend a whole day or night there.
True
In Portugal we have a tradition that's very similar to Souling. Children go around on All Saints Day (which is a national holiday), knocking on doors and asking for "Bread for God" or "Bread in the name of God". In cities, though, it's mostly been changed to asking for "Little Cakes", probably to make it more inclusive.
Yo this is so good fr, ty
Great teaching brother!
I found your channel an do love it I hava little bit of an obsession with all religious study's I know this is a older video but I would love to see more of these kind of videos maybe one about Yule and Christmas how the Christmas tree came to pass ive read pagans used to tree worship and the pine tree as they thought it was magic or having and eternal life as it didn't die off like other trees in the winter and decorate it with bells so they would know if sprits where near... I'd love some factual information :)
the funniest thing about the whole fundy fear of "pagan" Christmas is that the tradition of the Tree and the Wreath and all that, was mainly the fault of Martin Luther. (oops!) people need to stop looking to historically ignorant conspiracy theorists like Ellen White and Jack Chick for their facts.
When I was reading about modern Asatru & ancient Norse Paganism (and if you go far back enough, the distinction from one north euro tribe's paganism to the next wasn't that great, sort of all drawing on the same material) the door-to-door rowdy partying of Yule reminded me of Halloween: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julebukking
What are my thoughts...I love Halloween! 🎃 🌜 🎭
Modern halloween also has similarities to the welsh festival of Noson Calan Gaeaf. Calan Gaeaf is the first day of winter on 1 November, so Noson Calan Gaeaf is the night before on 31 October, noson is welsh for night.
Great video and well done on pronouncing Samhain
The original Samhain also has a very touching aspect when you get to communicate with loved ones who have passed on. I'm really annoyed at how modern secular Americans only like the scary and silly aspects of the holiday and don't care at all about its touching aspect!
Halloween has no strong connection with any religion and is not that old of a holiday and the fact that people are lying and claiming otherwise is most likely just more propaganda with dishonest politics behind it and wiccans are well known as liars in the pagan community and are know for fleeing from debates with tears running down their check not being able to back up their claims with facts and truth just more lies and the more honest Germanic heathens are often puzzled by the wiccans tears and behavior and the real history of wicca suggest its very much a new age religion with little to no connection to the witches of the past and the Germanic heathens of America are known for being more conservatives and rightwing and such heathens are so common in some towns people have trouble not tripping over them on the way to the store or to the job and bikers sometimes even drive by certain street screaming Odin and using hammer sigh with their long beards flying in the wind and its within possibilities that Germanic Christians could be replace in some towns by Germanic heathens in the future who believe in warrior traditions. guns, swords, knives, bows , throwing axes , hand to hand and its common for such heathens to like ancient hero's like Arminius.
@@kellkenyon406 it’s an ancient Irish pagan tradition, don’t try erase my culture
@@kellkenyon406 in school we learn it’s history from a very young age because it’s our culture
@@kellkenyon406 also pagans we’re around in Ireland a lot longer than Christianity, we only started becoming Christians when saint Patrick arrived
no, america just doesn't have the same ancestor culture, so it doesn't even cross their minds. doesn't make it any better or worse, just different than yours.
Samhain was, and is also practiced in Scotland. Most Gaelic/Celtic traditions associated with Ireland, were also practiced in Scotland.
And England and Wales.
United Kingdom maybe Wales but England is Germanic not Celtic
F D well before the Anglo Saxons arrived, it was celtic.
United Kingdom but it wasn’t England, that’s like saying 5th century Argentinians, they weren’t Argentinian
F D well English today still have celtic dna, so we’re still part Celtic, and the Cornish are still majority Celtic to this day.
Excellent pronunciation of "samhain". "Fionn" however is pronounced f'YUN not FeeYUN
As always it's a well researched and interesting video, thanks!
The best pronunciation of the year goes to...
Gaelic is hard ;_;
ReligionForBreakfast Lath math (Laa ma) Like wtf?
You did a very good job.
I can listen to this man for hours. He’s also very beautiful to me.
There is an aspect of Halloween that doesn't seem to get discussed. The Pleiades zenith on Halloween. The Pleiades are a little star cluster that would look like an ugly blot messing up an otherwise pretty perfectly dark party of there night sky. And on Halloween in the northern hemisphere they are directly overhead at midnight. I don't know if that's just a coincidence, or if maybe that explains why the ancient Celts choose that date.
Except that they are not there on Halloween anymore due to the precession of the equinoxes. Now they are on top of the sky at midnight on Nov 15th (at least here in southern ON, Canada). You can use the Sky Safari app to locate them and see when they crossed the zenith in your area.
The ancient Celts did not "choose that date", they did not have a solar calendar, they had a luni-solar calendar. Which means that each month was a lunar cycle, (new-full-dark) and some years had a 13th month, as 12 cycles is a bit over 354 days, and 13 is a bit under 384. The word Samhuinn means; Summer's End, it was at the end of the 12th or 13th month, depending how many there were in that year, that is, at the time of the dark moon in Scorpio. (Which can be any time while the sun is in Scorpio). The end of summer was the end of the year, and the beginning of the year (immediately after Samhuinn) was the beginning of winter.
Each month had 29 or 30 days, as a lunar cycle is roughly 29.5 days. And there was a 19 year cycle, in which there were always 12 years of 12 months each, and 7 of 13 months. That is how all luni-solar calendars work, which includes the Jewish, Hindu, and Chinese calendars, and those of the ancient Greeks, Babylonians, Germans, Celts, and others.
Among Catholics, All Souls day was heavily involved in praying for dead relatives in Purgatory. My Italian-American mother took me and my sister to the cemetery to adorn our grandmother's grave and to offer up prayers. My Mexican-American friends have much to say about El Dia del Muerte. Any review of this holiday needs to include something about the pagan concept of Purgatory that has crept into Roman Catholic practices. Samhain was also known as the Night of the Dead to some peoples.
Jim Moroney We in Iran have same pagan rites. Look at my comment under this video
The catholic idea of purgatory grew out of theological speculation, basically catholics over time ironing out how they thought the afterlife worked, it's an idea we can trace the evolution of, not really a pagan influence.
You visit Philippines and you’ll see people camping out in the cemetery as early as October 30-31.
This is part of why I am extremely skeptical of claiming Halloween has pagan origins. I haven’t seen proof that it was once Samhain. More likely, I feel like it is Christian tradition that was retconned by neopagan revivalists.
Purgatory as a pagan influence? Since when
Jack-o'-lanterns were not only use the word off evil spirits but they were beacons for good spirits. In modern times druids still sacrifice a white goat that has been cared for and loved, then will be roasted as part of the feast. Soul cakes are also made and served with Mead. At least from the ritual I partook in. We would each take a soul cake tell a story of our ancestors or a lost loved one and then eat it and follow it with a toast
That's disgusting. An animal that has been "loved" shouldn't be slaughtered.
@@AriaIsara would you rather it be treated horribly? Do you think about your food and how it was treated before you eat it? Most people don't realize how horribly the animals who are slaughtered for your chicken nuggets and hamburgers are treated. At least when we sacrifice an animal we treat it well and with respect. Makes it taste a whole lot better I promise you
@@juggaloscrub365 the point
your head
@@juggaloscrub365
As we know next to nothing about the ceremonies that the original Druids performed and there is no unbroken link back to those times any animal sacrifices carried out by today's 'Druids' is particularly loathsome as the ritual is patently a modern day creation.
Thanx.
You mentioned "souling". But, there's a similar one called "Mummering" which still takes place in parts of Europe, but also in Philadelphia.
On New Year's Day Mummers do similar things to trick-or-treating and has a centuries old tradition. It usually involves alcohol, and dressing up in costumes. People go house to house in neighborhood areas within the city, and there's a group or team from the Mummers on most sections of Philly. The last time I was there, not the main parade, but the local areas, and you could just come into anyone's house and take as many beers as you wanted. There was so much food, and bottled drinks, that one could easily find unopened drinks on the street at any given time. Full on Gluttony.
I currently like in South Weymouth (Greater Boston, MA) and around Christmas at Colombian Square they have a sort of mummering or trick-or-treat style event involving a sort of mock scavenger hunt that is VERY Christmas themed.
Mummering has many variations including costumes, caroling, playing music, and handing out food, treats, money, and drinks.
Except that mummering was for Christmas not Halloween
@@mellie4174 I've found instances of it at a variety of times of the year, actually. Mummering also still exists also, and not just in Philadelphia.
I like how in depth you are and well researched I released my book on Amazon seducing your potential I believe you are top in your field TH Friesen
halloween seems like a nice collage of diffrent influences, maybe a holiday of the future
Interestingly, Samhain bonfires are a local tradition in Scotland (either side of the Highland Line), north and central Wales, and the Isle of Man, but surprisingly they are not traditional to Ireland.
Historically they were recorded in just two areas of Ireland - In the Protestant districts of NE Ulster (an area heavily settled from Scotland) and in Dublin (but only from the mid-20th century).
There are no records of bonfires in 'Celtic' Cornwall or Cumbria
So, it would appear there was never a 'Celtic fire festival' at Samhain - just localised traditions.
The All Saints Day probably has a pagan root too. We have a pagan ceremony in Iran just before our big celebration of spring equinox: a demonish-wearing person followed by children goes door to door asking for treats. Around that time is when people gather and respect the souls of the ones who died in that recent year. The year ends at equinox, and by the coming of spring comes the new year. Souls separate and a new cycle of life begins. Even the name of this month, Fravardin, refers to the respected souls of the dead.
Brendan Hall Yes, but not when kids go for treats. At the day for the dead, in rural areas, all villagers gather at village's graveyard. This ritual is abandoned in cities and in many villages.
Brendan Hall Yes, but not when kids go for treats. At the day for the dead, in rural areas, all villagers gather at village's graveyard. This ritual is abandoned in cities and in many villages.
Thank you!
This was very interesting.
I love learning about different culture's traditions!
Halloween is All Saints day. The Catholic All Souls Day is celebrated in Mexico as Dia de los Muertos with msny precolumbian customs. Like your Iranian custom and U.S. memorial day it is the preferred day to visit dead relative's graves.
@@markhorton3994 Thanks for the interesting info!
6:51 How come you say "fairies of pagan mythology or demons of christian theology"? What's the difference between mythology and theology when talking about the supernatural? (in this case, fairies and demons).
I think the choice of words was somewhat arbitrary, but strictly speaking, mythology in this academic jargon would probably refer to the stories of a culture, while theology is more the theoretical discourse linked to myths, ritual, etc. The pre-Christian Celts surely did not have proper theology.
It's important to note that in Religious Studies, the term "myth" does not imply falsehood, it's just a significant story - that may or may not have any degree of factual basis
@@oskarhenriksen I think it would be arbitrary to dismiss Celtic belief as not a "proper" theology, that's more a reflection of how little we know about their systems of belief.
@@andybeans5790 Well, no, it's a reflection of what we know about those kinds of religions and cultures.
I admit "proper theology" was a bit of a haphazard phrase. But these pre-Christian European religions came from cultures with hardly or no written literature or academic institutions, hence they tended to be more about ritual and story. That's the case with most religions, overall.
Christian theology pretty much came from a combo of those above-mentioned things plus the need to defend themselves intellectually
I think this is a clearer way to describe the difference between the two, and namely it comes down to how they are studied. I don't think "academic institutions" or "writing systems" has much to do with it.
Mythology regards a dead belief system, and is studied/viewed more objectively. When we use the term "myth" it denotes "not real," and this is an important distinction with regards to theology.
Theology regards a living belief system, where people actively believe that the stories are real and have happened. It's much less objectively studied, because typically the studies are done by believers or people heavily influenced by the belief. For instance, a non-religious American will have a more difficult time studying Christian theology objectively, because to them it's normal to decorate Christmas trees, to understand God in a monotheistic lens, etc. In fact, religion plays a significant role in virtually every academic discipline because it informs how the people of that culture think and view the world.
I don't think it has much to do with writing systems or academic institutions, because the ancient Egyptians had both and yet their religion is typically discussed as a mythology instead of a religion.
Another nuance to this is that mythology typically refers more to the collection of stories, and theology refers to the collection of studies, stories, rites, and rituals. Christian Mythological Studies and Christian Theological Studies would be very similar in content, except the latter would also include how they worship.
But because "mythology" denotes "not real," people typically shy away from calling the story of Jesus a myth... even though technically that's what it is.
@@derrickharshberger4669 Well, this is a CZcams channel in the tradition of religious studies, where 'myth' does not denote 'not real', and where you absolutely talk about Christian myths.
Egyptian religion is an interesting point, but I'll return to it when I'm not dead tired...
This is why I love receiving facts from educated people!
Good video.
If we don’t know anything about Samhain, including the date, how can we take claims about its relation to Halloween seriously? I haven’t been able to find any proof they are linked.
It's on the internet, it must be true.
favorite CZcams Channel
Apple-bobbing we know came from Samhain and later was copied into All Hallows Eve-All Saints Day etc.
The screaming banshee I believe came from Celtic mythology.
Hallowe'en is relatively new in Germany. All Hallow's Day used to be the day on which people visited the graves of their [beloved] dead und put small red lanterns and/or flowers on the graves. No costumes, no candy, just mourning.
Proto Germanic tribes and pre-christian Scandinavians also celebrated samhain as a time to talk to and honor both deceased loved ones and ancestors.
Evidence?
We have a very similar tradition in Scandinavia, called Valborg, altho it is at a diffrent date. Bonfires are lit and the dead were believed to have access to the world of the living (or more of an access, as there are many ghost tales from all around the year). Christian tales tell of the bonfires as being for protection against witches, but wether the fires began as a way to ward off unwanted company or not, I can not say.
Interestingly, it is also one of only two pagan tradition still in practice in Scandinavia, that have not been turned into a christian hollyday.
The other hollyday, Midsummer, they tried making into celebration of some saint, but the people would not have it. Making a fertelity hollyday of life and joy, with a pole symbolising the penis of heaven impregnating the earth, into a party for some guy for dying a virgin, must have been a step too far.
Torbjörn Lekberg
The maypole is *not* a phallic symbol. That's a misconseption. In actuallity, we don't really know the origins and meaning of the maypole. Some think it's meant to symbolise the axus mundi (i.e. Yggdrasil) but in the end, nobody knows. All we know is that it is *NOT* phallic in any way, so pleas stop spreading your perverse interpretation of our wonderfull culture.
Småländsk Regionalist
I have studied this. Both archeologists and anthropologists agree that it is, in fact, a phallic symbol.
Also, it is not perverse. Such symbols can be found in almost every culture on the planet, wich make sense considering the fact that sexuality and fertility is a both important and universal phenomona.
Am I wrong if I assume that you are a christian believer? Becourse that is what it sounds like. The idea that sexuality is somthing bad and 'sinful' is almost unique to said religion, mostly thanks to Paulus.
Torbjörn Lekberg
I am definitely not an expert on this, all my knowledge comes from the internet. By googling all I got was sites conferming my beliefs. Nordiska museet also seems to agree with me, so I don't really know what to belive.
Yes, I am Christian but I would have thought perverse anyway. Also, what is considered perverse is subjective, the fact that other cultures have differing values does not really change anything.
About that last statment: All of the Abrahamic religions have anti-sexualistic beliefs to diferring degrees, Sikhism and Hinduism both condem adultery and fornication and veiling was a common practice in both Pre-Christian and Pre-Islamic societies.
I also think that all societies (in the past atleast) to some, probably smaller, extent had sexualy repressive elements, due to the fact that it simply wasn't possible to be overly promiscuous in a pre-abortion, pre-birthcontrol civillization. There was also worse treatment for STDs, so sleeping around could be life threatening.
When is Valborg?
@@daragildea7434 Last day of april.
Interesting, halloween does borrow from many religious traditions but this video gets it right in the first minute, halloween celebrates consumerism above all other religions.
O Soul Christmas beats holloween consumerism.
...Actually the Greedy Businessmen Exploited (for their own Financial Gain) Every Christian Holiday !
Without commercialization both Christmas and Halloween would have been lost. So ,as an American, I must be grateful to Commerce for preserving my favorite holidays.
Thank you for mentioning Ireland..
In Ireland to this day we still light huge bonfires on Halloween. Most are made illegally by young people and are often stopped by the guards lol
In the United States they stopped having Halloween bonfires because it would get too rowdy, boys pushed their friends into them “as a joke” . The youths obsession with big uncontrollable fires is eternal
Surprisingly bonfires on Halloween are not an Irish custom.
They were found in only two areas of Ireland - in north-eastern Ulster (an area heavily settled from Scotland) and in Dublin (but only from the mid-20th century).
@@Wotsitorlabart in the Rhineland they lit bonfires on St. Martin’s Day (November 11) , could it be related ? Or just a general human fascination with big fires
@@83croissant
My copy of Steve Roud's 'The English Year' tells me that 11th November 'Martinmas' was a day of feasting and merrymaking in medieval times because that was the day when livestock that could not be fed through the winter were slaughtered for salting or drying. It was also the end of the farming year.
No mention of fires in England but I would think the Rhineland bonfires were part of this feast day celebrations.
And yes, any excuse for a good bonfire.
And the song they sang? Trix or treat. Smelleth mine feet. Giveth me something goodth to consumeth
How many aspects of modern pagan groups are authentically from ancient (pre-Christian) times? What is the best source for studying the history of witchcraft / Wicca? Thanks!
Isaac Mathews (HTES)
Most modern pagans are actually "neo-pagans", a romanticized and sanitized recreation of paganism. It's very much an eclectic, individualized, mix and match, "do what you like" form of religion, with no real communal expression. Ancient paganism was very much a communal experience, and could be quite gruesome, for example, the mass human sacrifices of the Aztecs.
Thank you for sharing that.
What was the song the children sang?
I'm not sure off the top of my head. The author I cite records the song itself...they sing about soul-cakes. I can try to find it and post it later on my blog?
How does Day of the Dead fit into all of this?
Different origin, different vibe, different goal.
It fits perfectly. Catholics got it from the Celtics, that on Hallows eve, the dead are honored and prayed for so they can go to heaven. They were also forced to follow this holiday or else they wouldve been cursed by devils. Read this book called the Origins of Halloween, Easter and Christmas. Great book
Basically Christian European settlers took Halloween to Mexico where it mixed with the native people's traditions
SAMHUINN!!!
Gaelic orthography is awesome! ^^
It's interesting that the pre Columbian Day of the Dead shares some features with Sanhiam.
I'm Irish but a few years ago, I discovered Walpurgisnacht which is an Eastern European/Scandinavian equivalent to Halloween.
What I find particularly interesting is that Walpurgisnacht (30th of April) would be understood in the Celtic tradition as Bealtaine and as the beginning of the Summer season, which ended at Samhain.
The Walpurgisnacht tradition is very close to the Samhain/Halloween tradition of Witches and occultic occurrences. In fact, the Orchestral piece "A Night on the Bare Mountain" which portrays a witches liturgy culminating in the coming of Satan, is Russian and actually occurs on Walpurgisnacht.
There are undoubted parallels between Samhain/Halloween and Walpurgisnacht, which might equally explain why Eastern Christianity had their "All Saints" around Walpurgisnacht.
Walpurgis is a Catholic celebration of the Saint Walpurga.
It was actually created to repel witchcraft and evil supernatural forces.
The superstitions came later.
@@bluesdealer Walpurgisnacht occurs at Bealtaine. Halloween occurs at Samhain. Both are when (according to Celtic lore) the Seasons change.
Both have similar traditional practices and beliefs.
In Ireland, Samhain became the "Eve of All Hallows" (All Saints day) in a direct effort to Christianize it.
For Central and Eastern Europeans (including Scandinavians), Walpurgisnacht is their own Halloween...
@@michaelodonnell824 not true. All Saints Day was in April for the British Ilses and Germanic countries. It was moved to November by Italy in the 8th century in order to standardize the holiday’s time for all Christian nations. Italy did not have Samhain as an old tradition. Even in the British Ilses, it had long since died out by that time. There is no record of them wanting to somehow cancel out the older holiday, nor is there any record of Samhain being held on October 31st.
It sounds like you’re repeating an old 19th Century Protestant accusation against Catholic traditions where they tried to link them to long-dead pagan legends, but most of that was bunk unsupported by facts. A lot of Protestants accuse any Catholic tradition not found in scripture as being somehow pagan.
@@michaelodonnell824
The early medieval Irish church celebrated All Saints Day on 20th April so clearly there was no attempt to 'Christianise' Samhain which occurred on 1st November. And as Christianity had first arrived in Ireland in about 400 it is doubtful that several hundred years later anyone was celebrating Samhain in a religious context. It was certainly no threat to the Church.
And it was the English and German churches were the first to celebrate All Saints on 1st November so as neither region observed Samhain there was clearly no attempt from that quarter to Christianise the pagan festival.
Why is day of the dead in americas on November 2 , very close to these days and similar themes
No mention of the mexican holiday of the day of the dead. Also, is there any reason you never quote from The Golden Bough?
That the Golden Bough is full of nonsense could be the reason.
@@Wotsitorlabart It is? All of it? What is your basis for saying that?
@@alg11297
The author Sir James Frazer compared ancient mythologies with beliefs and rituals of tribal societies and recent folk customs (which he claimed to be corrupted survivals from earlier times) and came up with the theory that all human societies have evolved through similar stages of magical and religious belief.
The 'Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore' points out that 'this non-historical cross culture approach [typical of its period] is now rejected as invalid by anthropologists and folklorists'. Also with the 'Golden Bough' Frazer came up with the idea of 'a sacred king who had to be killed when he grew old, because his virility was identified with the life-force of the crops' and had a lot to say on taboos, tree-worship, scapegoats, fire-festivals and much else.
The ODofEF again points out that logical links between these topics are weak, the data sometimes irrelevant to the theories they are meant to support, his speculations regularly go beyond what the evidence will bear and he sometimes allows incompatible interpretations to exist.
It adds that Frazer's influence endures, and '....whenever fertility cults are offered as an explanation of folk custom - an echo of Frazer can be heard'.
Frazer's (and his followers) ideas on subjects such as Beltane, Easter, harvesting customs, mummers' plays, Robin Hood, Yule Logs, Morris dancing etc are discussed in Professor Ronald Hutton's book 'The Stations of the Sun- A History of the Ritual Year in Britain' and invariably found wanting.
A fantastic book by the way.
Social Anthropologists Edmund Leach commented regarding The Golden Bough - '......whenever the evidence did not fit he simply altered the evidence'.
In my Alpine home village we have a Hallowe'enesque tradition that is celebrated on (I think) the first Saturday in October (it's definitely something like that). Children dress up as old people, go from house to house banging two sticks together, and get treats from the inhabitants. It's traditional for the inhabitants to ask who the children are, but they mustn't tell, and change their voices to keep the secret. I find the date the most interesting part. It would seem to me this is a truly ancient feature. I know of various Hallowe'en-like traditions in many places, but my own village is the only one I know of with no direct link to All Saints' Day.
It, the original Samhain, has so much shared cultural significance and ideology with the living tradition of Mahalaya and pitru paksha in India also occurring at a similar time of the year. Also a period to propitiate spirits of the ancestors when they veil between spirits and the living becomes porous.
Bonfires on Halloween where a tradition on Halloween right up to my childhood in the 90s and early 00s they don't do them anymore though
No mention of it being a Cross-Quarter Day on the Wheel of the Year based on Archeo-Astronomy?
Sahwin seems similar to the Mexican/Maya fest of the dead
Which may be another Christianized All Saints festival.
Among eastern slavs there are similar holiday koliada, it's celebrated day before Christmas.
I hope this blows up or an update?
No conection with Día de muertos?
No. The Spanish Catholics did something similar but unrelated with that holiday.
For some reason I thought there was a pagan precursor to souling or guising where people in costume would dress up and accept offerings basically on behalf of the spirits, but I'm not sure where I got that notion from.
This guy looks awfully familiar: 0:16 😁
I use Halloween as a time to reflect on my fears and how to best deal with them.
Is there a religion you adhere or at least feel related to?
'soul cakes' in a way or another were/are part of all souls day (november the 2th) in many Italian tradition and also in Mexico (through Spain)
the celtic evidence for it goes back to in terms of records the Coligny calendar from ancient Gaul and if you wanted to make assumptions you could say that the origins of it stretch back to passage tombs and stone circles designed to interact with the sun and moon during both the solstices and equinoxes such monuments in western Europe are mostly found in northern and western Britain as well as Ireland and Brittany in wales, Cornwall and Brittany they all have there own early parallels to samhain
I remember sharing this holiday with my family and my program VPCI. But I think the most important thing about this holiday are the movies like Trick or Treat, Return to Oz and Hocus Pocus. This also includes the movie Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone. Remember Return to Oz isn't the sequel to The wizard of oz.
what about the druids?
Guy Fawkes Night influencing Halloween makes some sense. Where I grew up we parade through the streets with burning torches and drums beating and burn an effigy of the Pope, another of Guy Fawkes and then one of some hate figure from the news (different bonfire societies choose different figures but Trump got burned three times this year - twice accompanied by Kim Jong Un). It's a pretty rowdy colourful affair. But in most of the UK it's just celebrated with a bonfire and some fireworks.
Mari Lwyd is interesting. I can't figure out how old it is, but it might have influenced Halloween too.
Mari Lwyd was first recorded about 1800.
@@Wotsitorlabart Thanks
Sorry but i love ur face w.o the facial hair sasssss
in my google research,
during the 5th century, all saint's day was celebrated on may 15, then moved to nov.1 on the 8th century. encyclopedia britannica also states that
the scholar who wrote samhain on the 9th century must have yet to receive the memo? also, monks writing about it and giving it a christian twist isn't enough reason to appropriate the celtic festival?
knowing also that it was common practice for the catholics to build their churches on top of pagan temples, wouldn't that be enough of a reason to imply the effort?
Why did Martin Luther choose this day to post 95 thesis on the door?? Was the date intentional??
"Fionn" is pronounced like "f-yun" or "Finn", just so you know. Also, did the early bonfires of Samhain influence the bonfire nights of Guy Fawkes's night?
There's also evidence of a similar ceremony to samhain in Scandinavian culture though I'm not sure what they called it then but there are very clear similarities and parallels in fact most cultures had a similar event or ceremony or celebration or however you want to look at it it's no coincidence that most early farming communities celebrated this as it would be very near to their Harvest in addition to that is directly between the winter solstice in the fall equinox which any sufficiently advanced farming or agricultural culture would be able to discern they had a similar ceremony in China even and I don't think that's because of cross-cultural contamination it's probably safe to assume that goes far enough back as to be indiscernibley connected to early farming cultures certain places have Harvest Moon festivals other places have the fall high tide festivals almost every culture on the planet celebrates it in some way shape or formso giving anyone religious group credit for it is anathema
Exactly. It is just the celebration of the begiining of winter (if you count the solstices and equinoxes as middle of the seasons like the ancients did, not the beginning like we do now). What is interesting is that now we are able to calculate these dates much more precisely due to our advanced astronomy tools (see the "astronomical cross quarter days" here: buhlplanetarium4.tripod.com/astrocalendar/2019.html#samhaint1). But our societies keep clinging on to tradition, celebrating these events at the wrong dates, divorcing ourselves even further from our connection with nature and the wisdom of ancient cultures.
We still do bonfires in Ireland at Halloween.
Souling and pão por Deus seem to be the same thing. Interesting!
A lot of your leanings are very much anglo-saxon centric (such as the Guy Fawkes remark), but it's a good video nonetheless.
Wether Samhain is an old festival or not, its still important to celebrate either way.
Spooky Halloween 🎃
Halloween is pretty much a commercial venture here in London, designed for children and not adults. I think it has grown in recent years to draw attention away from November 5th where folk were encouraged to play with fire......literally. Health and Safety put an end to all that.
It's certainly not as visible in UK (or elsewhere in Europe) compared to the USA.
Halloween wasn't really a thing when I was a child in London, in the 70s, "trick or treating" did not exist, it was imported from America later than that. Everybody just celebrated "Guy Fawkes' Night", aka "Bonfire Night", aka "Fireworks Night", on November 5.
It’s not a ‘random’ holiday. It’s very deliberate.
At this point, Halloween is such a mish-mash of different traditions, well... who knows?
So, I'm REALLY late to this and I have a general rule about not getting too nit-picky about Irish pronunciation, but since you got Samhain spot on (nobody get's samhain spot on, which is a problem when it means not just Halloween but also the entire month of November) and I suspect that you're the kind of person who would rather be told than not - Fionn is pronounced something like "fyuhn" having just one syllable, not pronounced like Fiona. You did a really good job overall though!
Yeah I researched the hell out of the pronunciation of samhain. I didn't realize my mistake with Fionn until months later. Thanks for the encouragement though! Glad you liked the vid.
I think Guy Fawkes night on November 5th took a lot of the Samhain tradition in England as well with the creating of the effigy of Guy Fawkes and the bonfires.
No it didn't.
The idea about hightened spiritual activity on a certain day, by Carl Jung would be interpreted as lack of distinction between conscious and the unconscious psyche at a certain moment. C.G. Jung and J. Campbell always said that the metaphysical realm is always a symbol of the unconscious. Caves being portals also strengthens this idea. Jung often compared automonous complexes in psychology to demons in theology, that explains the fire as a defense tool against evil spirits, because light is an archetypical symbol of consciousness which threatens the autonomoy of unconscious psychic contents. On the other hand, darkness symbolises the unconscious so no wonder Halloween is celebrated at the beginning of dark season of the year. I'm not reducing theology to psychology like a materialist would. We do not yet know the true nature of consciousness even with today's science, so the orgin and meaning of these holidays remains intriguing and mysterious and offers insight into the depths of ourselves as human beings.
Tadas Jakubauskas very interesting! Haha I guess there's a lot going on in my brain
Tadas Jakubauskas is that you Jordan Peterson why did you change your name to sound Lithuanian?
Jung and Campbell are not good sources for accurate psychology information unless you're trying to learn about outdated models.
As anl native Irishman I always loved the traditional celebtation the nature the seasons the last of the darkness before the new day the legends the games the connection with pre celtic mythology with the earth our ancestors. The music the stories not like the bew the modern Anglo-Saxon anerican one