The autumn equinox (the point of equal day and night) has just passed. Today we enter the dark half of the year. Like all turning points, it has always been a time of looking back and looking forward. The sun is lower and the days are shorter and colder. Plants and animals begin to hibernate. The warm half of the year has faded and died. It’s a time when we feel closer to death and those that have departed. In ancient times, the festival of Samhain was celebrated at the equinox. Records suggest that it involved gatherings and feasting after the cattle had been brought down from their summer pasture. Thanks were given for all the food that had been harvested, which was needed to keep those people and their animals through the winter months. Fire was an important part of the festival, symbolizing both death and rebirth. The spirits of the dead were thought to return at this time. A place was set for them at the table and offerings were made. Celebrants were believed to have worn masks and other costumes.
Over a
thousand years ago, Samhain became transposed into All Hallows Day (or All Saints
Day) by early Christianity, which chose to piggyback onto pre-exisiting
traditions rather than to confront them. But the pagan traditions of Samhain
re-emerged in Halloween (the Eve of All Hallows Day), with its attention to
fire, the spirits of the dead, feasting and costume. So when lighting a candle
in a pumpkin, putting on a witch’s hat or decorating the house with skulls and
skeletons, try to remember where all this came from. And try to put yourself in
the animal-hide shoes of those ancient peoples who lived here thousands of
years ago.
