The ancient Irish get far an excessive amount of credit for Halloween

I often come across articles this time of yr Proclaim Halloween a contemporary type of the pagan Irish holiday Samhain – pronounced SAW-en. But as a historian of Ireland and its medieval literatureI can let you know: Samhain is Irish. It's not Halloween.

The Irish are sometimes given credit – or blame – for the bonfires, pranksters, witches, jack-o-lanterns and beggars who go from house to deal with threatening tricks and asking for treats.

The first skilled folklorists of the Nineteenth century were those that created a continuous line from Samhain to Halloween. Oxford University John Rhys And James Frazer from the University of Cambridge were all in favour of discovering the origins of their national cultures.

They observed customs that also existed in rural areas of Britain and Ireland and looked to medieval texts for evidence that these practices and beliefs had ancient pagan roots. They mixed stories of magic and paganism with harvest festivals and rumors of human sacrifice, and echoes of this may still be found today outdated theories on web sites.

But the Halloween we rejoice today has more to do with the English, a Ninth-century pope, and America's obsession with consumerism.

A change of seasons

For two millennia, Samhain, the night of October thirty first, has marked the transition from summer to winter within the Irish calendar. It was one in all 4 seasonal signposts in agricultural and pastoral societies.

After Samhain, people brought animals indoors to provide them refuge from the long, cold winter nights. ImbolcFebruary 1st marked the beginning of the lambing season, followed by spring planting. Beltaine signaled the start of the mating season for humans and animals on May 1st reduction The harvest began on August 1st.

But regardless of the ancient Irish did on October thirty first is lost to scholars because there is sort of no evidence for it pagan traditions apart from legends written by churchmen around 800 AD, some 400 years after the Irish began to turn out to be Christians. Although they wrote in regards to the adventures of their ancestors, churchmen could only imagine the vanished pagan customs.

An otherworld that’s more utopian than frightening

This Stories in regards to the pagan past told of Irish kings holding week-long festivals, markets and games at Samhain yearly. The day ended early in northwestern Europe, before 5 p.m. and the winter nights were long. After sunset, people went inside to eat, drink and hearken to the storytellers.

The stories didn’t associate Samhain with death and terror. But they viewed Samhain as an evening of magic by which the Otherworld – what was referred to as “sí” in Irish – opened its gates to mortals. A story: “The Adventure of Nera“warned that if one went out on Samhain evening, one might meet dead men or warriors from the Sí or unknowingly wander into the opposite world.

When Nera set out on a challenge, he encountered a thirsty corpse while on the lookout for something to drink and unknowingly followed warriors through a portal into the opposite world. But as an alternative of ghosts and terror, Nera found love. He ended up marrying a “ban sídh” – pronounced “BAN-shee” – an otherworldly woman. But here's the medieval twist to the story: he lived happily ever after on this other world together with his family and his farm.

The Irish otherworld was not helleither. In medieval legends it’s a sunny place in everlasting spring. Everyone who lives there’s beautiful, powerful, immortal and blonde. You have good teeth. Mead and wine flow within the rivers, and food appears on command. No sexual act is a sin. The houses sparkle with gemstones and precious metals. Even the horses are perfect.

Tough crackdown on pagan customs

The connection between October thirty first, ghosts and devils was actually the Pope's fault.

In the yr 834 Pope Gregory IV decreed November 1st, the day to rejoice all Christian saints. In English, the vacation became All Hallows Day. The night before – October thirty first – became referred to as All Hallows Eve.

Some Modern interpretations insist otherwise Pope Gregory created All Saints Day to suppress pagan Samhain celebrations. But Gregory knew nothing in regards to the seasonal holidays in ancient Ireland. In reality, he probably did it because everyone celebrated All Saints' Day on different days and Gregory, like other popes, tried to consolidate and control All Saints' Day liturgical calendar.

In the later Middle Ages All Saints Eve emerged as Folk festival of the saints. People went to church and prayed to the saints for favor and blessing. Then they went home to rejoice. Then on November 2nd, they celebrated All Souls Day by praying for the souls of their lost family members, hoping that prayers would help their deceased relatives from purgatory to heaven.

But within the sixteenth century the Protestant rulers of Great Britain and Ireland has abolished the saints' holidays because they’re prayed to Saints seemed idolatrous. Protestant clergy did their best to eliminate popular customs of the early November holiday, comparable to candlelight processions and harvest bonfires.

In the eyes of the clergy, these customs smacked of paganism.

A mixture of traditions

This led to our Halloween filled with costumed beggars and grinning jack-o-lanterns Mess of traditionsstorytelling and Antiquarianism.

Like our ancestors, we consistently Remake our most significant holidays appropriate to the present culture.

Jack-o-lanterns are neither ancient nor Irish. One of the earliest references is one 18th century report about an eponymous Jack who tricked the devil one too repeatedly and was condemned to wander the world perpetually.

Supposedly Jack, or regardless of the hero was called, carved a turnip and stuck a candle into it to make use of as a lantern. But the custom of carving turnips in early November probably originated in England with the celebrations of All Saints' Day and one other holiday, Guy Fawkes Day on November fifth together with his Bonfires and fireworks, and it spread from there.

The ancient bonfires were built by the Irish and British to rejoice Beltainebut not Samhain – not less than not out loud medieval stories.

In Nineteenth century Ireland, All Saints Day was a time for communal dinners and games on the lookout for apples and rejoice the magic of promoting. Girls tried it, for instance Peel apples in an extended bowl; Then they examined the bowls to see what letters they resembled – the initials of their future husbands' names. Boys, despite warnings, sneaked out of the congregation to rise up to mischief by tearing down yard gates or stealing cabbages and hurling them at neighbors' doors.

Halloween with an American twist

Across the Atlantic, these customs first appeared within the mid-Nineteenth century, when Irish, English and lots of other immigrant groups brought their vacations to the United States

In Medieval Scotland”Guiser“These were people in disguise who begged for “soul cake” on All Souls’ Day. These seducers likely became costumed children who threatened—and sometimes caused mischief—if they didn't get treats. Meanwhile, turnedips were carved Jack-o-lanternsbecause pumpkins were plentiful in North America – and so they were easier to carve.

Like Christmas, Valentine's Day and Easter, Halloween eventually became a celebration of consumerism. Companies produce mass-produced goods costumes, Paper decorations And packaged sweets. People in Britain and Ireland blamed Americans for the spread of recent Halloween and its customs. British schools have even tried it abolish the vacation within the Nineties due to its disorderly and demonic connotations.

The only real remnant of Samhain on Halloween is the date. Nowadays nobody expects to find yourself in a romantic relationship anymore. Only those drawn to the traditional Celtic past sense the numinous opening of the Otherworld at Samhain.

But who can say what reality will prevail when the gates swing open within the darkness of October thirty first?