I have always liked Halloween – not for any reason other than the fact that I generally have a great time with my friends and I love dressing up for the occasion. This year, I thought I’d take a look into the cultural origins of this holiday and how people make it their own.
When discussing holidays, be aware that you might be venturing into tricky cultural territory. The reason for this is simple in my mind because I always make the connection between holiday and “holy-day”. The point I’m trying to make is that while a yearly celebration might just be a fun event for some people, we should be aware that for others it might be a very serious occasion with its roots set in traditions and rituals which are sacred.
It is widely believed that the origins of Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve lie in the Celtic festival of Samhain which in a nutshell served to fend off wandering spirits. In ancient times many festivals and rituals were implemented with the well-being of the community in mind. Communal rituals were practiced in order to ward off evil, ensure the return of summer, encourage the growth of crops and other essential components of life in those times and by taking part in these rituals, each individual not only ensured their own prosperity but the betterment and advancement of their community as well.
The festival of Samhain was later incorporated into Catholicism by Pope Gregory III as a prelude to All Saints Day and included many of the original Celtic traditions. With time, Halloween has become an exceedingly child-orientated holiday, possibly in order to make the bogeyman under the bed less scary, to imprint underlying cultural messages and to promote the dental industry.
Halloween has become a singular tradition in our household, with its own special rituals – from the same social engagements every year to the time we take to dress up and plan the festivities. For us, Halloween might not represent what it originally intended but it has nonetheless become a holiday in its own right and this for me represents the fundamental beauty present in the relationship between ritualistic traditions and cultures – human beings tend to keep ancient rituals alive and well by revamping them and making these rituals their own.
Blessings,
Mel
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