The tradition of celebrating Halloween stems from an ancient pagan holiday called Samhain. Samhain is one of the 8 sabbats in paganism. It is a cross quarter sabbat falling halfway between the Fall equinox and the Winter Solstice. The actual date is November 1, but it celebrated on October 31 because pagan holidays are celebrated on the eve of their actual dates. It was (and still is) celebrated by many pagan cultures in one form or another.

While Halloween is considered a fun holiday for children, Samhain is a serious celebration to most pagans. It is believed to be an "in between" time and is often called "Night of the Thin Veil", because at this time, it is believed that the "veil" between the worlds is the thinnest and it is easier to communicate with those who have passed on.
It is also called Ancestor Night or Feast of the Dead, as it is a time for remembering one’s ancestors, known and unknown. Some pagans put a lit candle in the window to help their ancestors find their way home on this night and an extra place is set at the table in invitation for them to join in Samhain dinner. Rituals often center around giving honor to ancestors and asking for their guidance. Measures are taken to keep out harmful or negative spirits.

Samhain dinner often consists of root and vine vegetables, such as pumpkins and other gourds, carrots, and potatoes, as well as red wine. One reason may be that they are in season at this time of year. This, of course, is not the only reason. They do have some significance as being symbolic of remembering ones ancestors.

In the Celtic traditions, November 1 is considered New Year’s day, so many pagans regard this day as a good time for completing old projects or habits and starting new ones. Divination is also commonly performed at this time.

Many Halloween traditions originated from the traditions and ideas of Samhain. One example would be costumes. As stated above, Samhain is considered an excellent time for communicating with and honoring, those who have passed. In earlier times, some people believed that the dead literally walked the earth on this night. Out of fear, they dressed themselves in costumes to attempt to blend in with them.

Another surviving tradition is Jack-O-Lanterns. Some believe it stems from the story of Bran the Blessed. In Celtic mythology, the Celtic god Bran ordered that when he died, his head be cut off and buried facing France to protect the country from invaders. Pagans carve faces into gourds and place a candle inside as a symbol of Bran’s head. It is often used for protection. Some older rituals call for a "circle of heads". This is what they are referring to. They are still sometimes used by modern day pagans for the same purpose. They are also occasionally used on Samhain at the door of the house to keep out unwelcome visitors and harmful spirits

Bobbing for apples was at one time used as a means of divination.

Samhain was considered one of the four fire festivals of the Druids. This is where the tradition of making bonfires at Halloween came from.

Different countries celebrated and honored different deties on this day. Often the focus was on darker aspects of deities, or those ruling the dead. The day itself was named after a deity. Cailleach was honored in many Celtic countries, while the Norse honored the goddess Hel. Bast and Sehkmet were honored in Egypt.

For more information on Wicca and the harvest celebrations, visit Azure's Gateway

Costume Arena wishes you a Blessed Samhain!

Ghosts And Apparitions

Ghosts are beings that have passed on from the material world to the spiritual world, but occasionally wander throughout our world as apparitions. Some people claim to have seen these ghosts or apparitions, as some people do not believe that they even exist. 

People who believe in ghosts claim that these spirits appear as a misty fog-like substance, a patch of light, or a faded image of the deceased. Those who were thought of to be asleep when viewing such supernatural images testify that they are quite conscious when witnessing these apparitions.

In many religions, particularly in primitive faiths, the belief is that spirits wander in the astral realm during moments of sleep. This is known as ""astral travel"". The difference between ghosts and astral traveling today however, is that when we astral travel, our spirits are free and our bodies are still alive. But a ghost is a free spirit that comes from a dead body. 

The practice of ancestor worship was a similar term for honoring the ghosts of dead relatives. Primitive religions teach that the spirits of the dead bodies do not wander far from their actual grave (or place of death). It is not uncommon for some believers to claim that their houses are haunted by spirits of people (or even animals) that either died in their home or lived there when they were alive.

Spirit of Halloween

The story of Halloween goes back over 2000 years to the ancient Celts. Druidic priests regarded the day as the end of the year. Not only was it their day for celebrating the year's harvest, but October 31 itself was also the day of Samhain, a festival for honoring the dead. In order to appease the wandering spirits they believed roamed at night, the Celtic priests made fires in which they burned sacrifices, made charms, and cast spells.

Portions of the Celtic holiday of the dead eventually passed into Christian culture after the Romans conquered the Celts and tried to bring the Celts into the "Christian fold." It eventually became apparent to the church leaders that the Celts, in spite of their conformation to some aspects of Christian culture, were stubbornly sticking with elements of their old religion. o, in the seventh century AD, the church moved its

All Saints' Day, a holiday for honoring early Christian martyrs, from a day in May to November 1, thus associating it with the old Druid death rituals of October 31. By the tenth century A.D., the Catholic Church had added a new holiday, All Souls' Day. This day was set aside to honor all of the dead, not just the early Christian Saints.

Celebration of Halloween came to America with early Irish and Scottish immigrants. By then, though, it had already started to lose its mysterious overtones and was becoming merely a harvest celebration: a night of bobbing for apples, eating popcorn, and telling ghost stories around a bonfire. It was already changing into the holiday for children with
which we in the 20th century are so familiar. Wiccans celebrate Samhain as the third harvest sabbat.

Historical Halloween Facts

Halloween, also known as ""All Hallows Eve"", is a holiday that is associated with death and the supernatural. It is observed on October 31 in North America as well as some parts of Western Europe. Halloween falls on the eve of All Saints' Day, a Roman Catholic holiday. All Saints' Day was originally a pagan celebration of the dead and later became recognized in the Catholic church as a day to honor Christian Saints. Halloween is also associated with The Day Of The Dead, a Mexican holiday that coincides with all Saints' Day. During this celebration, Mexicans fill their homes with skeleton decorations, festive food, and later visit the graves of their deceased ancestors.

How did Halloween start? According to ancient Celtic tradition, Halloween (known to the Celts as Samhain) was a holiday of festivities to honor the end of a productive harvest season. This custom begins at sundown on October 31 and is celebrated long into the early hours of the following morning. According to the pagan Celtic religion of Druidism, those who died the past year would roam the earth on the night of Samhain. The Celtic people would appease these spirits with offerings of f ood and drink. At the same time, other Celts honored powerful deities by burning bonfires atop sacred hills. Sometimes, they went so far as to sacrifice animals or human beings during their ceremony.

Many Halloween festivities originate from folklore and pagan traditions. Supernatural forces and spirits of the dead all come to life on this hauntingly glorious day. Halloween decorations are often images of pumpkins, witches, black cats, ghosts, werewolves, vampires, bats and other associated paranormal. 

The most popular Halloween decoration is the ""jack-o-lantern"" pumpkin. The jack-o-lantern originates from a character in British folklore. According to these tales, the soul of a deceased person named Jack O'Lantern was barred from entering heaven or hell and was condemned to walk the face of the earth carrying his lantern. In memory of Jack O'Lantern, a pumpkin is carved to resemble his gruesome face along with a candle placed within it to highlight and accentuate this grotesque visual image. 

Dressing up in costume is another popular Halloween tradition. People enjoy this one day a year to ""become"" whoever they desire. This ritual-like tradition is considered to be harmless and fun. The more classical costumes are that of witches and ghosts. However, people today also enjoy dressing up to mock political figures and famous celebrities. 

""Trick-or-treating"" is another Halloween tradition in which children travel from house to house soliciting candy from neighbors. The term ""trick-or-treat"" resorts back to the original idea that if a treat is not given to the person who asks, then a devious (but harmless) trick will be played on the unwilling participant. Due to its increasing danger, many people now give Halloween parties to replace this holiday custom. 

Halloween is overall, a deliciously splendid holiday celebration where people feel free to reveal a deeper (sometimes playfully darker) side to themselves in the midst of others. ""Spirits"" come out to play, fun-filled festivities are prevalent, everyone can be ""anyone"" and the occult is magically acceptable to all beings at least for one day.

For more information on Wicca and the harvest celebrations, visit Azure's Gateway

(History of Halloween courtesy of HALLOWEEN ETERNAL.)