1

Halloween: - Its not about witches!

Many Brazilians think that Halloween is an event or holiday steeped in evil
and that it is an American holiday based on witchcraft. You only have to look
at the translation from Portuguese to English - Dia das Bruxas (Day of the
Witches) - to appreciate the association with evil images and ideas. The truth
of the holidays origins are completely opposite of any evil intent.

The word Halloween or Hallowe'en dates to about 1745 and is of Christian
origin.
The word "Halloween" means "hallowed evening" or "holy evening"! Maybe
you have heard of a similar use of Eve as in --- Christmas Eve? - Dec 24th?

Halloween comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows' Eve (the evening
before All Hallows' Day).

Look at its Etymology

hallow |hal|

verb [ trans. ]
honor as holy : the Ganges is hallowed as a sacred, cleansing river. Rome is hallowed as the heart of the
Catholic church.

adjective ( hallowed) hallowed ground.

formal make holy; consecrate.

[as adj. ] ( hallowed) greatly revered or respected : In keeping with a hallowed family tradition we
always allow our Grandfather to say the blessing over our dinner every night.

noun archaic
a saint or holy person.

ORIGIN Old English hlgian (verb), hlga (noun), of

Germanic origin heiligen, also to holy .


eve |v|
noun

The day or period of time immediately before an event or occasion: on the eve of her departure he gave
her a little parcel.

the evening or day before a religious festival : the service for Passover eve.

chiefly poetic/literary evening : a bitter winter's eve.

ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense [close of day]): short form of even
2




even
2

noun archaic or poetic/literary

the end of the day; evening : bring it to my house this even.

ORIGIN Old English fen, of Germanic origin.

2


In Scots, the word "eve" is even, and this is contracted to e'en or een. Over
time, (All) Hallow(s) Eve(n) evolved into Halloween. Although the phrase "All
Hallows'" is found in Old English (ealra hlgena mssedg, all saints mass-
day), "All Hallows' Eve" is itself not seen until 1556.

First and foremost Halloween is in no way shape or form a day to celebrate
witches, evil, any dark lord, or make any types of packs with the demonic. It
most certainly is not a day that is celebrated for witches, and their practices
either! The 16th century European colonists, primarily from England, who
settled and established the dominant political, economic, religious, social and
military customs of the United States have always been deeply conservative
in terms of religion and the have held a deep hatred and fear of any hints of
Witchcraft. The legal persecution of witches under English law was made
official by Henry VIII when he introduced the first English statutes addressing
witchcraft in 1542, followed by later, stricter, legislation by Elizabeth I in 1563
and then more harsh laws by James I in 1604. Witchcraft was a capital
offence, and witchcraft trials in England and its colonies - i.e. what was later to
become the U.S.A, were held before a judge and a jury under the common
law system, during which evidence against the accused was presented. In
fact witch-hunts and executions based on the belief of witchcraft continued in
Europe until as late as 1836, and accusations of witchcraft were still being
given in courts of law in the U.S.A. as late as the 19th century, though it was
no longer a capital offence.

In colonial America the most widely known witch-hunt was seen in the
Province of Massachusetts from February 1692 through May 1693. Now
commonly known as the Salem Witch Trials, legal trials and hearings that
where held against individuals accused of witchcraft throughout many towns
in the province. The results of these trials resulted in the executions of twenty
people, most of them women. So it should be common sense that the people
who established the United States of America, all very deeply religious, and
very very much influenced and governed by English law and practices, as the
USA did not gain its independence from England until 1783, would not
establish a holiday to honor witches!

So where does Halloween come from? Well like most holidays it evolved from
a Christian religious holiday, and its incorporation of earlier Pagan practices.
WHAT??? You say! It is a Christian holiday? Pagan practices in a Christian
holiday!!!! Well yes, and such things are common practice. Dont believe me?
Look up the history of the Christmas Tree. Sorry.. its pagan. So what is
the beginning of Halloween?

Halloween can trace its evolution from two ancient pagan holiday traditions
and their later adoption of ideas into the mainstream with the Catholic Church
in Europe. Foremost, and the most influential of these two pagan holidays,
was the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain, followed by the influences of the
ancient Roman feast of Lemuria.

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain
(pronounced "sah-win"). The festival of Samhain was a celebration that
marked the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time
used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter.
The ancient Celts used the day to mark the end of the harvest season and
officially start the beginning of winter.

3
It was also believed that this transition between the seasons was a bridge to
the world of the dead. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the
boundaries between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead
overlapped. The souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes. It was
a time when the ghosts of the deceased could cross over and look for the
living and in doing so they could then cause havoc such as inflict them with
sickness or damaged crops.

To deceive the ghosts and evil spirits the people would, before October 31,
start gathering a large amount of wood to build a bonfire at a location outside
of their town or village. The festival would frequently involve bonfires as it
was believed that fire attracted evil spirits and they would linger and remain
near burning fires. At the same time the larger the fire the more humans there
must be by the fire. The logic being that only humans built fires, and they built
most fires in their homes, therefore any evil spirits looking to inflict harm or
inflict evil upon a human or their home would be attracted to places that held
fire, and the bigger the better. Their flames, smoke and ashes were deemed
to have protective and cleansing powers, and were also used for divination. It
is suggested that the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic they
mimicked the Sun, helping the "powers of growth" and holding back the decay
and darkness of winter. This was further reinforced by the large number of
bats that would come to the fires, as bats were associated with evil their
coming to the fire was seen as a good thing that proved that the evil spirits
were gathered there. In truth the bats were most likely attracted to the large
number of insects that the fire attracted, which they then ate and helped with
the local pest population and inadvertently helping keep the area a bit
healthier by getting rid of the insects they ate.

As the Ghosts and spirits were looking for humans to harm Masks and
costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits in order to hide
from them, or to appease them. These were worn throughout the day and until
first light of Nov 1st where it was not uncommon to remove the costumes and
throw them on the burning bonfire under the light of the day when the evil
spirits held little to no power. In this way the evil was gathered into one
location and any influences upon the people were removed and cleansed by
fire as evil influences that the masks and costumes might have been infused
with was burned and consumed.

To further aid in the removal of harm it was common to not light a fire in the
home on Oct, 31. Remember evil spirits were attracted to fire. Rather the only
fire that was lit was the site of the bonfire outside of the town. This site due to
its removal from normal village life and the associations that the bon fires
brought evil sprits there developed many of the stories of haunted, bad, or evil
- hills, woods, and other natural locations in the mythology of the U.K. As a
location where gathered ghosts and spirits would return to the world of the
dead, and logically when the times were right could cross back into the world
of the living. As it was a gateway it was considered foolish to visit the location
without reason or protection and as such these areas were avoided and not
talked about, unless they speaker wished to attract attention to the spirits, and
further gathered a dark reputation as places of ill luck and evil.

As for the Home on Nov, 1st it was customary after the light of the first day
had made it safe to return and the evil influences of the costume had been
shed to run as fast as one could to their home. Once there they would have
already have swept out their fireplaces and have laid the setting for a new fire.
This fire was then lit and the new fire free of the old evils of last began the
new year.
4

The second influence upon the creation of Halloween was from the Roman
practices already adopted and Christianized by the Catholic Church in Italy.
Specifically the practice of celebrating or performing a festival related to
exorcism of evil. The Romans celebrated The Lemuralia or Lemuria a feast in
the religion of ancient Rome during which the Romans performed rites to
exorcise the malevolent and fearful ghosts of the dead from their homes. The
unwholesome specters of the restless dead, the lemures or larvae were
propitiated with offerings of beans. On those days, the Vestals would prepare
sacred mola salsa, a salted flour cake, from the first ears of wheat of the
season. When Christianity came to Ireland the church was already influenced
by its earlier traditions where exorcism of ghosts and sprits was a good thing.
To gain acceptance the church allowed itself to by influenced by folk customs
and beliefs and formed what was to become the root of Celtic Christianity.
Indeed, Jack Santino, a folklorist, writes that "the sacred and the religious are
a fundamental context for understanding Halloween in Northern Ireland, but
there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and
beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that
were Irish before Christianity arrived".

In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as the holiday,
All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows Day. All Saints day is dedicated to
remembering the dead including martyrs, all the faithful departed believers,
and especially saints -often referred to as (hallows). incorporated some of the
traditions of Samhain. In Brazil it is known as Dia dos mortos (Day of the
Dead or All souls Day).

By the end of the 12th century All Hallows Day had become one of the holy
days of obligation across Europe and involved such traditions as ringing
church bells for the souls in purgatory.

At the same time in regions of Celtic Christianity, Scotland, Ireland, and
Wales, the day before All Hallows Day - All Hallows Eve saw the continued
practices of their ancient pagan ancestors with the wearing of costumes and
the building of bonfires.

In the 19th Century Irish and Scottish Immigrants revived the practice of
ghosts creating trouble if not pacified on the eve of all Hallows day. At that
time it was more about the Tricks (truques) and mischief rather than the
treats. It wasnt until the mid 20th Century after WWII that it became a day of
family centered day of costumes and candy.

Over the millennia the holiday has transitioned from a somber pagan ritual to
a day of merriment, costumes, parades and sweet treats for children and
adults. Modern Halloween has become less about literal ghosts and ghouls
and more about costumes and candy. Today Halloween is a big business with
an estimated 6 billion dollars - 2014 figures - spent on candy and costumes in
the US. It is the 2nd largest holiday in terms of money spent by us consumers
ranking just behind Christmas.