Great read - Halloween has always been about more than costumes and candy. At its core, it’s about standing on the threshold between worlds: a moment when the visible and invisible brush against each other.
Like autumn, it marks the dying of one season and the preparation for something new.
The masks, the candles, the harvest, the long nights, all of it comes from an intuition that death isn’t the end, but a passage.
Even dressing up as ghosts or monsters is, in a way, our attempt to face what scares us instead of pretending it’s not there.
As you mention, in the Christian calendar, Halloween comes right before All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, the time when the Church remembers those who’ve passed through death into light - so symbolically, it sits right at the edge of chaos, acknowledging that darkness comes before holiness dawns.
Like winter after the harvest, it reminds us that decay isn’t final. Not ignoring death but taking it in points to the resurrection.
So Halloween isn’t just candy and cheap jumpscares! (it’s the part of us that stays up late writing emails we’ll never send). Thanks for showing that what we call fun is just a thin costume over existential dread.
I believe Samhain has less to do with the timing of [Halloween,] All Saints, & All Souls than most people think. So many people try to tie the pagan to the Christian as a means of weakening the Christian and/or elevating the pagan. Traditionally, the Church makes no mention, not even obliquely, to the celebration of Samhain when establishing All Saints/All Souls Days.
Initially All Saints Day was in May, but when a church in Rome was to be dedicated to All Saints on November 1, the celebration of All Saints was moved to November 1. People would make pilgrimages to the All Saints church around the time of its anniversary of its dedication. Particularly people that did not have a church with their particular Saint’s name. This led to the Church marking that day as a worldwide feast/solemnity. People could visit their local churches and beloved dead at their cemeteries in honor of this day. To honor everyone’s beloved dead, All Souls Day was added the day after All Saints. While it’s possible that some of the Celtic adjacent people meshed the Christian celebration with the pagan one, many of the customs originate more with Christians imitating the Saints in costume, asking the people for prayers for the dead, and gathering to celebrate the lives of the beloved dead collectively.
The current Halloween ‘festivities’ do probably owe more to recent scholarship linking Halloween to Samhain and/or to the decrease of faithful and the increase in those against the Faith. The widespread rejection of Saints by the 40,000 Protestant denominations and their narrative that praying for intercession is at best worthless, but at first demonic also probably pushed the celebration of Halloween towards where it is now. As society becomes more and more ‘tolerant’ of pagan & occult rituals Halloween will continue to get further and further from its Christian roots.
I had just posted my take and a quote/link from Lisa Bittel, Professor of History, University of Southern California. The entire article points out how we really don’t even know how Samhain was celebrated--most all our beliefs about Samhain are conjecture. She also agrees with you that in 834, Pope Gregory IV who set the date for All Hallows Day (All Saints Day) had no knowledge of Samhain or other Celtic traditions. He was merely consolidating and setting one date to make certain it was being observed consistently.
I think it's beautiful how so many holidays have a history measured in centuries. People look for a reason to celebrate and take the closest thing, add some contributions to it and pass it along down the generations.
Excellent summary. So often the benevolent religious connections to Halloween seem to get swept under the rug in favor of the mysterious spiritual connections.
Actually, it’s not so much a reworking of Samhain as many think.
From Lisa Bittel, Professor of History, University of Southern California:
"The link between Oct. 31, ghosts and devils was really the pope’s fault.
"In 834, Pope Gregory IV decreed Nov. 1 the day for celebrating all Christian saints. In English, the feast day became All Hallows Day. The night before — Oct. 31 — became known as All Hallows Eve.
"Some modern interpretations insist that Pope Gregory created All Hallows Day to quell pagan celebrations of Samhain. But Gregory knew nothing of ancient Irish seasonal holidays. In reality, he probably did it because everyone celebrated All Saints on different days and, like other Popes, Gregory sought to consolidate and control the liturgical calendar.”
-Lisa Bitel, Dean’s Professor of Religion and Professor of History, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
I often point out how it is more about poking fun at our fear of death and poking fun at the “powers and principalities” because they have been ultimately defeated.
Este post lo compartí con mis conocidos en redes sociales para que no se queden con la idea de que el Halloween es de Estados Unidos, cuando en realidad surgió en Europa.
Great read - Halloween has always been about more than costumes and candy. At its core, it’s about standing on the threshold between worlds: a moment when the visible and invisible brush against each other.
Like autumn, it marks the dying of one season and the preparation for something new.
The masks, the candles, the harvest, the long nights, all of it comes from an intuition that death isn’t the end, but a passage.
Even dressing up as ghosts or monsters is, in a way, our attempt to face what scares us instead of pretending it’s not there.
As you mention, in the Christian calendar, Halloween comes right before All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, the time when the Church remembers those who’ve passed through death into light - so symbolically, it sits right at the edge of chaos, acknowledging that darkness comes before holiness dawns.
Like winter after the harvest, it reminds us that decay isn’t final. Not ignoring death but taking it in points to the resurrection.
I love memento mori art and the danse macabre
So Halloween isn’t just candy and cheap jumpscares! (it’s the part of us that stays up late writing emails we’ll never send). Thanks for showing that what we call fun is just a thin costume over existential dread.
I believe Samhain has less to do with the timing of [Halloween,] All Saints, & All Souls than most people think. So many people try to tie the pagan to the Christian as a means of weakening the Christian and/or elevating the pagan. Traditionally, the Church makes no mention, not even obliquely, to the celebration of Samhain when establishing All Saints/All Souls Days.
Initially All Saints Day was in May, but when a church in Rome was to be dedicated to All Saints on November 1, the celebration of All Saints was moved to November 1. People would make pilgrimages to the All Saints church around the time of its anniversary of its dedication. Particularly people that did not have a church with their particular Saint’s name. This led to the Church marking that day as a worldwide feast/solemnity. People could visit their local churches and beloved dead at their cemeteries in honor of this day. To honor everyone’s beloved dead, All Souls Day was added the day after All Saints. While it’s possible that some of the Celtic adjacent people meshed the Christian celebration with the pagan one, many of the customs originate more with Christians imitating the Saints in costume, asking the people for prayers for the dead, and gathering to celebrate the lives of the beloved dead collectively.
The current Halloween ‘festivities’ do probably owe more to recent scholarship linking Halloween to Samhain and/or to the decrease of faithful and the increase in those against the Faith. The widespread rejection of Saints by the 40,000 Protestant denominations and their narrative that praying for intercession is at best worthless, but at first demonic also probably pushed the celebration of Halloween towards where it is now. As society becomes more and more ‘tolerant’ of pagan & occult rituals Halloween will continue to get further and further from its Christian roots.
I had just posted my take and a quote/link from Lisa Bittel, Professor of History, University of Southern California. The entire article points out how we really don’t even know how Samhain was celebrated--most all our beliefs about Samhain are conjecture. She also agrees with you that in 834, Pope Gregory IV who set the date for All Hallows Day (All Saints Day) had no knowledge of Samhain or other Celtic traditions. He was merely consolidating and setting one date to make certain it was being observed consistently.
I just wrote a piece on the origins of Halloween myself, and the original traditions. Great to see this piece coming out today.
https://open.substack.com/pub/endaharte/p/samhain-and-stoicism-01b?r=snmol&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
I think it's beautiful how so many holidays have a history measured in centuries. People look for a reason to celebrate and take the closest thing, add some contributions to it and pass it along down the generations.
https://open.substack.com/pub/pancakesushi/p/memento-mori?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=6obmra
Glad to be Catholic!
Excellent summary. So often the benevolent religious connections to Halloween seem to get swept under the rug in favor of the mysterious spiritual connections.
Actually, it’s not so much a reworking of Samhain as many think.
From Lisa Bittel, Professor of History, University of Southern California:
"The link between Oct. 31, ghosts and devils was really the pope’s fault.
"In 834, Pope Gregory IV decreed Nov. 1 the day for celebrating all Christian saints. In English, the feast day became All Hallows Day. The night before — Oct. 31 — became known as All Hallows Eve.
"Some modern interpretations insist that Pope Gregory created All Hallows Day to quell pagan celebrations of Samhain. But Gregory knew nothing of ancient Irish seasonal holidays. In reality, he probably did it because everyone celebrated All Saints on different days and, like other Popes, Gregory sought to consolidate and control the liturgical calendar.”
-Lisa Bitel, Dean’s Professor of Religion and Professor of History, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/ancient-irish-get-too-much-credit-for-halloween/#:~:text=Folklorists%20created%20a%20through%20line,beliefs%20had%20ancient%20pagan%20roots.
I often point out how it is more about poking fun at our fear of death and poking fun at the “powers and principalities” because they have been ultimately defeated.
Is someone able to explain to me where the doctrine of Purgatory comes from out of Scripture?
Además les comparto mi Substack por si quieren conocer mi trabajo: https://substack.com/@asiseescribelahistoria?utm_source=user-menu
Este post lo compartí con mis conocidos en redes sociales para que no se queden con la idea de que el Halloween es de Estados Unidos, cuando en realidad surgió en Europa.
Fantastic article!