Halloween – a wee bit of history & some common misconceptions 🔥

Halloween is one of my favourite times of year as it’s got such a complicated, fascinating history; as well as being full of great memories & being something I still celebrate today. So, I hope this wee post will be of interest to anyone who’s like me. Of course, as usual I’ve put a list of my sources at the end that people can go have a look at as well if they’re interested – you don’t just have to take my word for what I’m going to write below! ✨

Did you know that the idea of “the veil thinning” at Halloween is a modern belief rather than one found in “ancient Celtic” folklore? This idea seems to have originated with Spiritualists in Victorian times & then enjoyed mainstream popularity from the 1970s onwards after being picked-up by New Agers. Prior to this, references to a veil between the living & the dead in general can sometimes be found from the Early Modern Period onwards – these seem to have been influenced by translations of the Bible being brought in by people outwith Gaelic culture such as William Tyndale, an English Protestant scholar. A more traditional Gaelic/“Celtic” belief would be that Fairies, for example, physically lived in the “fairy hills” or elsewhere underground & would come out of these to roam about above ground, rather than living on some alternate plane obscured by a veil that stopped them from getting out when it wasn’t thin. Similar beliefs are referenced in things like the old Irish texts, which were written by early Irish Christian monks but appear to record older, pre-Christian stories/ideas – these beliefs then syncretised with Christianity & continued as folk beliefs. Therefore these supernatural forces were a part of everyday life for people in the past – which may be hard for many to understand nowadays – it’s just that they were thought to be more active at certain important times of year, such as the Gaelic Fire Festivals/Quarter Days 🔥

Same goes for the association with the dead – this being *the one* time of year for supernatural things good or bad to be out & about comes from Catholicism rather than pre-Christian belief, as does the name “Halloween”. In fact, this term actually comes from Scotland as it’s a contraction of the old Scots “Alhallow-evin” meaning All Saints’ Eve: the night before All Saints’ Day. That’s why we have variations in spelling such as “Hallowe’en” & “Hallow-E’en”. In modern Scots it’s usually called/spelt Hallaeen. The old Irish name for this time of year was Samain, now Samhain, & in modern Scottish Gaelic it’s commonly called Samhuinn or Oidhche Shamhna. This was an important time of year in Gaelic cultures as it was one of four Fire Festivals – times for gatherings, feasts, games, & in the old legends even starting adventures. These would have originally been reckoned by the moon & signs of seasonal changes rather than being on a fixed date, which came in after the church happened to move the feast day of All Saints’ from what’s now May to what’s now November. All Saints’ Day on 1st November followed by All Souls’ Day led to the fixing of Halloween & Oichche Shamhna (for many, & even modern “Samhain” for a lot of modern Neopagans) on 31st October, as well as contributing to the idea that this was *the one* time of year for supernatural activity 👻

Lastly, there isn’t really any evidence to support the idea of this festival being “the Celtic New Year” in ancient times either. This idea seems to have come from 19th century antiquarians rather than any ancient texts. It did – & still does – however mark the end of summer plus the start of winter & the darker half of the year in Gaelic cultures ❄️

Thank you if you read to the end & I hope you found it interesting – personally I love all things folklore & learning about how beliefs etc change over time. I’m not saying these changes are “wrong” either in terms of personal beliefs, just that we should acknowledge where/when things come from. On that note, I also think it’s important to acknowledge that I’m writing about this from a Scottish point of view, so in a context of older Gaelic cultural beliefs about Samhain syncretising over time with the Christian All Hallows. For other non-Gaelic cultures this time of year may not have been important & so for them there isn’t an older connection with modern Halloween, or if it was important their connection will come from their own unique culture & not Samain/Samhain. So, let’s celebrate our differences rather than attempting to lump everyone & everything together 😊!

⭐️ News: as of Oct 2022 there’s now an FB group in addition to the page, so if you enjoy discussing things like this please check it out & if it looks like it’s for you please feel free to request to join here – please make sure you answer all the membership questions as this helps us keep out bots & trolls etc, thanks ⭐️

🔍 Some example sources for this:

• Adrian Bott on Twitter – a brilliant thread debunking a lot of myths etc
• A great article from The Cailleach’s Herbarium
• This from Tairis – info on The Gaelic Year & Discussion of The New Year
• “Samhain Special: Corpse Carrying For Beginners”
• “The Further Adventures of Nera ~ The Cave Between the Worlds”
• “Dindshenchas 08: The Further Adventures of Nera – The Cow and the Time Machine”
• Another article by myself regarding The Gaelic Quarter Days etc including mention of Samhuinn
• The Gaelic Otherworld by George Gregorson Campbell, Edited by Ronald Black – example quotes: “The Gaelic belief recognizes no Fairyland or realm different from the earth’s surface on which men live and move. The dwellings are underground, but it is on the natural face of the earth the Fairies find their sustenance, pasture their cattle, and on which they forage and roam” & “The seasons on which their festivities are held are the last night of every quarter (h-uile latha ceann ràidhe), particularly the nights before Beltane, the first of summer, and Hallowmas, the first of winter. On these nights, on Fridays, and on the last night of the year, they are given to leaving home, and taking away whomsoever of the human race they find helpless, or unguarded or unwary. They may be encountered any time, but on these stated occasions men are to be particularly on their guard against them.”
• “Nos Galan Gaeaf: the traditional Welsh celebration being eclipsed by modern Halloween” – also contains details about the setting of dates for All Hallows by the church
• “Halloween: Customs, Myths and Messiness” & this post by Michael Fortune offer Irish perspectives on the many complex layers of modern Halloween
• History of the word “Halloween” & the Scots language – their info on the Gaelic roots isn’t great but it’s a Scots language site so the Scots bit is correct
• A man’s childhood memories of Oidhche Shamhna/Halloween on the Isle of Skye & the importance of Tobar An Dualchais in preserving our heritage
• Read about some Scottish Halloween traditions in Scots
• More Halloween learning resources from the above Scots Language site

(📸 Featured Photo credit: Pexel)