Our Daily Dead

Samhain was the original name for the celebration we now call Halloween. Thank the Celts for this one. The night before the Celtic New Year of November 1 was thought to be a bit fuzzy - the boundary betwixt the world of the dead and the living blurred. Samhain was the celebration of this blurred time; a time for sacred bonfires, costumes and fortune telling.

After the Romans conquered the Celts the Romans mussed up Samhain by working into the mix Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead and later a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. Apple bobbing anyone? (Turns out that Pomona got her just desserts by becoming the name of an LA suburb.)

Ok now quick, think! Let’s say there is this kicking new religion and you are in charge of increasing the size of the flock. Ah ha! Lookee here: there are a bunch of non-believers who have this to-die-for party around November 1 each year. What if you also started to claim the day as a big deal for your startup organization? But what name? The Big Guy at the time - the seventh century that is - Pope Boniface IV - decided to call November 1 All Saints’ Day. This meant that the night before - Samhain - would now be called All-hallows Eve. Ta Da! Now you can come to our church and still have your party!

The same folks from Rome decided a few years later (circa 1000 A.D.) to call November 2 All Souls’ Day to honor the dead. Thus now a three day party was created - All Hallows-Eve, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. Tis a wonder any work got completed whatsoever! (Oh, and to simplify all the tongue twisting names the whole party was simply labeled Hallowmas.

Now why do certain segments of society feel that Halloween (from the Middle English Alholowmesse) is the work of the devil? (Especially after all that hard work on a dictionary). Certainly these late fall celebrations have a good deal of focus on the dead. In fact the Mexicans call the party El Dia de los Muertos. Mayhaps it is that some folks are all astir because of the seeming emphasis on witches and such oddities. All of these are things labeled as ‘bad’ by certain editiorials and other sacred books of stories.

Be that as it may, should you wish a wee bit of music to ponder all this by then we suggest picking up a CD or two from Loreena McKennitt. Loreena has an excellent voice and you should try “All Souls’ Night” from the album “The Visit” by way of example. Or toss on your headphones, up the volume and play most anything from Mahler.

Mind the candy now, say thanks for the things you have and take a moment to remember those beloved souls no longer with you.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 31st, 2005 at 12:00 am and is filed under ODD Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.