You might think that is a strange thing to say on the 1st of November but for the ancient Celtic people this was New Years Day.
Halloween, Toussaint, All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day and Samhain are all names for the celebrations that happen at this time of year, a time when European peoples celebrate the end of harvest and prepare for the coming winter and also celebrate and honour their dead relatives and friends.
The oldest of these festivals and the origin of all the others is Samhain. This is a festival to honour and remember the dead. The night of the 31st of October is the night that the worlds of the dead and the living overlap, a time when you an almost touch the other world, when you feel closest to those who have passed on and when maybe you can catch a glimpse of what lies beyond the veil of death.
Most of the festivities include a large bonfire and a big feast, maybe because it is the last chance for big party before the hard times of winter. Stories of dead friends and families are told as well as scary and spooky stories involving the supernatural and local heroes. You can see that modern Halloween is very much taken from these ancient festivals.
How does harvest fit into this idea? Well if you think about it the harvest is the end of the growing season, the final product of a plant is gathered and the plant dies or goes dormant until the spring. This is a time when the plants are on the edge of death or dormancy. Everywhere nature, including man is preparing for the onset of winter which due to its harshness often means death. It truly is a time when life and death are very close together.
Halloween, Toussaint, All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day and Samhain are all names for the celebrations that happen at this time of year, a time when European peoples celebrate the end of harvest and prepare for the coming winter and also celebrate and honour their dead relatives and friends.
The oldest of these festivals and the origin of all the others is Samhain. This is a festival to honour and remember the dead. The night of the 31st of October is the night that the worlds of the dead and the living overlap, a time when you an almost touch the other world, when you feel closest to those who have passed on and when maybe you can catch a glimpse of what lies beyond the veil of death.
Most of the festivities include a large bonfire and a big feast, maybe because it is the last chance for big party before the hard times of winter. Stories of dead friends and families are told as well as scary and spooky stories involving the supernatural and local heroes. You can see that modern Halloween is very much taken from these ancient festivals.
How does harvest fit into this idea? Well if you think about it the harvest is the end of the growing season, the final product of a plant is gathered and the plant dies or goes dormant until the spring. This is a time when the plants are on the edge of death or dormancy. Everywhere nature, including man is preparing for the onset of winter which due to its harshness often means death. It truly is a time when life and death are very close together.
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