Mad About Jewellery Blog

It’S Cool To Be A Ghoul!

Posted on 18 October 2009

Like most people you probably don’t give a second thought to Halloween? You probably think it’s just for kids.  Big in America.  Of little consequence here.  But there’s some serious background to this ancient Festival.  Once you’re clued up as to why it’s cool to be a ghoul, you can forget your age and act your shoe size, as you dress up as witch, devil, angel or demon, carve a candlelit head from a bright orange pumpkin and fill every kid that comes to your door with treats galore!

CELTIC CULTURE

Halloween dates back 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic Festival of Samhain, which marked the end of Summer, the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter.  The Celts believed that on this one night, for a few hours before their new year began on November 1st, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred and the ghosts of the dead returned to earth, wreaking mayhem and damaging crops.  The presence of these other-worldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to prophesy the future. During the long, dark winter months that followed, such prophesies were an important source of comfort and direction.
To commemorate Samhain, the Celts dressed up in costumes made of animal heads and skins and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes and the Druids built huge sacred bonfires where the people gathered to burn crops and offer animal sacrifices to their Celtic deities.  When the celebrations were over, the Celts re-lit their hearth fires, which they had dutifully extinguished earlier, from the sacred bonfire, igniting the flames that would protect them during the coming winter.

THE ROMANS GET IN ON THE ACT

By A.D. 43, the Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory and in the course of the 400 years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two Roman festivals were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honour Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. Since the symbol of Pomona was the apple, this probably explains the Halloween tradition of “bobbing” for apples.

ALL SAINTS, SOULS AND HALLOWMAS

By the 800s,  Christianity had spread into the Celtic lands and in the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 to be All Saints’ Day, the day the Church would honour saints and martyrs. This celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day).  It was not long before the night of 31st October, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
Even later, in A.D. 1000, the Church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honour the dead. Like Samhain, this was celebrated  with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in saint, angel and devil costumes. Together, these three celebrations, the eve of All Saints, All Saints, and All Souls, were called Hallowmas.

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