I have come again to talk about a new topic that I have never talked about but I've been very interested on. I've also choosed this topic because soon some of you will celebrate, or at least you will be conscious, that the 31st of September is Halloween! Maybe some of you didn't know about this fact, but previous to the Christianization this festivity was called Samhain.
I would first like to talk about the people who believed in this pagan beliefs and they were the Celts. They lived approximately from the Bronze Age onwards and they were situated in many parts of Europe and the Mediterranean region. Although they were a vast amount of tribes they had the same language and the same artistic tradition which made them special from the rest of the world. Nowadays there are some parts of the British Isles and France where this language is spoken.
The Celts used to celebrate a festivity (Samhain) to conmemorate the ending of the harvest, in fact, etymologically, this words means 'the end of summer'. It was also for celebrate the start of a new year, as it began in those dates. Since this moment the days were getting shorter and the nights longer so for them it was a time of darkness (and sometimes literally because in the north the sun only showed up for few hours). Also in this time they kept the cattle and the herds in the stables, the time for harvest was over and things such as battles had no place until Beltaine (another festivity).
Spiritually, these people believed that the veil that separated the world of the living and the world of the spirits was thinner so that meant that these immaterial creatures could come and wander in our world. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing because all the passed-away members of a family could come once more and visit their loved ones. But also the evil creatures could pass through and make some damage so that's why they lighted up enormous bonfires to scare the bad spirits. The bonfire had a double function: to show the way home of the deceased and to keep away bad spirits. Also they wear costumes to hide from evil creatures.
So now you know a little bit more about this festivity! Nowadays as you can see it has changed a lot and it's more a consumist event than what it used to be.
Thanks for reading!
Pumpkin
I will link down below some sources that I have used.
Celts
Halloween's origin
Pumpkin image
