The traditions of Halloween and All Saints Day are very
ancient. They may date as far back as
3000 BC with the Druid who started some of the traditions we still follow
today. Today people normally only
celebrate Halloween; however, it use to be a three day observance in a few
churches. Halloween actually is All Hallows
Eve and is to be celebrated the day before All Saints Day and then the
following day is All Souls Day.
Hallow means
holy saint. So on the
appearance this day sound like a good day to observe since there is nothing
wrong with honoring the saints one day a year as long as you are not bowing
down and worshiping them. The New
Testament refers to Israelites who are in Christ as saints.
“Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ; to all the saints in Christ Jesus,
who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” Phil 1:1
“To the
saints and faithful brethren in
Christ Jesus, who are at Colossa.” Col 1:2
Therefore all our forefathers and mothers in Christ would be
considered saints and there is a commandment to honor you fathers and
mothers. The bible does not use the
words grandpa and grandma; so they are consider fathers and mothers also.
“Honour
thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be longlived upon the land which
the Lord thy God will give thee.” Exodus 20:12
Based on my research below, Halloween has been associated
with the following:
According to old newspapers and internet articles these were
the original events associated with Halloween:
·
Bell ringing
·
Ringing Church bells all night
·
The spirits are in the air and do mischief that
night
·
Departed spirits visit the earth that night
·
Prayers for departed ancestors
·
Cleaning the cemeteries
·
Putting flowers on grave stones
·
Church services and fasting on All Saints Day
·
It is a night to identify your future spouse
through divination
·
Making corn husk dolls dressed up as Maidens
that were paraded house to house
·
Pranks on others
·
Pounding on doors
·
Cabbage throwing and putting it on door knockers
·
Apple bobbing
·
Bonfires
·
Burning nuts
My objective
in this study was to learn about why Halloween was celebrated. I believe it is important to understand the
holidays we celebrate and why we have been celebrating them. I wanted to give credit to my ancestors that
they started this observance with good intentions. Below is an overview of how
Halloween and All Saints Day were started and how they progressed. I have many newspaper clippings that tell the
history of these dates below. The main
issue I see with observing Halloween is some of the traditions are considered
divinations and are not Christian. Some
of the pranks on Halloween are not Christian either. As you will see though, I do believe that All
Hallows Eve and All Saints Day originated with the Feast of Purim.
Prior to reading all the newspaper articles and history of
these days, I felt it important to document information about the Druids since
this feast appears to be originated by them.
It is important to understand the timing of past events.
Noah’s flood occurred c. 3239BC. Sometime after the flood Noah’s descendants
sailed to England and built Stonehenge.
The
construction of Stonehenge occurred sometime after c. 3100BC. The early priests of Stonehenge were the
Druids. It is thought that the Druids
were possibly the Chaldees of the bible (
Stonehenge
and Druidism by Raymond Capt, page 63).
The
Chaldeans were descendant to Enoch, Noah and Shem; therefore they
knew astronomy well. The book of
Jubilees, chapter 11, states that the Chaldeans practiced divination and
astrology according to the signs of the heavens.
·
March 21st - Spring Equinox – New
Year’s Day – the start of their feast day and agricultural calendar –
associated with planting
·
June 3rd - Feast or Festival of Weeks
also called Pentecost – associated with ripening
·
June 20th - Summer Division or
Quarter
·
September 19th - Fall Division or
Quarter – New Year’s Day the start of their civic duties –associated with the
harvest
·
December 19th - Winter Division or
Quarter
The laws were given to Moses in about 1448BC and sometime
after that some of the Phoenicians migrated to England and they were aware of
all the laws.
The Druids and Phoenicians knew of the importance of having
children; therefore finding a spouse would be important. The newspaper articles below show that part
of the Halloween observance had to do with finding a spouse. Part of the
covenant that our Heavenly Father made with Noah was that his children were to
multiply and fill the earth; therefore they needed a spouse to comply with this
covenant.
“And God blessed Noe and his sons. And he said to them: Increase and
multiply, and fill the earth. And let the fear and dread of you be
upon all the beasts of the earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all
that move upon the earth: all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your
hand.” Genesis 9:1
The newspaper articles state that the Druids kept three
feasts a year and the bible states that three feast were to be kept each year.
“Three times
every year you shall celebrate feasts to me.” Exodus 23:14
The Druids kept the bonfires going and the bible states the
fire was to be ongoing.
“The
fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out, but
the priest shall burn wood on it every morning; and he shall lay out the burnt
offering on it, and offer up in smoke the fat portions of the peace offerings
on it. Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.” Leviticus
6:12-13
The Festivals of Parentalia, Feralis, and Carista
According to newspaper accounts below, the Romans originally
called All Saints Day -
Feralis
and it was celebrated
February
13th to the 21st. Feralis means god or a sacred place and is associated
with the dead, corpses and funerals. The
February 13th through 20th observance was called the
Parentalia
Festival for honoring their dead ancestors and the yearly renewal of the rite
of burial.
On Feralis Roman citizens were instructed to bring offerings
to the tombs of their dead ancestors which consisted of at least "an
arrangement of wreaths, a sprinkling of grain and a bit of salt, bread soaked
in wine and violets scattered about." Additional offerings were permitted,
however the dead were appeased with just the aforementioned. Ovid tells of a
time when Romans, in the midst of war, neglected Feralia, which prompted
the spirits of the departed to rise from their graves in anger, howling and
roaming the streets. After this event, tribute to the tombs were then made
and the ghastly hauntings ceased. To indicate public mourning, marriages of any
kind were prohibited on the Feralia, and Ovid urged mothers, brides, and widows
to refrain from lighting their wedding torches. Magistrates stopped wearing
their insignia and any worship of the gods was prohibited as it
"should be hidden behind closed temple doors; no incense on the altar, no
fire on the hearth.
Caristia was celebrated on February 22nd and was to honored
family or ancestors. It followed the
Parentalia,
nine days of remembrance which began on February 13 and concluded with
the
Feralia on
February 21. For the Parentalia, families visited the tombs of their ancestors
and shared cake and wine both in the form of offerings and as a meal among
themselves. The Feralia was a more somber occasion, a public festival of
sacrifices and offerings to the Manes, the spirits of the dead who required
propitiation (cover over
sin). The Caristia in recognition of the family line as it continued into
the present and among the living. Caristia was a day of reconciliation when
disagreements were to be set aside.
From Parentalia to Caristia all temples were closed,
marriages were forbidden, and "magistrates appeared without their
insignia," an indication that no official business was conducted.
Feast of Purim
The Feast of Purim was declared in the Book of Esther to be celebrated
as a memorial forever. It was to be
celebrated to remember that they defeated their adversaries. It was to be celebrated in the twelve month
which was later named February. Purim
comes from the Latin word
pūrum which means to cleans or purify.
“For in the twelfth month, on the thirteenth day of the month which
is Adar, the letters written by the king arrived. In that day the
adversaries of the Judeans perished: for no one resisted, through fear of them.
For the chiefs of the satraps, and the princes and the royal scribes, honoured
the Judeans; for the fear of Mardochaeus lay upon them. For the order of the
king was in force, that he should be celebrated in all the kingdom. And in the
city Susa the Judeans slew five hundred men: both Pharsannes, and Delphon and
Phasga, and Pharadatha, and Barea, and Sarbaca, and Marmasima, and Ruphaeus,
and Arsaeus, and Zabuthaeus, the ten sons of Aman the son of Amadathes the
Bugaean, the enemy of the Judeans, and they plundered their property on the
same day: and the number of them that perished in Susa was rendered to the
king. And the king said to Esther, The Judeans have slain five hundred men in
the city Susa; and how, thinkest thou, have they used them in the rest of the
country? What then dost thou yet ask, that it may be done for thee? And Esther
said to the king, let it be granted to the Judeans so to treat them tomorrow as
to hand the ten sons of Aman. And he permitted it to be so done; and he gave up
to the Judeans of the city the bodies of the sons of Aman to hang. And the Judeans
assembled in Susa on the fourteenth day of Adar, and slew three hundred men,
but plundered no property. And the rest of the Judeans who were in the kingdom
assembled, and helped one another, and obtained rest from their enemies: for
they destroyed fifteen thousand of them on the thirteenth day of Adar, but took no spoil.
And they
rested on the fourteenth of the same month, and kept it as a day of
rest with joy and gladness. And the Judeans in the city Susa assembled also on
the fourteenth
day and rested [this day is a normally a
Sabbath rest day]; and they kept also the fifteenth with joy and gladness.
On this account then it is that the Judeans dispersed in every foreign land
keep the fourteenth of Adar as a holy day with joy, sending portions each to
his neighbour.” Sep Est 9:1-19
Queen Esther establishes the Feast of Purim to be forever
memorialized in the twelve month, now called February, on the 14th and
15th.
“And
Mardochaeus wrote these things in a book, and sent them to the Judeans, as many
as were in the kingdom of Artaxerxes, both them that were near and them that
were afar off, to establish these as joyful days, and to keep the fourteenth and
fifteenth of Adar; for on these days the Judeans obtained rest from
their enemies; and as to the month, which was Adar, in which a change was made
for them, from mourning to joy, and from sorrow to a good day, to spend the
whole of it in good days of feasting and gladness, sending portions to their
friends, and to the poor. And the Judeans consented to this accordingly as
Mardochaeus wrote to them, shewing how Aman the son of Amadathes the Macedonian
fought against them, how he made a decree and cast lots to destroy them
utterly; also how he went in to the king, telling him to hang Mardochaeus: but
all the calamities he tried to bring upon the Judeans came upon himself, and he
was hanged, and his children. Therefore these days were called Phrurae (now called Purim), because of the lots; (for in
their language they are called Phrurae;)because of the words of this letter,
and because of all they suffered on this account, and all that happened to
them. And Mardochaeus established it, and the Judeans took upon themselves, and
upon their seed, and upon those that were joined to them to observe it, neither
would they on any account behave differently: but these days were to be a memorial kept in
every generation, and city, and family, and province. And these days
of the Phrurae, said they,shall be kept for ever, and their memorial shall not
fail in any generation. And
queen Esther, the daughter of Aminadab, and Mardochaeus, wrote all that they
had done, and the confirmation of the letter of Phrurae. And Mardochaeus and
Esther the queen appointed a fast for themselves privately, even at that time
also having formed their plan against their own health. And Esther established it by a command for
ever, and it was written for a memorial.” Sep Esther 9:20-32
Later in the Book of Maccabees a decree was made to memorialize
the 13th day of the twelve month, now called February, as a day to
remember that they defeated their adversaries.
“Maccabeus seeing the coming of the multitude, and the divers
preparations of armour, and the fierceness of the beasts, stretched out his
hands toward heaven, and called upon the Lord that worketh wonders, knowing
that victory cometh not by arms, but even as it seemeth good to him, he giveth
it to such as are worthy: Therefore in his prayer he said after this manner; O
Lord, thou didst send thine angel in the time of Ezekias king of Judea, and
didst slay in the host of Sennacherib an hundred fourscore and five thousand: Wherefore
now also, O Lord of heaven, send a good angel before us for a fear and dread
unto them; And through the might of thine arm let those be stricken with
terror, that come against thy holy people to blaspheme. And he ended thus. Then
Nicanor and they that were with him came forward with trumpets and songs. But Judas and his company encountered the
enemies with invocation and prayer. So that fighting with their hands, and
praying unto God with their hearts, they slew no less than thirty and five thousand men:
for through the appearance of God they were greatly cheered. Now when the
battle was done, returning again with joy, they knew that Nicanor lay dead in
his harness. Then they made a great shout and a noise, praising the Almighty in
their own language. And Judas, who was ever the chief defender of the citizens
both in body and mind, and who continued his love toward his countrymen all his
life, commanded to strike off Nicanor's head, and his hand with
his shoulder, and bring them to Jerusalem. So when he was there, and called
them of his nation together, and set the priests before the altar, he sent for
them that were of the tower, And shewed them vile Nicanor's head, and the
hand of that blasphemer, which with proud brags he had stretched out against
the holy temple of the Almighty. And when he had cut out the tongue of that
ungodly Nicanor, he commanded that they should give it by pieces unto the
fowls, and hang up the reward of his madness before the temple. So every man
praised toward the heaven the glorious Lord, saying, Blessed be he that hath
kept his own place undefiled. He hanged also Nicanor's head upon the tower, an
evident and manifest sign unto all of the help of the Lord. And they ordained
all with a common decree in no case to let that day pass without solemnity, but
to celebrate
the thirtieth day of the twelfth month, which in the Syrian tongue is called
Adar, the day before Mardocheus' day. “ Sep 2 Maccabees 15:21-36
Therefore, now the Feast of Purim was to begin on the 13th
day just like the feasts of Parentalia and Feralis which became the All Saints
Day until it was moved to May. It was a
day to remember all those who had died in the Book of Esther and it 2nd
Maccabees.
February Means Purification
The
Roman month Februarius was
named after the Latin term februum, which means purification, via the
purification ritual held on February 15th. The purification ritual was the Feast of
Purim. The month of February was also called
historically called Kale-monath which is also known as cole or cabbage. According to The
Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, Volume 10, the Saxons called the month of February
‘spout-kale’.
As shown below in newspaper reports regarding Halloween,
cabbage was part of the observance. It
appears cabbage was thrown on All Hallows Eve.
Many European names for
cabbage are derived from
the Celto-Slavic root cap or kap, meaning
"head". The late Middle English word cabbage derives
from the word caboche "head". Some verities of cabbage are called capitata which
is a reference to the word head. Slang
use of the word of the word cabbage is "cabbage-head" which means a
fool or stupid person and "cabbaged" means to be exhausted or,
vulgarly, in a vegetative state. In
Maccabees above Nicanor’s head was decapitated and he was pronounced a blasphemer
therefore he was vulgar. The word
decapitated and capitata both refer to the word head just like the word cabbage. Therefore, the cabbage throwing tradition may
have started with this event in 2
nd Maccabees.
The throwing of cabbage still occurs today on St. Patrick’s
Day. Today St. Patrick’s Day is held on
March 17
th; however on the biblical calendar that day would have been
the twelfth month, February, on the 31
st day. Back then the twelfth month did have 31 days
and that day would have been New Year’s Eve celebration. Today St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated with
corned beef and cabbage; therefore, cabbage has been a tradition for the month
of February for a long time. On
this
page an explanation of why cabbage is thrown today on St. Patrick’s Day is given
stating it dates back to the potato famine that occurred in 1845; however, that
cannot be true since below I have posted a newspaper article showing that in
1844 the cabbage throwing tradition had already been established.
Another reason cabbage maybe of importance is because cabbage
plant is part of the
Cruciferae family and comes from the word
crucifer which means ‘cross
bearer’ and a cross bearer is part of a religious procession. Plants from the Cruciferae family have four
petals so when the flower blooms they look like a cross.
Cross bearing flower sources:
More February Feasts
Merriam-Webster dictionary states that that the last week of the year was the feast of
purification. In the ancient Roman calendar March was originally the first
month of the year and hence February was the last. The last weeks of the year
were a time when people made up for their wrongdoing to the gods and
purifications were performed. These rituals were called februa in Latin, and
from them the month took its name, Februarius.
This is probably where we get the tradition of making New Year’s
Resolutions since normally resolutions are to correct a wrong doing in our
life.
It is also said that February is the month of purification
since Mary finished her 40 day purification process on February 2
nd
after Jesus was born (Leviticus 12 and Luke 2:22). This is based on the fact that Jesus was born
on December 25
th; however,
Jesus was born on September 29th so Mary’s purification process would
have ended on November 9
th. Churches have been celebrating this date of
February 2
nd though in honor of Mary’s purification and this
celebration is called
Candlemas.
It is thought that Rome decided to observe Candlemas in
February to combine this celebration with the Feast of Imbolc and the Feast of
ending the Bear hibernation. Rome liked
to combine pagan tradition with Christian traditions. They may have done this in order so that the
pagan traditions would be forgotten.
Pagan simply means
rural people or people living out in the country and not in a city.
On February 1st, the
festival of Imbolc was held by
the Celts in Ireland and Scotland. At Imbolc,
Brigid's crosses were made and a doll-like figure of Brigid, called a BrÃdeóg, would
be paraded from house-to-house. The
doll was made from corn husks and made up to be a Maiden (more about the
corn doll here or
here). Brigid was said to visit one's home at
Imbolc. To receive her blessings, people would make a bed for Brigid and leave
her food and drink, while items of clothing would be left outside for her to
bless. Brigid was also invoked to protect homes and livestock. Special feasts
were had, holy wells were visited and it was also a time for
divination. The goddess
Brigid was associated
with purification and fertility at the end of winter. Peasants would carry
torches and cross the fields in procession, praying to the goddess to purify
the ground before planting. (Prays to a goddess are of course not Christian.)
From antiquity to the Middle Ages, the Celts celebrated the
end of hibernation of the bears
at the end of January and beginning of February. This was around the time when
the bears would leave their dens and see if the weather was mild. This festival
was characterized by bear costumes or disguises. For a long time, the Catholic Church sought
to stop these pagan practices. It is thought that this is why they instituted
the Feast of Purification of the Virgin Mary called Candlemas on February 2
nd;
however the truth is that they probably wanted this feast and the feast of
Purim stopped. The celebrations of the bear and the return of light continued,
with bonfires and other torchlight processions. Today on our calendar we
celebrate groundhogs day on February 2
nd instead of Candlemas or the
bears coming out of hibernation.
For more information Bear culture:
According to a newspaper report below, the Greek’s
celebrated All Saints Day the Sunday after Pentecost. The Sunday after Pentecost is actually called
Trinity Sunday. Since the church calculates when Pentecost is
observed based on when Easter is observed this date moves each year. Trinity Sunday normally is observed close to
Memorial Day which used to be called Decoration Day. Decoration Day was a day that Christians had
picnics at cemeteries and placed flowers on their markers. It was a day they remembered their
ancestors. Many people still celebrate
Decoration Day in this manner on Memorial Day.
This would be one way to honor our fathers and mothers before us.
In the year 607 AD,
Phocas, a Byzantine Emperor,
moved All Saints Day observance to May 13th; however one of the newspaper
reports below reflect the observance was moved to May 1st. The feast may have been moved to May 13th
since the ancient Roman
feast of Lemuralia or Lemuria
was held that day to performed rites to purge the wicked and fearful ghosts of
the dead from their homes. The unwholesome spectres of the restless dead, the
lemurs or larvae were propitiated with offerings of beans. On those days, the Vestals
would prepare sacred mola salsa, a salted flour cake, from the first ears of wheat
of the season. I do wonder if the cakes were originally made from corn since
Lemuriamay be had corn and also since Halloween has been associated with candy corn
and corn balls.
The other newspaper article mentioned above maybe referring
to the
Walpurgis feast that started in Germany. Celebrated
on April 30th was Walpurgis Night by the Dutch and German names, so called
because it is the eve of the feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess
in Francia. In Germanic folklore, Walpurgisnacht, also called Hexennacht,
literally "Witches' Night", is believed to be the night of a witches'
meeting on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, a range of
wooded hills in central Germany between the rivers Weser and Elbe. The
tradition was with bonfires to fence off the witches going to the Brocken is
observed as Saint John's Eve. It was essentially a midsummer celebration
"with witches". The current festival is, in most countries that
celebrate it, named after the English missionary Saint Walpurga (c. 710–777/9).
As Walpurga's feast was held on 1 May (c. 870), she became associated with May
Day, especially in the Finnish and Swedish calendars. Therefore, some of our Halloween traditions
come from this feast.
Above is a poster for a theatrical performance of Goethe's
play showing Mephistopheles showing supernatural creatures on the German
mountain, the Brocken (or Blocksberg), which according to the tale is the
scenery for the Walpurgisnight, from 30 April to 1 May.
About 837AD, Pope Gregory IV moved the day of observance of
All Saints Day to November 1st.
The Church communities then observed these days:
·
October 31st, All Hallow Eve: they cleaned the cemetery markers
·
November 1st, All Saints Day: Attended church services and visited the saint’s
burial sites. Some churches had a procession from the church to the cemetery. The Catholic Church required fasting on this
date.
·
November 2nd, All Souls Day: visit relatives’ burial sites and bring
flowers.
All Saints Day is called ‘
Day of the Dead’ in
Mexico now and they follow the Roman Catholic dates for observing this day. Mexico use to celebrate All Saints Day in the
middle of August since they use to follow the Aztec calendar. Therefore, their original date use corresponded
to the Feast of Pomona.
It is thought that the Roman Church moved All Saints Day to
November 1
st so that it would replace the
Festival of Pomona. Pomona was a goddess of fruitful abundance in
ancient Roman religion and myth. Her name comes from the Latin word pomum,
"fruit," specifically orchard fruit. Pomona was said to be a wood
nymph. In the myth narrated by Ovid, she scorned the love of the woodland gods Silvanus
and Picus, but married Vertumnus after he tricked her, disguised as an old
woman. She and Vertumnus shared a festival held on August 13. The pruning knife was her attribute.
Pomona,
by Nicolas Fouché, c.1700
The Greeks celebrated it the Sunday after Pentecost.
Column 1 is about Hallow Eve in England, Ireland &
Scotland. Below is only a portion of the
article.
Column 4 is about All Saints Day at the capital in Mexico
and the English tradition of ‘soul cakes’.
Below is only a portion of this article also.
The Irish Standard
Martin Luther started the Protestant reformation against the
doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church on Halloween. Maybe he knew that All Hallows Eve was a time for purification.
Presbyterian of the South News
Column 1
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/10021978/1920-10-13/ed-1/seq-6.pdf
This article agrees that Halloween use to be in February
which used to be the last month of the year.
All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day definitely are of
Christian origin; however not everything done on Halloween is considered
Christian. Many traditions were added as
Rome moved the date of the celebration; therefore All Hallow Eve is a
collection of many feast days. New traditions are being added to Halloween today
that are not considered Christian.
It appears that All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day were
originally the Feast of Purim, New Year’s Eve and New Years Day celebrations
and memorials. It was a time for
purification and preparation for the New Year. The New Year use to begin in spring when the
earth becomes new again with spring flowers and leaves on the trees.
It would appear that the original intentions of All Hallows
Eve and All Saints Day that is actually the Feast of Purim were as follows:
·
Honor your father and mother and your ancestors
·
Restoring family togetherness
·
Keep the cemeteries in good condition so that
they would be prepared for Jesus’ return and the dead to be risen (lots of
rural cemeteries in America could use help)
·
Prayer and asking our Heavenly Father to forgive the sins of our ancestors
·
Honor the covenant that our Father in Heaven
made with Noah to multiply
·
Keep HIS feast days
·
Keep your fire burning for Christ by reading the
bible
·
A time to purify your soul and make resolutions
It appears that the Roman Catholic Church's intentions were
to confuse our feast days and traditions.
Separating us from our traditions is part of the reason we forgot who we
were.
Some do believe that All Saints Day was a replacement
celebration for the
Feast
of Trumpets. I can see the
similarities. They ring bells all night
instead of blowing trumpets. They held
processions to the cemeteries that would be like a parade. Maybe our ancestors were preparing meals for
their dead and so forth to prepare for this verse to occur that night?
“Therefore as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear also
the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot possess the kingdom of God: neither shall corruption possess
incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall all indeed rise again:
but we shall not all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise
again incorruptible: and we shall be changed.” DR 1 Corth
15:49-52
I hope you enjoyed this article; I did enjoy researching
Halloween and All Saints day. I learned
a lot. If you choose to celebrate, keep
it biblical.
