Celtic Halloween Traditions by Elizabeth Eagan-Cox

 (a brief version of this article appeared in the Haunted History editorial of the Museum of the Mabcabre under the title of...) 

Haunted History of Halloween.  October 30 & 31st, 2009

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History and folklore say that Halloween has its taproot buried in pre-Christian Celtic celebrations honoring change of seasons and the day when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest. Celtic cultures from Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales introduced Halloween to North America. Once upon a time, before Hollywood intervened on Halloween, the holiday stood for making merry in ways to placate luckless souls and divine the future for the living.

The Celtic day of the dead, named Samhain ("Sah-ween") and called All-Hallow’s Eve in Christian culture, is what we know as Halloween. On the Celtic calendar, October 31 marked the year’s end with New Year on November 1. Halloween represents an end and a beginning…the perfect holiday to pay homage to the dead and look forward to a New Year.

However, the Christian Church wasn’t so sure about this pre-Christian pagan holiday. Scottish cultural writer Susan Keeping expresses it best: "Like many other holidays on the Christian calendar, the holiday was co-opted from the pagan celebration by the Church. Pope Gregory III moved All-Saints Day from May to November 1^st." Thus, October 31 became All Hallows’ Evening and then shortened to Halloween. Be it Samhain, All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween…traditions are celebrated with little variance throughout Celtic lands. Let’s take a glance back in time for a few ways to enjoy Halloween in historical perspective through Activities, Divination, Food, and a Prayer.

Activities

What to wear? Last year’s costume won’t do…bet you wouldn’t be caught dead in it! How about a disguise? One by which the wandering souls of the dead won’t recognize you, keeping you safe from being snatched! In ancient times people wore heavy cloaks…hooded fashions in dark colors that allowed them to roam about at night in secret identity. This practice was called Guising. Guising originates from the performance art of mummers. Mumming is the forerunner to pantomiming, the act of performing a skit through physical actions sans verbal communication. Before little tykes in costumes knocked on your door demanding treats in lieu of playing a trick on you…people in guises came calling and performed for their treats! It was a trick for a treat, not the other way around!

Mumming began during the first centuries of Christianity in Britain. A time when it was customary to leave offerings of food and drink out on October 31 for the dead, who were traveling on their way to their destined fate, whatever that might be. Feeding the dead was believed to mollify restless souls, especially those who were not eager to be on their way! In later years, citizens took an active roll in protecting their lives and dressed in

frightful clothes, masks and painted faces to scare away wandering souls of the dead. They too went calling on neighbors for refreshments and they called it "Soulin’."

Divination (Fortune-Telling)

What does the future hold? The most popular divination dealt with discovering one’s own true love. Techniques varied, but all produced the same result. Using a hand-held mirror, a woman or man would stand in the dark, at the top of their home’s stairway holding a mirror in front of them and above their shoulder, and then tread slowly down the stairs, ever watchful for a face to materialize in the mirror’s reflection. That face would be the person they would marry by year’s end. If, by the time the person reached the bottom of the stairs a face had not appeared, they were destined to remain loveless for that year. Another take on this spell was to stand in front of a mirror in a darkened room, hold up to the mirror a single lit candle and gaze into the mirror. The face of your true love will be reflected in the mirror.

Apples, a plentiful fruit in harvest season were used of divination. Legend says to take a knife, then peel an apple in one singular spiral without ever breaking the circle, next, toss the spiraled peel over your shoulder. Once the peel lands on the ground, turn around and look for the initial of the alphabet it best resembles…this is the initial the starts the first name of your love. Young men of apprentice age would use this technique to determine their future career. The peel represented the first initial of the trade they should study.

Food

Apples are abundant at Halloween and bobbing for apples was a popular game for children and adults. And apples are the main ingredients for a libation of apple cider laced with whisky, then served warm with spices, this drink is known today--without the whiskey--as mulled cider.

The most legendary food of all is pumpkin and it was used for pies, cakes and lanterns. The pumpkin of North America was not used for a lantern in the Celtic lands of Britain. Turnips and gourds were used instead. Jack O’Lantern is more American than British. Be it a turnip or a pumpkin, a lantern serves the same purpose. Legends abound, but one remains most common, it is the story from eighteenth century Ireland: A blacksmith named Jack made a deal with the Devil. Some say Jack bargained out of greed, others say love drove Jack to his devilish pact. Whatever the deal was, Jack was denied entrance into Heaven and doomed to wander the earth. The devil provided Jack with burning coal to light up a gouged-out turnip, a measly bit of light and warmth with which Jack scavenges his existence. In Ireland people carve ugly faces into their turnips to scare away Jack of the Lantern.

Prayer: Things that Go Bump in the Night!

Many Celtics concluded their Halloween festivities with a prayer. Below is a common refrain from an ancient Scottish Halloween prayer:

From Ghoulies and Ghosties,
And Long-Leggedy Beasties,
And Things That Go Bump in the Night,
Good Lord, Deliver Us!