Farmers, Pagan Invaders, Christians, and Halloween Quiz

Before the discovery of the Mound of the Hostages in the 1950s in the Tara-Skryne Valley in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland, the creation of the pagan festival known as Samhain was credited to the Celts. The mound's construction c. 3500 BC, however, could indicate that there was a belief in a doorway opening to the Otherworld at certain times that predated the Celts' arrival to the area.

Believed by anthropologists to have been constructed by Neolithic farmers, the Mound of the Hostages was constructed using earth and megaliths. It is a passage tomb, which means that the burial chambers inside were connected to a long narrow passageway. Is it a coincidence that this passage was illuminated by the rising sun on the mornings when the pagan festival of Samhain began? Probably not!

An estimated 250-500 cremated bodies, along with their grave goods, were buried in the Mound of the Hostages until approximately 1700 BC. The full body of a young man was also found there.

The Celts were a group of Indo-European invaders who settled between India and Europe, covering a wide expanse of territory. There were many different tribes of Celts that warred against each other and had different names. For example, the ancient Greeks who wrote about them typically used the names "Keltoi" or "Galatai". While they eventually were Hellenized, Celts in the areas around Greece kept some of their own customs and language.

Romans typically called the Celts "Galli or Gallia", and frequently were involved in conflicts with them. In fact, some Celts warred against Rome and sacked the city around 390 BC. Their success led the Romans to build gargantuan walls around their city. Some historians believe it is difficult to know if Roman writers wrote true observations about the Celts, since there was a bit of hard feelings left behind.

Overall, both Greek and Roman historians tended more to write about the Celts' appearance and fighting techniques than they did about their customs and way of life. They thought it was odd that Celtic women were given high status and that the people were prone to massive drunken parties. They did comment, however, on Celtic religious practices, which aids in our study of Halloween, but only a little.

So, what do the Celts have to do with Halloween? For years they were given credit for the creation of Samhain, an event on the pagan calendar that marks the end of harvest season and beginning of winter. Although archaeological discoveries may indicate an earlier beginning to Samhain, there is little doubt as to whether the Celts also contributed.

After the stories were finally written down, tales were told of Samhain being a time when doorways to the Otherworld were open for just one night, from sunset to sunset, and the souls of the dead would walk the earth. It was a time when the world was in a seasonal transition, and humans had to be extra cautious. The Celts are said to have protected themselves by lighting huge bonfires and wearing disguises, in addition to offering a part of their harvest to the deal souls that might arrive.

And - just an fyi - all indigenous British peoples today are descended from the Celts, although the term is mostly used in modern times to describe a language family.

After Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed the First Triumvirate in 60 BC, they each went their own separate ways, seeking power and glory. Caesar had his eye on Gaul, a huge area to the north of Italy; this was the territory of the "Galli or Gallia" Celts that the Romans talked about. In 55-54 BC Caesar invaded Britannia. Although he was not able to establish permanent Roman control there, he did come into contact with the Celtic people who were living there at the time.

Caesar witnessed the customs of the Celts first hand, and recorded the information in his book, "Commentarii de Bello Gallico". In it he described a festival involving what is commonly called the wicker man, which involved human sacrifice. He described the Celts building a large wicker figure that was filled with living people, typically criminals, and then setting it on fire. Strabo, a Greek historian who lived from about 64 BC-24 AD, also wrote about the event, and stated that the ashes from the fire were kept to help the crops grow.

Historians are still debating whether or not Caesar told the truth or wished to embellish the story a bit to show the Celts in a negative light. It was written, however, in historical references that the lighting of bonfires was central to many Celtic celebrations. These cleansing rituals associated with fire were believed to protect the people from spirits that might harm them.

If you think about it, the Roman conquest of Britannia took a lot of planning, manpower, and work. In 43 BC the Emperor Claudius began a successful invasion of the island, which continued until the Romans reached the area which is modern day Scotland. There were constant rebellions - like Boudica's Revolt, for example - but the Romans stayed, although their influence had been declining for years, until 410 AD when their control of the area was officially relinquished.

Apple trees did not exist in Britannia until they were introduced by the Romans. What does this have to do with Halloween? If you think about it, apples are central to the celebration. People still bob for apples and give them out as treats. At one time they were even used to foretell the future. The first person to successfully bob and catch the apple would be the first to marry. Putting an apple under the pillow would give a person dreams of love, and pealing an apple in one strip would reveal the initial of one's true love.

These rituals could obviously not have existed in Britain until the Romans introduced apple trees, so how did they originate? The Romans celebrated the Festival of Pomona, goddess of fruit and gardens, around November 1. Apples represented many things to them, including immortality, love, and beauty; of course, these beliefs were introduced to the people in Britannia. In addition, although it was held a bit later, around February 21, the Romans also held a festival called the Feralia, one of many festivals that honored the dead. Failing to honor the dead would result in their rising up and haunting the people. Consequently, there seems to be some historical evidence which points to the fact that some of the rituals involving Samhain and the Festivals of Pomona and Feralia were merged together.

Christianity was legalized in the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine in 313 AD, but that just meant that Christians would no longer be persecuted. Conversion was a matter of choice. In 380 AD, however, Emperor Theodosius declared that it would become the official state religion of the Roman Empire. That meant that everyone throughout the empire was forced to convert. Imagine how difficult enforcement of the edit was as far away as Britannia!

Christianity had already been introduced to the region, mostly through trade and the soldiers who were stationed there. As the power of Rome waned, however, new invaders came to the area with their pagan beliefs. St. Augustine was sent in 597 AD to convert the people - again - and, over time, the Christian religion was once again established. In the western part of the island, modern Wales, and the northern part, modern Scotland, it was known as Celtic Christianity.

Celtic Christianity was a blend of many beliefs, including the pagan beliefs of the ancient Celts and Romans. People continued to have a very strong connection with the spirit world, and the Catholic Church realized that it was important to allow this if they wanted loyal converts. While it does not seem in character for the Catholic Church to be so lenient toward those they wanted to convert, the Church in England did become more flexible after Henry VIII cut ties with the Roman Catholic Church.

With the Roman rule of Britannia officially ending in 410 AD, the island was open to invasion. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were the three largest tribes of people who came from Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands to settle in Britain. Their previous attempts to invade Britannia had been repelled by the Romans, but without Roman protection, the land was theirs for the taking.

Many of the Anglo-Saxon people were warrior-farmers, who came looking for fertile farmland. They were also pagans who brought with them their own particular beliefs, including the idea of making sacrifices to their deities and holding feasts and festivals. While it may be difficult to find many eye witness accounts of their religious practices, a few do exist. The Venerable Bede wrote about them in his "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" (c. 731 AD), and also described their winter festival in an essay called "The Reckoning of Time" (725).

Bede said that the Anglo-Saxons had two seasons - winter and summer. Winter was called "Winterfellith", and began during the month of October. The following month was called "Blodmonath"; during this time blood sacrifices took place. Like the Celts, it appears that Anglo-Saxons ritually slaughtered their cattle, and probably for the same reason - they could not feed all of them over the winter. The bones were then thrown into the "bonefire", the fire in home hearths was doused, and new fires were lit from the bonefire. It seems that this belief blended well among all the peoples who lived in Britain at the time.

In 601 AD Pope Gregory I sent a letter, the "Epistola ad Mellitum", to Abbot Mellitus, who was being sent to Britain as a missionary. He would later become the third Archbishop of Canterbury.

In the letter Gregory instructed Mellitus to allow the people to continue to worship at their pagan temples. This policy was highly unusual, as the Church typically destroyed anything that was seen as being pagan, and did its best to stamp out the old beliefs. Mellitus, however, was to allow pagans to continue to worship their gods and gradually introduce Christian beliefs, over time replacing the symbols of the old gods with symbols of the new god.

In addition, the people would be allowed to continue to hold their feasting celebrations and sacrifice their livestock. A connection, however, eventually needed to be made with Christian festivals that would lead to an integration with all beliefs. Perhaps Gregory's intentions were to replace pagan holidays with Christian ones that were held at the same time?

The Roman Catholic Church began its celebration of All Hallow's Day in 609 or 610 AD, however, it was not held in October. It was held on May 13, around the time of the ancient Roman festival of the dead, Lemuria, and began as a day to remember Christian martyrs. Pope Boniface IV (550-615) consecrated the Pantheon in Rome at the time to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and all martyrs.

In 731 AD Pope Gregory III (731-741) moved the date of the observance to November 1, and included all saints, not just martyrs, in the celebration. It appears that the change was made in an attempt to bring all of the religious beliefs together, as many different groups celebrated the beginning of winter at this time.

An All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween, celebration appears to have been thrown into the mix sometime during the 800s. Who started it, and why? There are countless theories, including ones that have already been discussed in this quiz, and it is highly likely that we will never know for sure. We do know that Halloween did became part of a three-day celebration called Allhallowtide.

So, Allhallowtide is a tridumm, a religious observance that lasts for three days in the Catholic Church. It began with an All Saint's Day observance on November 1, with the All Hallow's Eve was added on October 31 sometime later. All Soul's Day, the third day of the observance on November 2, was first added in the 1000s by Bishop Notger (c. 940-1008) at the Diocese of Ličge in Belgium.

The purpose of All Soul's Day, also called Commemoration of All Faithful Departed, was to pray for the dead, especially for those whose souls were still in Purgatory, their punishment for committing petty misdeeds. It was a holiday primarily in the Catholic Church, and Saint Odilo of Cluny (c. 962-1049) is credited with spreading the practice in the 11th century. The faithful visited graves during this time, lit candles, prayed, and attended mass. In some areas, children went from door to door begging, or souling, for soul cakes, while saying prayers for the dead.

Celts were aliterate, which means they preferred to pass along oral rather than written histories. What we know about their religion, therefore, is from people who observed their practices and wrote about the druid priests who were important in Celtic society.

Christian monks first recorded Irish myths in the 500s AD. They, however, tended to embellish the stories with Christian views. Finally, in the 9th century AD, Gaelic authors began to record Irish mythology. This is important because inadvertently they also mention information about Samhain, which helps to at least legitimize the stories and legends a bit. For example, the story of "Tochmarc Emire" (c. 800s AD) says that Samhain was one of four seasons of the year. A truce would be called and festivals and feasting would take place.

Dating to the 12th century, "The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn" states that the entryways to the Otherworld were "always open during Samhain". The "Lebor Gabála Érenn", which has been dated to the 11th century, states that sacrifices, sometimes human, and offerings were given during Samhain. As you can see, any information gleaned from these sources about the origins of Halloween must painstakingly be put together, but it is there to be found if it is carefully read.