My 2 kopeks worth -
Guess it has to be done in two parts - Part 1
It’s difficult to ignore the onslaught, predominantly from various religious sites, that starts about this time every year. The internet begins to be flooded with articles and videos concerning the supposed origin of many of the present-day traditions associated with Halloween. Some are subtle in their message, whilst others loudly tout it as being nothing short of the “birthday of Satan himself.”
Many videos will interview so-called “ex-witches” who, for the most part, to say demonstrate very little understanding of the religious path they supposedly ‘followed for years’ would be a kindness. So much so, that I suspect many are simply ‘plants’ used by the creators of the respective videos.
In attempting to comment on the complete misunderstandings (due to either lack of research, or being taught incorrectly), and utter absurdities circulating about the supposed origins of both Halloween and its assumed predecessor, Samhain, as well as their associated customs, it is honestly difficult to know where to even begin; to encompass it all would quite easily make for a small book.
Modern Halloween as we know it today is just that – a modernly invented ‘holiday’ combining elements of an earlier American tradition called “Hell Night”, along with a healthy dose of good old “Hollywood” thrown in for good measure. Virtually all American customs associated with Halloween originated right around the 1920’s - 1930’s or so. While there are some vestigial elements from pre-Christian religions in some of the customs (the "apple" traditions - bobbing for apples for example, but that's from the Romans, not the Celts), the modern costumes, the blood, the gore, the reveling in death and destruction, the candy, even ‘trick or treat’ itself, dates no earlier than 1900’s America. In short, it’s a relatively new phenomenon and represents a mix of cultures, capitalism, and accommodation.
It's simply not a holiday that has close ties to the ancient past, nor does it have some ‘pagan’ antecedent, nor is a continuation of several ancient customs, as some would have one believe.
To be completely fair, the former American tradition known as ‘Hell Night’ had its ultimate origins in the relatively harmless pranks originating in Ireland and Scotland on Halloween. It is only here in America where it became extremely destructive and vandalistic in nature. A social and physical manifestation of the frustrating economic times of the depression era.
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of researching the various origins, traditions, and, ‘assumed truths’ about Halloween, is sifting through all the data and doing a ‘deep dive’ into historical records. In short, separating what is historical fact from what is historical ‘myth’ and ‘(urban) legend’. What we find, is that the origin of most Halloween traditions/beliefs comes from the latter (historical fiction), rather than the former (historical fact).
Many people seem to associate modern Halloween with three things: The old Celtic New Year’s celebration of Samhain (in asserting that most of Halloween’s customs can be traced to Samhain celebrations); Satanism (asserting that Halloween’s origins are Satanic as evidenced by the many Satanists who use this day to promote their beliefs); and All Saints Day (asserting that the early church established the holiday to “Christianize” Samhain). Upon a more critical examination however, these associations fall more into the categories of wishful thinking and urban legend than actual historic fact.
Halloween and Samhain – To say that modern Halloween’s connection to Samhain (that’s “SAH-win” by the way) is incredibly tenuous at best, would be an overstatement. Despite the horror stories one typically hears, the truth is, that painfully little is actually known about it. To attempt to connect Samhain to the traditions of modern Halloween is, for the most part, wishful thinking – it’s just not possible. The connection just isn't anywhere near as strong as some would apparently like it to be, but it seems that this supposed connection is also from where the bulk of the absurdities describing Halloween’s “pagan past” derive. The shift now seems to be away from the erroneous and utterly ludicrous “Samhain as Celtic Lord of the Dead” to the equally erroneous “Samhain as the Celtic Feast of the Dead”.
Most accounts we have of it come from early Christian Irish monks who, for obvious reasons, painted Samhain in the worst light possible, embellishing their stories with superstitions that were current in their day. In reality, they knew little more about Samhain then than we do today. By most historical accounts, Samhain seems to have been a time to honor ancestors, prepare for winter, and celebrate the final harvest of the year. Cattle that were deemed too weak to survive the winter were slaughtered for food. Indeed, the Welsh name for the month of November is Tachwedd , an old word that means "slaughter". These customs sound a lot like most European holidays from October-January. Indeed, the word ‘Samhain’ itself in Irish Gaelic (Samhuain in Scotts Gaelic, and Sauin in Manx Gaelic) simply means “summer’s end”. In these languages, it is also the name for the entire month of November (e.g. mìos an t-Samhain in Scotts Gaelic). Samhain shares a date with Halloween and perhaps a “feeling”, but really not much more. Indeed, so much of Halloween “feels” Pagan that attempts to connect those things to ancient Samhain simply “feels right”.
Halloween and Satanism – Halloween's association with Satanic worship and practices though real, is a very modern phenomena (1960's to present), and, of course, has zero connection to the pre-Christian Celtic holiday Samhain. Most people do not realize that the connection here is no more than 50-60 years old. For those who observe Samhain, Satanists are regarded with just as much disgust and disdain, indeed, if not more so, than Christians regard them - Satanists are responsible for appropriating this day to not only promulgate their beliefs, but to completely twist the day into something it simply never was. Not to defend them in any way , but, again, to be completely fair, it should be noted that most supposed practices of these groups are, again, based upon complete misinformation, supposition, and urban legend; not actual fact.
Many of their assumed and supposed practices stem from the so-called “Satanic Panic”, a conspiracy theory that swept across America in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. It seems however, that some Christian denominations are doing their darndest to bring it back. Interviews and ‘testimonies’ from ‘Satanic Panic’ holdovers, as well as newcomers such as John Ramirez, are just one of many examples. Others, such as the late Anton LeVey, completely capitalized to the extreme on people’s fear and assumptions.
One in particular has become perhaps one of the most asserted beliefs, and one that LeVey and his ilk completely capitalized on, is that Halloween is the “most important day of the year” for Satanists – it’s not; the most important day of the year for a Satanist is his/her own birthday (a rather narcissistic lot, these). This is a perfect example of how purposeful misinformation evolves into an assumed “truth”.
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