Pagan holidays related to All Hallows Day

The reason why the Catholic Church chose the date or All Saints Day or All Hallows Day and All Souls’ Day or the Day of the Dead was to attract people’s attention from their pagan holidays towards Christian celebration.

The 31st of October and 1st of November were dates of Celtic holidays. On October 31 Celtic priests, also known as druids in ancient Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Germany and France payed tribute to the sun god, giving him thanks for the harvest and to Samhain, the god of death with many human sacrifices. November 1 was the Celtic New Year and according to beliefs it was the day when the souls of those who died in the previous year passed from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead. They believed that the sinful soul of a man can only be saved from agony if Shamhain was satisfied with the sacrifices. Druid exists to this day and they continue their old traditions in secret.

The Roman Pomona celebrated the goddess of fruit trees and was held on November 1. The Pomona and the two days of the Celtic Holiday were mixed in Celtic lands. When the Catholic Church chose this date for All Saints Day, things got even more complicated and Halloween was born. The floating apple game is inspired from the Roman Pomona.

The 1st of November is All Saints Day or All Hallow’s Day and the night between October 31 and November 1 is All Hallow’s Eve, shorly called Halloween. However, the customs associated with it are not Christian at all, its name comes from a Christian Holiday, but the customs from pagan folk legends and beliefs. Fot witches this is the day of death until today, commemorating their deads with various rituals.

The American „Trick or treat” custom has Irish origins that dates back to hundreds of years. Some people say that this custom is based on the belief that lost souls are wandering on this eve, therefore people offer them food so they won’t become angry. In addition there is a story about a group of farmers who were going door to door to ask for food in the name of their ancient gods for the village Halloween celebration, blessing all those who were generous and threathening those who were not willing to give.

According to the legends, an Irish horseshoe blacksmith, who was a drunkard going by the name of Jack O’Lantern, made a pact with the devil to not take him to the Hell when he dies, but Heaven was also closed for him. He got a piece of coal from the devil, which he put into a turnip, this being his only light for his soul wondering in the dark. People being afraid of the evil spirits carved demonic faces into turnips and put candles in them to keep them away from their homes. The pumkin lanterns came from America and became popular only later.

The Roman Feralia is not celebrated on the beginning of November, but is related to the Celtic Holiday. It was held between February 13-21, when the churches were closed, were no marriages held, people brought flowers and food to the cemetery. According to beliefs the underworld penalties were paused for these days, the souls of the dead were resting, so they came up to their graves and ate from the food.

It is interesting to note that the founding fathers of America didn’t allow the celebration of Halloween in the new world, because they believed that it is a pagan feast and it wasn’t widely spread until around 1900. In 1840 there was a great potato famine in Ireland, thousand of Irish Catholics emigrated to America bringing Halloween with themselves. 

If you want to buy gravelights, click here or on the pictures below: