This is my second article in a series
about Halloween that I started this year.
To recapitulate from my previous article, I basically became tired of
Christian articles and videos that used inaccurate historical information and
unreliable sources for discouraging other Christians from celebrating
Halloween. I will reiterate what I
said before: if you, as a Christian, choose not to celebrate Halloween for
spiritual reasons—that you don’t find it spiritually beneficial for you, that
the premise of the holiday conflicts with the personal practice of your
Christian faith and beliefs, etc.---that’s fine. But if you’re going to either accept or reject Halloween as a Christian, then
do so based on accurate historical facts.
Don’t base your approach to Halloween on information from New Age
sources that have scanty scholarship, absurd books by Victorian writers about
so-called “ancient Irish” practices with no basis in archaeology and no
bibliography of primary sources, or writings from the Middle Ages that are
woolly at best. Granted, not all
medieval sources are unreliable, but they must be read with discernment. After all, the people of medieval Europe are
the same people who wrote stories about dog-headed people whom they believed to
live in the Far East, and strange green people who came up out of the
earth. They’re also the same people who
cut the heads off of corpses when they buried them, because they were afraid that
the dead person might rise from the grave and walk about, terrorising villagers
(British spelling), or possibly causing the plague. For a really good exposé on what medieval
people in Western Europe believed, watch this really excellent BBC video by English
history professor and medievalist Robert Barlett, who quotes primary sources
from the period throughout:
If the above link doesn’t work, this
video, entitled “Inside the Medieval Mind,” can be found on YouTube as well.
Anyway, let’s get down to business. The purpose of this article is to actually
give my readers the promised primary sources I said I would give them with my
last article. Allow me to repeat the
definition of a primary source. A primary
source, for the use of studies in history and archaeology, is a source
dating directly from the period of history being studied. It can be an inscription, a record of a
business transaction, a birth or death record, a written account of an event or
events from the time, or any other number of non-fiction sources from writers
of that period. An archaeological find
also counts as a primary source, as do any number of archaeological discoveries
with accurately recorded data, not speculation or guesswork. Works of fiction are sometimes cited as
primary sources, but because fiction has often been written with an idealised view
of a given society or sometimes might be a work of fantasy, I personally don’t
believe fictional literature can be used as a primary source.
I mentioned earlier that medieval sources
must be read with discretion. Actually,
this statement applies to all primary sources.
For example, Plutarch’s work on the story of Antony and Cleopatra cannot
be taken to be totally accurate, because Plutarch was writing with the purpose
of pleasing a most powerful person, the Emperor Augustus. There are several examples of Roman histories
being written from a certain slant because of political motivations. This is nothing new, of course. It even happens with histories today, such as
some current histories being written about the United States. But that’s another discussion. My point here is that we must always read
primary sources with a keen sense of the mindset of society at the given time,
the political realities of that time, and the religious beliefs of the people
from that period.
Some people say that Caesar’s writings about
the Druids aren’t reliable, because he was trying to politically promote his
war against the Celts, and he had a Roman penchant for putting down societies
he considered inferior to Rome. While
Roman society at that time certainly believed itself to be more civilised than most
parts of the world (the same opinion voiced by people in Western European and
American society time and again, throughout history), Caesar did not need to
impress anyone or sell anyone on his war.
Because of his unique political and military position in Rome, that of
being a Roman consul, he could make war on whomever he pleased for whatever
reason that seemed justifiable to him.
For most Romans, if a certain tribe of people attacked Roman soldiers or
citizens, that was reason enough to send legions to fight them. (I’m reminded of how Bush reacted to the
terrorist attacks of 9-11—but, that’s another discussion!).
In reverting to the subject of Halloween, in
this article I’ll list the sources I’ve found on ancient Celtic religion, since
there has long been a popular notion that Halloween was based on an ancient
Celtic “Day of the Dead” festival called “Samhain.” Before we continue, please
note that this word is not pronounced “Sam Hane.” It is pronounced “Sow-when” (e.g. “I had an
old sow once who had many piglets,
but I sold her when the time came for
the county fair.”). It is pronounced “Sow-when,”
with the accent on the first syllable.
First of all, let us be reminded that in
the Irish dictionary, the word “Samhain” means “November.” There is a tenth-century Irish story called Tochmarc
Emire (“The Wooing of Emer,” from the Ulster
Cycle of Irish mythology) wherein the heroine of the story, Emer, refers to
Samhain as the time “when the summer goes to its rest.” This may be why some people think that “Samhain”
means “summer’s end.” Secondly, let us be reminded that the only ancient
sources we have about Celtic religion are those from classical Greece
and Rome. I should point out here that neither Greece nor Rome ever colonized Ireland,
and Rome never annexed it. There is
debate about whether or not Rome actually invaded Ireland, but no definitive
sources have been found that state this.
Some archaeological finds in Drumanagh have been interpreted as proof of
a Roman military presence, but not everyone agrees with that interpretation of
the artifacts.
The relationship between Ireland and the
Classical world appears to have been primarily commercial. The Graeco-Egyptian geographer Claudius
Ptolemy (Klaudios Ptolemaios), who was from the city of Alexandria and lived
between 90 and 168 A.D., made a map of some coastal settlements and tribes of Ireland. Roman coins and jewelry have been found at
Tara and Cashel, and Roman coins have been found at Newgrange (Carson, R.A.G. and O'Kelly, Claire: A catalogue of the
Roman coins from Newgrange, Co. Meath and notes on the coins and related finds,
pages 35-55. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, volume 77, section C). Some silver plate was also found in Ireland,
cut up in pieces. Other places where
Romano-British artifacts have been found include Leinster, notably a site
called Drumanagh that is fifteen miles from Dublin, Lambay and Clogher. Tacitus writes about the Roman governor of
Britain from 78 to 84 A.D., stating that Agricola had plans to someday invade
Ireland (Tacitus: Agricola). But
Agricola never did so. There is a vague
reference in the writing of the Roman poet Juvenal referring to Roman armies
having been to places beyond “Hibernia” (Ireland). This is found in Juvenal’s Satires 2.
Ergo, if you read some so-called
historical article claiming that there are ancient writings about Irish
religion from Rome or Greece, that article is nonsense! The writings from
Rome and Greece refer to Celtic practices on the European continent only. Therefore, do ancient writings confirm the
practice of an ancient Irish festival of the dead called Samhain? No!
Here are the primary sources on ancient Celtic
religion, and I urge you to read them for yourself. You’ll have to excuse the fact that my
bibliography format isn’t perfect.
(1)
Caesar, Julius, 1980 (new trans.)
The Battle for Gaul, Boston: David R. Godine
OR
(2)
Caesar,
Julius, 1951 (revised 1982, Jane F. Gardner) The Conquest of Gaul, Great Britain: S.A. Handford
(3)
Diodoros Siculus, History
(4)
Strabo, Geographica
(5)
Tacitus, Agricola
& Annals XIV (See this link for his account of the attack
on the Druids on the island of Mona: http://resourcesforhistory.com/celtic_druids.htm)
(6)
The Coligny
Calendar, a Gaulish calendar found in Coligny, Ain, France in 1897. Inscribed
on a Bronze tablet, this artifact dates to the late first century/early second century
A.D. It mentions an autumn feast called Samonios.
These are the ancient primary sources I’ve
found so far. If anyone finds more,
please feel free to let me know in the comment line of my blog.
Now, here are some medieval Irish literary
references to Samhain:
(1)
Tochmarc Emire, “The Wooing of
Emer,” a text dated to the tenth century by Kuno Meyer; here’s an electronic copy of the text: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G301021/
(2)
Balor of the
Evil Eye,
a story from the saga text Cath Maighe
Tuireadh (“The Battle of Magh Tuireadh”), which dates from the Old Irish
period, ca. 600-900 A.D., and is preserved in a sixteenth-century manuscript;
here’s the electronic copy: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/T300010/
and here’s another online version: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/cmt/cmteng.htm
(3)
The Fenian
Cycle, mythological
stories of the famous band of Irish warriors known as the Fianna and led by
Finn McCool (Fionn mac Cumhaill), which was written down roughly in the twelfth
century or so; here’s a link for online
texts: http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/index_irish.html
(4)
Leabhar
Gabhála Éireann, “The
Book of the Taking of Ireland,” dating to the eleventh century in its earliest
version which was compiled by an anonymous writer. Here is the reference to
Samhain: §44. Two thirds
of the progeny, the wheat, and the milk of the people of Ireland (had to be
brought) every Samain to Mag Cetne. Wrath and sadness seized on the men of
Ireland for the burden of the tax. They all went to fight against the Fomoraig
(Lebor Gabala Eirinn Ed. Trans. R.
A. S. MacAlister. Irish Text Society 1832).
(5)
Cath Crinna, “The Battle of
Crinna,” from “The Book of Leinster,” ca. 1160, the manuscript of which is kept
in Trinity College, Dublin; there is a reference to Samhain being the time when
produce and crops were most mature. Here’s
an electronic version of the text: http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/cathcrinna.html
These are the references to Samhain I’ve
found so far. By the way, none of these
references link Samhain with All Hallow’s Eve in any way. I have not been able to find any primary
sources indicating that Samhain ever became All Hallow’s Eve. There is a book by history professor Nicholas
Rogers (at York University in Toronto), entitled Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. It was published by Oxford University Press
in 2003. In that book, Rogers states: “There
is no hard evidence that Samhain was specifically devoted to the dead or to
ancestor worship.” Based on what I’ve
found so far, I would have to agree with his statement.
The evidence I have found suggests that
Samhain was a harvest festival, and that’s it.
So, if a Christian wanted to celebrate a harvest festival, he/she could
celebrate Samhain separately from Halloween.
I personally celebrate Halloween as a type of harvest festival. The stories of ghosts, goblins and witches associated
with Halloween are just like the medieval Irish stories mentioned above: they are mythology. As such, they’re just part of the fun.
Again, as an Orthodox Christian, my lack
of belief in ghosts does not mean that I don’t believe in life after
death. I just believe in the living
experience of my Church, which is that people who die don’t come back to visit
as floating ghosties. When the Lord
allows them to visit, they do so as fully resurrected people who confirm the
holy Resurrection of Christ. And again,
resurrected people aren’t zombies. Was Christ
a zombie when He rose from the dead?
Certainly not!
My next article will deal specifically
with All Hallow’s Eve, whether or not the original All Saints and All Souls Days
in Western Europe were actually connected with Halloween, and the primary
sources that show how our present American celebration of Halloween
developed. Until then, Happy Halloween
and Joyous All Saints Day of the West!
In
Christ’s Love,
Gabrielle
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