- Thanks to the Beltane Fire Society
In the States, Halloween is huge. No one can deny that.
Here in Europe… well, it’s getting more popular. I’ve recently learned that many of the traditions Americans partake in on October 31 may have started over here in Scotland… Who knew?
The oldest version of Halloween (called Samhuinn or Samhain) took place on the Celtic New Year’s eve.
Except… those kooky Celts didn’t have a new year like us.
The Celts built their calendar around the Sun and moon. Right now in Scotland there is very little sun (No joke — the sun starts going down around 4:15 these days…)
So, they celebrated New Year (Samhuinn) now.
Why? Because they wanted to mark the end of the sunny part of the year and the beginning of the dark half of the year.
Samhuinn being celebrated on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh... Looks like some party, huh? Image courtesy of Jelena Aleksic
Here’s the spooky bit… ( cue creepy music…)
It is believed that on this evening, there is an opening between the supernatural world and our world allowing the dead to freely visit under the veil of darkness… And so, two important traditions arose from this belief: trick or treats and costumes!
To protect against the spookiness of the darkness, communities would build a large fire. This was a way of showing community solidarity whilst keeping the threat of ghouls and such out!
This community hospitality and protection in darkness and fear is what we know as the “treat” part of Halloween.
BUT those families that did not participate in the community or defied communal values were punished!
The punishment would usually include some form of public humiliation — the “trick.”
The practice of wearing masks and disguises were also used to help keep away those pesky visiting spirits…
For fairness’ sake, I should mention I didn’t learn this all by myself, but rather in my Scottish Studies class.
Apparently there’s a few more Scottish holidays in the next few months, which you’ll be sure to hear about… But for now, I’m going to try to participate in some community traditions this Samhuinn so as to not get any “tricks”…
- Learn more about Samhuinn by going to the Beltane Fire Society’s website (Beltane is the celebration of the start of the light half of the year — the opposite of Samhuinn).
And while you’re busy dreaming up schemes to get candy, the best tricks to play, and last-minute costumes, enjoy a video of some good scares:
[...] holidays abound this week here in Scotland! First there was the celebration of Samhuinn on Saturday night. Now the Scots (with the rest of the UK!) are gearing up for festivities for [...]