'Halloween'. The Day of the Dead. Shorter days. Longer nights. Darkness. Death. Autumn. #Halloween #Samhain

Sunday 31st October '2021'. Here we are again. Halloween. Treats, costumes, lanterns, spiders, bats, blood, horror, death, ghosts. 

'Halloween' has its origins in the ancient, pagan, pre-Christian, Celtic festival known as Samhain ("sah-win"). The Feast of the Dead. A time when humans had much less knowledge of the world around them. Later, hijacked and assimilated by the religious ceremony of All Hallows Eve & All Saints Day. A day to celebrate the onset of Winter. Look it up. It is a celebration of the end of the harvest season, a recognition of the lengthening nights, worsening weather and the harsh winter season running up to the winter solstice ( Dec 21st aka Christmas. Here ). It represents the point in the calendar when livestock were moved to lower level farmland from the higher, summer feeding grounds and when animals were slaughtered for the winter larders.  In the northern hemisphere, the reduced daylight, winter temperatures and sparse food supply meant that our ancient, pagan ancestors felt the icy grip of winter tightening and closer to their (made up) spirit world, disease and death. The coming of the Light. Humans have always feared the things that they hadn't worked out.

They no doubt celebrated by dressing up to honour 'spirits 'and ancestors, lighting bonfires, offering sacrifices, feasting and sharing produce. The new moon, during the darkest month would have represented the depths of seasonal shifts. Autumn Equinox. Celebrating the hopeful return of the light is the basis of other such festivals around the world. Take a look at Easter and Dawali with their links to the phases of the moon and American 'Thanksgiving', that celebrates the end of harvests.

The modern relics of these simplistic, pagan, 'Samhain' celebrations have been shaped and evolved in to the consumer costume, trick or treat fest that we see on our streets, shops and screens. A polished, sanitised celebration of death, spiritualism and perceived evils. The victory of light over darkness. A seasonal nod to our place in the solar system. Something our ancestors didn't understand and therefore, feared. It's fun and a lot less cynical than our western 'Christmas', winter solstice tradition but, as usual, let's take a moment to see the glimmer of reality at the heart of the modern version. Happy whatever.