{"id":409,"date":"2009-10-31T14:10:14","date_gmt":"2009-10-31T14:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2009\/10\/samhain-and-history.html"},"modified":"2009-10-31T14:10:14","modified_gmt":"2009-10-31T14:10:14","slug":"samhain-and-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/10\/samhain-and-history.html","title":{"rendered":"Samhain and History"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most
\nimportant dimensions of spiritualities rooted in Sacred Immanence is that any
\nfeature of our unfallen world has its sacred dimension.  <\/span>I was reminded of this fact when
\nlooking up the history of Samhain in Ronald Hutton’s Stations of the Sun<\/a><\/i>.  
\n<\/span>Hutton’s book is the most careful
\nstudy of Britain’s seasonal observances tat we currently have.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\nThere is little surviving
\nevidence that our traditional eight Sabbats were celebrated in ancient times
\nwith the same symbolism we use, and in some cases they were probably not
\ncelebrated at all.  <\/span>But this fact,
\nand fact I believe it is, does not have the same impact on our practice as
\nrecognition that Jesus never lived, or that he died of old age, would have on
\nChristian practice and theology.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The reason is
\nthat we focus on the meaning within phenomena as symbols<\/i> of a larger context toward which they point, rather
\nthan celebrating historical events that are part of a Sacred story with a
\nbeginning and an end.  <\/span>Life is a
\ncycle, and we see it symbolized in the course of a year here in temperate
\nzones.  <\/span>On the equator we would
\nneed different symbolism to bring this insight alive.  <\/span>(Though I am reliably informed that there are Gardnerian
\ncovens in Nigeria.  <\/span>I would love to
\nknow how they handle the Wheel of the Year.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Given this
\nsymbolism, Samhain is the logical final Sabbat in our Wheel of the Year,
\nwhatever its earlier significance.<\/p>\n

There is no
\ndoubt Samhain was a very old Celtic pastoral celebration of the beginning of
\nwinter.  <\/span>It was also a time when,
\nlike May Day 6 months earlier, the veil between the worlds was unusually thin.  <\/span>In addition, both Anglo-Saxon and
\nScandanavian peoples also had periods where the beginning of winter was
\ncelebrated, animals slaughtered, and the like.  <\/span>But as with Samhain, evidence of their spiritual meaning is
\nlacking, surviving accounts having been written after Christian dominance was
\nwell established.  <\/span>Beyond this, the
\nhistorical record gets very thin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interestingly,
\nSamhain’s current celebration of the dead probably has at least partly
\nChristian roots, connected with All Souls’ Day.  <\/span>This day was celebrated far beyond Celtic lands, and was a
\ntime when souls in Purgatory could be assisted in getting into heaven by those
\nstill living.  <\/span>This greater approved
\ncontact with the dead easily fit in with the earlier sense that during Samhain
\nthe veil between the worlds was thinner. 
\n<\/span>If there were Pagan connections to honoring the deceased, and there
\nprobably had been whether or not they survived, this would have been a safe
\nhook on which to affix them.<\/p>\n

As Europe became
\nChristianized, this Christian holy day would likely attract the energies any
\nPagan celebrations of the dead would have had, just as some Pagan dates had
\nattracted Christian observances. 
\n<\/span>December 25 was not celebrated by the early Church, and apparently was
\nchosen after AD 400, probably because of its symbolic significance in many
\nPagan traditions.    <\/span>The
\ndate is very conveniently close to the Winter Solstice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently this
\nis also the case in reverse <\/a>with Day of the Dead in the Americas’ Hispanic
\nsocieties.
\nIt employs many pre-Christian Mesoamerican themes, such as the friendly
\nwelcoming of the dead and meeting in cemeteries<\/a>, but on a Christian date. The Aztec
\nequivalent had been held in the summer, but when we are thinking mythologically
\nrather than historically, moving a date is much less a problem than from within
\na Christian perspective.<\/p>\n

Hutton writes of
\nSamhain, “there is no evidence that it was connected with the dead and no proof
\nthat it opened the year…” (370) 
\n<\/span>This seems quite true.  <\/span>But
\nwe should be careful.  <\/span>The totalitarian
\nChristian war against Paganism was extraordinarily effective in wiping out much
\nliterature and destroying long established practices.  <\/span>When practice was punishable by death, and remained so for around
\n1000 years, it is hardly surprising that few written accounts survive, even if
\nsomehow practices did.  <\/span>We will likely
\nnever know for sure what, if anything, constituted a Pagan survival, what was a
\nPagan interpretation of Christian practices or vice versa, and what constituted
\nmore modern folklore additions.<\/p>\n

Yet – and this
\nis my major point – it does not really matter which is the case in terms of
\nritual practice and spiritual power.<\/p>\n

For many Pagans,
\nSamhain and its sister celebration of the Day of the Dead are already mixes of
\nsome of the world’s religious traditions, but this is not a problem for us.  <\/span>Rather it reflects the ubiquitous
\nnature of life’s major themes once we see the sacred in all things.  <\/span>If Samhain did not survive from the
\npast, we would have had to create it – and that is OK.<\/p>\n

With warmest
\nSamhain greetings to all!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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