Cornerstone No . 182 , page 6
HALLOWEEN – A MYSTERIOUS FESTIVAL
On 3lst October almost anything can happen which on any other day would be regarded as extraordinary – groups of heavily disguised children threatening neighbours with the words ‘ trick or treat ’, meeting a witch in the street or on your doorstep , scary lanterns made out of turnips etc . etc . Why ? Because it is Halloween – but that still is no answer – Why ? Nowadays Halloween is an important date in the retail calendar because it gives trade a much needed boost during the long quiet period between the summer and Christmas . However when I was growing up in the London area Halloween was largely ignored because we were busy commemorating events of 400 years earlier – Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot which took place on 5th November 1605 – and it seemed that a choice had to be made between the two . However , the roots of Halloween are much much older than Guy Fawkes and even of the name Halloween itself . It is generally considered to have its origins in the Celtic end of year celebrations which culminated in their Festival of the Dead when people took the opportunity to have a last fling before the onset of winter and the dark period of the year and all the hardship that involved . The belief was that the dead were in contact with the living for a few hours on the last day of the Celtic year and also that evil spirits were on the rampage . The celebrations were apparently wild and extreme in an effort to ward off this evil . At this time the Church had its own commemorations for the dead . These were in the early part of the year , usually the first Sunday after Pentecost , until Pope Gregory III ( 731-741 ) decreed that the Western Church should transfer its Festival of All Hallows ( All Saints ) to coincide with the Celtic New Year . This was presumably in an effort to Christianize this pagan celebration just as had been done earlier with Christmas and Easter . So the situation now is that the western Church celebrates All Saints Day on lst November and the day before , ( All Hallows Eve ) Halloween , is marked by the remnants of the pagan Celtic Festival of Samhain and as a result children in 2016 dress as witches and ghosts and try to scare us all !
Pam Kirby