The Difference Between Samhain and Hallowe'en
Since it's October, and since that means Hallowe'en is almost upon us, I would like to make a request of all you Neo-Pagans out there:
Please, please, please stop telling people that Hallowe'en is a Pagan holiday.
I ask you to do this because Hallowe'en isn't really a Pagan holiday. No, don't shake your head at me like that. It isn't. Allow me to explain.
October 31, known as Hallowe'en (or even Halloween) is also the same day that most Wiccans celebrate a festival called Samhain (and pronounced SOW-in or sow-AIN, depending on who you ask). This is a festival where we honour death.
When I use the word "honour" I do not mean "celebrate". Samhain is a time for thinking about the people who have died in the past year and honouring their passing. It's also a time for thinking about the things that have happened, people, places, jobs, whatever has gone out of our life. Things that have passed. It's a time to say goodbye to things in our life that we don't need anymore. We're not singing and dancing here; it's a somber (and often emotionally intense) holiday.
Some people choose to celebrate Samhain on the actual astrological date, which is really closer to November 5. But for the most part Wiccans will celebrate on or around the 31st because it's a convenient day (also because some of them don't know that there is an astrological date for Samhain).
So that's Samhain. It happens on October 31 (mostly). It's a religious holiday.
Hallowe'en also happens on October 31. On Hallowe'en in North America, kids dress up in costumes as soon as it gets dark and wander from house to house knocking on doors and yelling "Trick or treat!". People give these kids candy and compliment them on their great costumes and send them on their merry way. Some people decorate their houses or put on masks to scare the kids that come to the door. Some don't. But most people do give out the candy. If Hallowe'en is on a school day, the children might wear their costumes to school for costume competitions. There might be games and apple bobbing and arts and crafts and general celebration. It's a lot of fun. But there's no mention of Gods or Goddesses or any kind of spiritual growth here.
So that's Hallowe'en. It always happens on October 31. It's a secular holiday.
Now, it's no surprise that these two holidays have a common origin in the Pagan traditions of Celtic Britain/Ireland. From what we know, the festival was originally much like what Pagans celebrate today as Samhain. At least, that's the theory since we don't really know much about what the Celts celebrated. It was even called Samhain back then, as far as we know. Then after many years and conversions, it became the Christian holiday "All Hallows Eve". As in, the night before All Hallows Day, which is on November 1st. It's now known in the Catholic church as "The Feast of All Saints". Anyway, All Hallow's Eve is where we get the name Hallowe'en. It was said that spirits wandered the land on this night and you could keep them away from your door by offering them a treat. From which, of course, we get the tradition of giving out candy to kids dressed up as vampires and werewolves and zombies. And eventually, princesses and firemen, and anything, really.
So, like I say: common origin. Common day. But there's two separate holidays going on here. One is Pagan and religious. The other is secular.
Why am I so intent on emphasizing that there are two holidays? Because of some of the things I see happening.
1. In schools (in the U-S mostly) Christian groups are hearing "Hallowe'en is a Pagan holiday" and having fits. Schools aren't allowed to have Christmas pageants anymore! They're not allowed to pray in schools anymore! Separation of Church and State has come to mean that no form of religion is to be celebrated in schools! So why is it that Pagans get to have their holiday celebrated? That's not fair and it should be stopped!
They'd be absolutely right if someone were suggesting celebrating Samhain in schools. But that's not what's happening. What's happening is that the kids are dressing up and having a lot of fun and not doing anything remotely religious. It may have started out religious, but it isn't now. Any more than saying "O my God!" when you're surprised is you making an appeal to God. It may have started that way, but it's been removed from its religious context. So when someone tells people that Hallowe'en is "actually pagan" this person is a) lying and b) giving religious groups the ammunition they need to stop the kids from having fun.
2. You're not helping Wicca any by telling people that the harmless holiday of Hallowe'en is Actually Pagan. Fundamentalist Christian groups have been saying for years that Hallowe'en is when all the Satanists in your neighbourhood get together and sacrifice babies and black cats. Telling them that yep, this is the day when you get together to honour death (and they hear the word "celebrate" even if you don't say it) just adds fuel to the fire. No matter how loud and how long you say it's not about death and no, we're not performing any sacrifices, they're not going to listen. You've admitted your deal with the Devil, Witch, and that's all they hear. And they're not going to believe you about the cats.
So when the media wanders around for the annual Hallowe'en interviews, please tell them that there are two kinds of holidays happening on October 31. Religious ones and secular ones. And don't say "They're very similar in origin" or "they have common elements", because media people (especially tv and radio) have two minutes to get the point across and "similar" very easily becomes "they are the same thing" in a report. They don't understand the very subtle and important nuance that you're trying to get across. And even if the final report contains the nuance, the general public misses the point a lot of the time. Which leads to (1) and (2) above.
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