Dating Halloween
As we are in October, a few notes on Halloween.
We date Halloween as at 31st October, but a moments thought will show that (as one of Noel Porter's characters says in "Anything Goes") "somethings wrong 'ere".
What is wrong?
Part of the problem is that 31st October is a calendar date, and one from the revised Roman calendar (usually called the Gregorian) at that. Yet Samhain is a Celtic day which predates the Romans historically, and therefore the Celts would not have had use of a Roman calendar to set the date. What is more, our calendar has been revised in 1752 in England, with eleven days removed from September, so that if anyone had been using 31 October before that, Samhain would then fall on 20 October, or alternatively, in order to fall on 31 October, it would have to have been previously celebrated on 10 November. No records indicate that is the case.
So what is going on? As usual, it is a bit of a fudge. The ancient Celtic calendar was, of course, based on the stars, rather than - like the Roman one - on a count of days in the year, so we have the well know astronomical dates:
Winter Solstice: Christmas, Yuletide, Saturnalia
Vernal Equinox: Easter, Passover, Eoestre (Saxon)
Summer Solstice: Midsummer (viz. A Midsummer Night's Dream), St. John's Eve
Autumnal Equinox: Mabon (Celtic/Welsh), Michaelmas (Feast of St. Michael the Archangel
Besides these are what are known as cross-quarter days. These occur at the mid-way points between the Solstices and Equinoxes (they are sometimes called the "Mid-Quarter Days"). These are again astronomical in derivation:
First Cross-Quarter Day (Feb 2-6): Imbolc (Celtic: "in milk"), St. Brigit's Day,
Candelmas, Groundhog Day, Setsubun (Japan)
Second Cross-Quarter Day (May 4-7): Beltane (Celtic: "fire of Bel", coming of summer), May Day, Walpurgisnacht, Feast of the Conception of Mary
Third Cross-Quarter Day (Aug 5-8): Lughnasa (Celtic: "games of Lugh"), Lammas (loaf mass), Lughnasadh (Celtic: "games of Lugh"), Feasts of St. Oswald and St. Justus of Lyon.
Fourth Cross-Quarter Day (Nov 5-8): Samhain (Celtic: "summer's end"), Halloween, Feast of All Saints, Feast of All Souls.
(Note: Halloween preceeds All Saints in the same way Walpurgis Night preceeds May Day in the Spring).
What has happened, as with May day being the 1st of May, is that in the Medieval period these celebrations latched onto a notable monthly transition, and that is why they became fixed rather than movable days, and why Samhain/Halloween is celebrated on the 31 October, and not between November 5 to 8, as would have been the case with the ancient Celts.
So when you read in newspapers, the usual run of stories saying that Halloween has "from pre-Christian" times, been celebrated on 31 October, it is not in fact true. It is interesting that Bonfire night, traditionally the 5th of November, is actually closer to this date than our Halloween, which would in Celtic practice may well have been a fire festival.
All Souls day, also held around this time, also has a chequered history. By the mid-fourth century Christians in the Mediterranean world were keeping a feast in honour of all those who had been martyred under the pagan emperors. This was the feast of All Saints, and was held on 13 May, and was kept on that date. In Ireland, however, following the Orthodox traditions, or in alignment with them, the feast of All Saints fell upon 20 April instead. The situation in England and Germany was different, and by 800 churches in both countries, which were in touch with each other, were celebrating a festival dedicated to All Saints upon 1 November instead. The Orthodox church still holds All Saints on the Saturday after Pentecost. All Souls came later, originally in February, but was moved to 2nd November simply to link it to the previous festival.
What can we conclude from this?
First, the idea that the Christians "stole" Halloween (often quoted by newspapers again!) is historically incorrect. The different feast days (13th May, 20th April) demonstrate that.
Second, the idea that the move to November was to do with appropriating halloween from the Celtic calendar is also incorrect. The move to change came from Germany and England. In Ireland, where the Celtic influence would have been in place, and there would have been a feast day, it was 20th April.
So why did the Germans have November as the days for All Saints and All Souls? The move to November 1st took place under pressure from the Church in Germany, to create a festival for the gloomy days of autumn and early winter. The autumn Christian festival was invented and popularised by Einhard, Charlemagne's archbishop. Whether the new date coincided at the time with an established Pagan feast, later known to the Vikings as Winter Nights, is unclear. But the new German date shows, I think, the very human need for some kind of "light into darkness" celebration as the days draw in, get colder and bleaker, to remind us that darkness is not, after all, the final word.
References:
Telling Time at:
The Gregorian Calendar at
The Astronomy of Halloween
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