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All Hallow's Eve
This month of October, we all are involved in the celebration of Halloween, which has lost all recognition of its roots. It was a celebration of the Dead and Death. Today, in Mexico that celebration still is practiced as the Festival of Santa Muerte (ST. Death), for death is to be celebrated as a transformation of the Soul, from flesh back to its source. Besides, it is inevitable, so fearing it is only plain ignorance of life itself.
Those who practice the Western Mysteries and/or Tarot know the above charming fellow as Death- ATU/Key 13, of the Thoth Tarot. In the British Isles, he was known as LORD DREAD or DREADLORD and October 31st is his Holy Day! He is also known as the Semitic version of the Asiatic Sana, Samara (Aryan), or Samarium, "the leveler" And most of us know that you can level things very well with a skillful usage of a Scythe; a very particular harvesting tool of this dancing fellow.
Yama
He is the ever-feared JUDGE OF THE DEAD (for those with a guilty conscience), and is also identified with the underworld King Yama and in the Sama Veda (Hindu), he was called the "Storm god", clothed in black clouds.
In the Rig Veda, he was Rudra, the
god of storms and medicine (often shown with three faces) , and disease.
Rudra, (Sanskrit: “Howler”), minor Vedic god and one of the names of Śiva, a major god of later Hinduism. Śiva is considered to have evolved from Rudra, and the two share a fierce, unpredictable, destructive nature. In the Vedas, Rudra is known as the divine archer, who shoots arrows of death and disease and who must be implored not to slay or injure in his wrath. As a healer and a source of 1,000 remedies, he also has a beneficent aspect. He is also the father of the storm gods, the Rudras, sometimes called Maruts.
In Europe and Asia, the black clouds of storms became the usual depiction of this deity, dressed in a hooded black all-encompassing robe. The later version of him is called Satan, he was Prince of the Power of the Air, another way to say he has a "Stormy" nature.
The Celts know him as Her; The Morrighan is known as the washer at the ford, and it is she who determines which warriors walk off the battlefield, and which ones are carried away on their shields. This warrior goddess is associated with death in a way much like the Norse goddess Freya. She is represented in many legends by a trio of ravens, often seen as a symbol of death. In later Irish folklore, her role would be delegated to the bain sidhe, or banshee, who foresaw the death of members of a specific family or clan. Of SAMHAIN, the Feast of the dead, Christianized as All Souls Day. The Medieval Gnostic's called him SAMMAEL OR SATANAEL or at least they were accused of worshiping him as such. But the Worshiping concept is suspect as that was the accusation of those who accused them of heresy and wanted their land and supposed riches.
What is mildly interesting, in early Britain, Samuel had a female counterpart, SAMOTHEA (Death Goddess) who seems to have been another form of SKADI or SCATHA. Samothea, was the goddess of the mysterious (Arcane) land of Hyperborean, the land where Pythagoras traveled to learn the arts of letters, astronomy, and science from this All-Wise Lady. The Greeks had Hades, and his wife Persephone.
Qabalist's know that Hermes/Thoth Is the Magician (Magus) of letters, words, and sound, while the Art of Forms (astronomy) is the Domain of Binah as the Star card and science from The Art Card... (Alchemy) where He and She combine to make All, making the Dread Lord a Hermaphrodite.
Thus, one might say that Hyperborean was the Supernal Triangle of the Tree of Life, known as the World of Aziluth, which is across the Abyss and a place you can only reach after a death of your human realities.
In ancient Egypt, Thoth (ibis headed) was shown with Anubis (God of Death) at the scales of Maat, who judged the soul (heart) against the weight of a feather, if the soul (heart) were heavier than the feather they didn't "pass muster "and Ammut (Crocodile god) would move swiftly and gobble them up.
According to the pagan lunar calendar, festivals were celebrated on the "eve" rather than the day. Thus, Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, was the original festival that was later displaced to the following day. The Irish called this Holy Night, the Vigil of Saman.
Christians of the day, described this night as heretical practices, where magic charms and divination, reading the future with Witches mirrors and nutshell ashes and other objectionable rites: Even the unholy act of bobbing for apples in tubs of water, which was said to represent souls in the Cauldron of Regeneration.
But Halloween is not just limited to past superstition, even today it is believed that if a girl peels an apple before a mirror, on Halloween, she will see the image of her future husband in the glass.
However, this is revised from the past belief in a deity, whom the ancient Celtics called "The Apple Woman" who they honored on this day, as the goddess of both life and death. She gave away magical apples which were laced either with a benevolent enchantment or a malevolent poison (Snow white is not an original story). The evolution of "Trick or Treat" was said to come from the Apple Woman celebration.According to Celtic Texts, the Apple Woman lived in a beautiful, secluded forest by a sacred river, and this may also be whence we derive the apple as a forbidden fruit (garden of Eden) which bestows life or death, for nowhere in the Bible is the apple mentioned as being the food of which Adam and Eve ate.
Pope Gregory (5 AD) declared November 1st to be All Saint's Day, hoping to obscure pagan rites into Christian affiliation. However, Hallowe'en and All Saints have and/ or are also known in diverse cultures as: All Hallowmas, All Soul's Day, Mallowmas, The Druidic feast of the Spirits of the Air, The Day of the Dead and/or the Santa Muerte festival (Mexico and South America), Rite of Hella (Scandinavia), and Isia or Helaria (Egyptian recovery from death and rebirth of Osiris).
However, today's celebration of parties, and candy/gift giving follows the original version of Samuele's day, as the original divination was considered to be Oracular utterances by the Elder dead (Ancestors) who came up from their tombs on Halloween, bearing gifts for the children of their living descendants.
The practice of carving ghoulish faces into pumpkins comes from an Irish folktale that became entangled with the Day of the Dead.
Pumpkins with ghoulish faces and illuminated by candles are a sure sign of the Halloween season. The practice of decorating jack-o'-lanterns originated in Ireland, where large turnips and potatoes served as early canvasses. In fact, the name, jack-o'-lantern, comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack. Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, home of the pumpkin, and it became an integral part of Halloween festivities.
READ MORE: How Trick-or-Treating Became a Halloween Tradition
The Legend of "Stingy Jack"
People have been making jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form.
Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.
Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O' Lantern.”
Therefore, putting the pumpkin with a ghoulish face, became a gargoyle type of character, which kept "jack of the Lantern" away by lighting his path away from the premises.
In summary:
Halloween, also known as All Hallows' Eve, has ancient roots that blend pagan and Christian traditions, and it has evolved over centuries into the holiday we recognize today.
Origins in Samhain
The origins of Halloween date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which was celebrated over 2,000 years ago in what is now Ireland, the UK, and northern France. The Celts observed Samhain as a time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was thinnest, allowing spirits of the dead to return to earth. People would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. It marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, a time traditionally associated with death.
Roman Influence
When the Roman Empire conquered Celtic territories, Roman festivals influenced the traditions. One was Feralia, a day in late October when Romans commemorated the passing of the dead, and the other was a celebration in honor of Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruits and trees, likely the source of apple bobbing, a common Halloween game.
Christianization: All Saints' Day and All Hallows' Eve
In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as All Saints' Day, or All Hallows' Day, a day to honor all saints and martyrs. The evening before, October 31st, became All Hallows' Eve—later shortened to Halloween. This Christian observance aimed to co-opt and replace the pagan festival of Samhain, though many of the older customs persisted, merging pagan and Christian elements.
Modern Halloween
Halloween gained popularity in the United States in the 19th century with the influx of Irish and Scottish immigrants. The holiday transformed into a more community-centered celebration, gradually becoming more secular. Traditions like trick-or-treating stemmed from the medieval practice of "souling," when the poor would go door-to-door offering prayers for the dead in exchange for food.
Today, Halloween is a blend of ancient spiritual practices and modern customs. While the religious and metaphysical significance of honoring the dead remains for some, the day is widely celebrated as a fun holiday with costumes, haunted houses, and candy.
At its core, Halloween retains its mystical essence as a time of reflection on mortality, the spirit world, and the unseen forces that influence the world around us.
Have a happy Halloween!
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