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It’s Halloween time again!
Americans have adopted Halloween as a holiday almost outstripping Christmas in
popularity. But as with American Christmas, very few people really know and
understand the background of the holiday and its true meaning. There are
excellent articles on the internet that go into interesting detail on its
origins and significance. I recommend these as a good starting place:
Halloween
All Saints Day and
All Souls Day
Crossing the Veil:
The Pre-Christian Origins of Halloween and Samhain
Three Day Festival
The first idea to consider is
that “Halloween” is part of a three day/ night festival, not just a single day/
night holiday. Just as we have lost the concept that Christmas is not “over” on
December 26, so it is that few people understand and celebrate All Hallows Day,
also called All Saints Day on November 1. The following day, November 2 is All
Souls Day. Halloween is short for The Eve of All Hallows, or All Hallows Eve.
All Saints Day and All Souls Day are part of the church calendar. The term
Halloween refers to the church calendar, but in a way, “hides” the fact that it
is also the feast of Samain (pronounced sah-van
or sow-in) in the Pagan calendar. Samain is one of the four cardinal
points of the pagan calendar and from its traditions comes much of the outward
symbols and traditions of All Hallows Eve, such as masks, Jack O’Lantern or
other lantern lights, fortune telling and more. One will find correspondences
between ancient traditions and Christian festivals throughout the year. Some
ancient traditions have been co-opted by the developing Church in the Middle
Ages and some vice versa. In some cases, the common people perceived the
connection between their own traditions and the festivals of the church. In
other cases, the church “fathers” developed festivals that drew on symbols and
celebrations of the people they were trying to convert or influence. The fact
is, that there are cosmic seasons and energies, points of “power” on the Earth
and non-material or “supersensible” influences on both Nature and Humankind.
Some of these influences are “good” and some are “evil”, that is beneficial or
harmful either in a practical, material sense or in a more spiritual and subtle
sense. Knowing about certain seasonal influences gives one a better chance of
aligning with beneficial forces and protecting oneself against malevolent ones.
All Hallow’s Eve – October 31 (sundown to sunrise)
This
is the feast of Samain. It is the night that is considered by witches or pagans
to be the most powerful because of a “thinning of the veil” between the material
and spiritual worlds. In living with this Imagination, one may consider that it
is a time (between sundown and sunup) in which our Heavenly Protectors, our
Guardian Angels, Saints and other Michaelic Warriors, are mandated to “step
aside.” The work they do 24/7 on our behalf to protect us from “evil” or
malevolent entities is suspended. For these few hours we are, so to speak, on
our own. We must therefore become vigilant and take steps to protect ourselves
and our loved ones from harm – inner and outer. What kind of harm? Consider the
emotions we call negative – fear or worry about future events, depression,
anger, hatred or animosity, resignation, self-doubt and others. If one is
prepared to take seriously the idea that not all of our thoughts and feelings
are only a product of our personal experience, but can also be influenced by
unseen “supersensible” beings and entities for good or ill, then one may
consider that negative thoughts and feeling may be impressed on us, especially
those that arise without practical cause and those that linger when we don’t
want them to and try to fight. Our Angels work to influence our thoughts and
soul feelings toward the Good – greater love for ourselves and our fellow human
beings and the other kingdoms of the Earth; a greater awareness of and
gratitude toward the work of the spiritual world on our behalf; more self-confidence,
self-love and self-awareness; more acceptance of the course of life and peace
in our hearts towards its unfolding; more alignment with God (whatever name one
prefers) and the positive Spiritual
Beings and Forces who are working to further Humanity’s spiritual evolution in
a positive way. Every religion and spiritual tradition on Earth also recognizes
the existence of Beings and Powers or Forces working for the negative in
Humanity and Earth evolution. As Spiritual Beings ourselves, the Sons of
Freedom, we are a fulcrum between the two. We can and do swing back and forth
between the two energy streams. We make choices between the two every day, in
our thoughts, our feelings and our actions. We know in ourselves (if we choose
to be conscious about it) where we lean further in one direction or the other
and how much we are willing to do to strengthen one or the other. The forces
and Beings of the Good respect our freedom to choose. The negative ones, not so
much. The Beings of the Good do as much as they can to protect, strengthen and
help us according to how much we allow them to. The negative ones don’t ask our
permission, they work on us as much as they have opportunity to do, especially
in today’s culture though media and outside stimulation. On Samain, All Hallow’s
Eve, they have especially strong influence and power. The very fact that we are
bombarded by images of death and demons and encouraged to accept them into
ourselves as being some kind of joke or fun that no one is supposed to take
seriously is in itself proof that these forces are very actively at work.
From Wikiquotes:
He complained
in no way of the evil reputation
under which he lived, indeed, all over the world, and he
assured me that he himself was of all living beings the most interested in the
destruction of Superstition, and he avowed to me that he had been afraid,
relatively as to his proper power, once only, and that was on the day when he
had heard a preacher, more subtle than the rest of the human herd, cry in his
pulpit: "My dear brethren, do not ever forget, when you hear the progress
of lights praised, that the loveliest trick of the Devil is to persuade you that he does not exist!"
- Charles Baudelaire, "The Generous Gambler" (Feb. 1864).
- Variant: "The greatest trick the Devil ever
pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.", The Usual Suspects(1995)
For anyone who simply does not or can not accept or believe
in any kind of existence of a spiritual or “supersensible” (beyond the physical
senses) world, the continuation of life after physical death or the reality of
spiritual or supersensible entities, then this whole discussion is useless and
Halloween is simply a day to dress up and eat candy or ignore altogether. For
those who take spiritual things seriously, it is a time to contemplate the
existence, purpose and goals of the Beings and Entities who influence the Earth
plane against its own positive spiritual evolution.
All Saints Day – November 1
We
have recently celebrated Michaelmas, the Feast of the Archangel Michael and All
Angels. We spoke about the “Dragon” forces. In the younger grades we didn’t
refer to “The Devil” but rather couched the negative (gently at first in the
earlier years) in the symbol of the dragon as a force of potential harm to the
Human Being. In Second Grade, we were able to allow the image of the Dragon to
be a bit fiercer and by Sixth Grade, we could start to tell the Medieval tales
of Archangel Michael and his confrontations with the Devil, such as the story
of Mont St. Michel in France. Our concept of Angels and Saints are meant to
grow and develop as the children progress in understanding and imagination.
Ultimately, the child in high school and beyond begins ideally to sort out her
or his own relation to the positive and negative impulses, ideas and desires we
all possess in our own souls.
In
Catholic tradition, children are baptized with names of Saints in hopes of
conferring one or more Saints’ protection and guidance in their lives. Another
way of determining a connection is through the Calendar of the Saints and
looking for which Saint’s Day is closest to one’s own birthday or relates in
some other way to one’s life. Even if not Catholic, many people relate to and
identify inwardly with the life and deeds of one or more Saints. It is often
believed that calling on a Saint will influence that Being in the spiritual
world to come to one’s aid or protection. There are many beautiful prayers used
to invoke the protection of Saint Patrick or the assistance of Saint Anthony or
Saint Jude. Of course, much of this was lost or minimized after the Reformation
with its denouncement of the “worship of Saints”, especially with the use of
statues, pictures or relics of any kind. Still, even some Protestants feel a
connection with Saints and often invoke their help surreptitiously.
November
1, with the rising of the Sun, the Angels and Saints come rushing back to us.
They have been held off through the dark night and now they come back in
strength to push back the dark and demonic forces that held sway in the darkness.
If we have kept vigil, if we have maintained consciousness, we are able to welcome
them back and then the real celebration may be made – the reuniting of the Good
in our lives and in our world.
All Soul’s Day – November 2
At
this time of year, most cultures celebrate some form of connection with the
Dead – those who have crossed over the Threshold into the Spiritual World.
These world wide celebrations take many forms and have slightly different
meanings. But most cultures recognize a time of the year when the “veil thins”
or the Threshold widens, permitting closer contact with the spiritual world and
hopefully, a closer connection with one’s beloved ones on “the other side.” It
may also be a time to contemplate one’s own mortality and either pre-mourn its
eventuality or celebrate it, depending on one’s own beliefs in the matter. Where
the culture is still connected to death as a part of life’s experiences, there
tends to be more celebration and an easier recognition and acceptance of its
role in life. In American and other “westernized” cultures, where fewer and
fewer family members die at home and where the “processing” of dead bodies is
done in hospitals and funeral homes without any family participation, death has
become very removed from most people’s experience. Even when there is an open
casket at a funeral, the loved one is usually made to look as if “sleeping” and
great effort is made to avoid the appearance of death. We don’t generally
surround the casket with images of skulls or skeletons or other traditional
symbols of death. We are encouraged to think beyond the death of the body and
to keep visualizing our loved on in “Heaven”, surrounded by Angels or with
Jesus, all of which are right in themselves. However, there is little time for
thought of the possibility that not all of the experience one has after leaving
the body is pleasant. The ancient ideas of Purgatory and purgatory-like realms
and experiences are vastly downplayed in our culture. The idea that there is a
review period of three days in which the individuality has a fairly quick “replay”
of his or her life and then a much longer time in what is called “Kamaloca” is
largely unknown in the West. After the funeral, a family is encouraged to “move
on” – to grieve their material loss, but not to try to “follow” their loved one’s
experience. In more ancient cultures, it is still largely known that the dead
remain connected and that either ceremonies, prayers or other spiritual
practices can have a helping effect on their experiences in the spiritual world
and on our own through maintaining a positive connection.
Rudolf
Steiner gave many lectures on “Life Between Death and Rebirth” and on
connecting with our beloved Dead. Many Initiates and Masters are in full
agreement with his teachings on the subject. There is a new compilation of
Steiner’s indications called “Staying Connected” which is a great starting
point for those who wish to understand this subject better.
Celebrating the Festival
In terms of living with and working with children,
especially young children, one may still ask, what is the best way to enjoy
Halloween as a cultural holiday and still work with (and protect against) the
cosmic energies of this time of the year?
Halloween
So much fun!!
Dressing up and getting tons of candy, often prohibited or limited the rest of
the year. Adults love it to. One may feel uninhibited and mischievous. The
dressing up and mischief is actually borrowed primarily from the European
traditions that mark the Fasching or Carnival time just before the start of
Lent. They were meant to give people a temporary release from social oppression
– allowing men and women to dress as the opposite sex; to hide behind masks
while berating and making fun of political powers; to give way to appetites and
desires normally kept under tight control. Of course, with the beginning of
Lent, all of these wild impulses were expected to come back under tight and
firm control! But our society is far more “relaxed” and the loosening and
tightening process is much less defined and present.
Candy, or in the older days,
sweet treats like donuts (soul cakes) and other goodies were far more rare.
Beggars used to be allowed on certain days and with certain restrictions to go
from door to door and ask for food in exchange for prayers for the occupants’
dead. This was called “souling.” With our cultural de-emphasis on death and the
idea of purgatory, this kind of begging became irrelevant.
When sugar and sweets were rare
and expensive, the kind of “trick or treating” that we are used to could not
have existed. According to Wikipedia,
the first mention of “trick or treat” in the media was in the 30s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-or-treating
After World War II, the media and
the candy industry took advantage of the prosperity and the new means of reaching the masses to
turn Halloween into a candy-fest! Gradually, the older bobbing for apples, soul
cakes and othe r traditional treats were replaced almost entirely.
Unfortunately, what was a holiday
for children, most often unsupervised and unaccompanied children allowed to
wander the neighborhood at night has been sharply curtailed in the past fifty
years, due to various “scares” – child predators and tainted candy primarily.
There are fewer neighborhoods where everyone who lives there knows each other
and trusts each other with the care of their children. More schools and
churches have worked to replace door to door trick or treating with Halloween
parties where the children can go from person to person or room to room in a
contained space. Many Waldorf schools have created beautiful festivals where
the children and families are led indoors or outdoors to various scenes, mostly
from fairy tales, where they hear a story or see a little play acted out and
then are given treats. There are usually games to play for treats or prizes as
well. These kinds of festivals have been a great help to families who don’t
want to deprive their children of the fun of Halloween but don’t want them
exposed to the excesses of the mainstream culture. In the Waldorf communities,
media or “horror” costumes and decorations are prohibited with gentle fairy
tale or nature costumes and imagery promoted.
Often due to the realities of
weekend scheduling, the Halloween Festivals are held on a different night than the
actual Halloween, October 31. This is all to the better. If the realities of
Samhain still hold sway, despite modern beliefs, it would be better not to be
outdoors at all from sundown to sunup! Wearing
masks was a tradition that originated with the belief that a ghost or demon
couldn’t hurt you if they couldn’t recognize you – didn’t know who you were!
Wearing maskes of the kind that are popular today, which are truly demonic, may
actually draw the demonic to the wearer instead of protecting him or her!
Jack O’Lanterns were also created
as a kind of totem protection, in hopes of scaring the “baddies” away!! This
tradition has also evolved in many creative ways to our time.
Here are some ideas for ways that
a small community or several families could arrange a celebration that would
allow for lots of fun while providing protection as well as celebrating the
return of the Good with the first light of dawn on November 1.
All Saints Day
The ideal would be two
pre-arranged homes in walking distance from each other. At the “Halloween”
house, everyone would arrive before sunset and bring sleeping bags and pillows!
Once everyone has arrived, the doors and windows would be “sealed” with pentacles
and other “magic signs” and prayers of protection (spells) against evil said.
The children (and adults if they wish) may be in costume. All of the fun
activities of Halloween can be had – fortune telling, ghost stories (age
appropriate), games and “trick or treating” around the house. Pumpkin carving
and other lantern making with the Jack O’Lanterns put by the doors and windows
for protection (which they were first created for).
If the neighborhood does
participate in trick or treating, perhaps one adult could be designated to wait
for trick or treaters outside with the “goods” while wearing a protective mask
and costume and maybe being surrounded by Jack O’Lanterns and protective signs
and symbols! Better not to constantly open the door. You never know what might
float in!
The children can be entertained
later than usual and the adult encouraged to “keep vigil” to stay awake or take
turns being awake! Very few people have actually tried to maintain a vigil for
religious reasons since the middle ages or Renaissance!
Now for the new – just before
dawn, several wakeful adults take down the “Halloween” signs and symbols and
replace them with Christian ones (if the group is Christian) such as the cross
and the dove of the Holy Spirit. The children are roused to greet the dawn and
if the group is sufficiently dramatic, simple robes are provided and candles in
protective holders.
The participants then walk to the
second house in a procession with lit candles and songs of courage and
gratitude. At the second house, a breakfast has been prepared. The tables are
set with pictures of each person’s name or day saint (or just one they relate
to) and a verse of encouragement. Some more songs may be sung and then home to
a bit more sleep for those vigil keepers if possible!
A wonderful Imagination of this
is to be found in the 1940s movie “Fantasia” (not recommended for children
under nine years old.) At the end of the movie is Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald
Mountain” which perfectly and dramatically portrays the demonic forces holding
sway through the night. But with the first chime of church bells in the
pre-dawn, the demon of the mountain cowers. Despite lifting his fist in defiance,
the bells continue and the dawn grows stronger. The spirits must return to
their graves and the demon must return to his imprisonment in the mountain. The
music transitions to Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and a procession of robed figures
carrying lights moves through a primeval forest which becomes a kind of
cathedral and ultimately arrives at the gates of paradise embodied in the rising
sun.
All Souls’ Day
This is a wonderful day to enjoy
one’s cultural heritage in celebrating loved ones on the other side of the
Threshold. Of course, many churches have a celebration and many families set a
place at the table with a photo of their beloved one. There are many special
foods prepared all around the world and special prayers of gratitude to one’s
ancestors for their role in our becoming who we are and for their love.
It is a time to remember family
stories and to start or continue a family journal for future generations to
enjoy. It is a great time to take out family photo albums and to watch a video or
look at a picture book about a country
or countries part of a family’s heritage and to listen to or create music from
those cultures. It is a day to strengthen the children’s awareness of and
gratitude for their family and heritage in many creative ways.
A word about visits to a cemetery
or cemeteries. This has to be a family choice. Some caution may be advised about
including young children or very sensitive children. It is a balancing
situation between affirming life after death and working with the idea of death
itself. There are no one size fits all answers. It depends on the parents’
truthful feelings and beliefs about death and afterlife. On one hand, exposure
to adult grief may be overwhelming to a child, whereas there is also value in
allowing a child to express his or her own grief. If one plans to celebrate
this festival, it would be good to prepare in advance a story or just to think
out for both parents how they desire to answer questions and to handle the
subject of death and grief. Of course, celebrating one’s beloved dead will
often lead to a child’s concern about the death of her or his parents or self.
If there has been a recent death in the family, especially of a grandparent or
parent, this may re-awaken the grief. The positive side if handled well is that
it may be an excellent opportunity to work with the sorrow and fear that the
child is already holding and may not have expressed yet. It may be a difficult
but very valuable time of sharing for everyone and hopefully a time when those
who we love and grieve for can come closer to our hearts and bring greater
peace and assurance that they are still with us.
Christine Natale
October 29, 2016
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