Celtic New Year (Halloween). Wheel of the Year. Annual cycle of Celtic holidays

Samhain, the Celtic New Year, comes at the end of the penultimate and last months of autumn. It is difficult to say more precisely, because Samhain lasts for seven whole days - three days before and three after New Year's Eve itself. It is timed to the end of the agricultural year. But the Celtic holiday was not as benevolent as the New Year and Christmas we are used to. Samhain was also a time of honoring the dead and slaughtering cattle. And people who over the past year managed to break sacred vows were destined to die at this time.

The Celtic calendar divided the year into two parts: dark, which began in late October - early November, and light, which began in March - April. New Year coincided with the onset of the dark part. The tradition of celebrating Samhain, like other calendar holidays, among the Celts developed during a period when cattle breeding prevailed in their economy - accordingly, Samhain marks a milestone not only in the agricultural, but also in the cattle breeding cycle. It was at this time that the Celts divided the harvest, and also decided which of the grown animals would survive the winter and which would not. The latter were slaughtered to make provisions for the winter.

All seven days that Samhain lasted, there were festivities. The Irish saga tells of the festivities of the Ulads (inhabitants of the kingdom in the North of Ireland) on the plain of Murtemne. These days, kings, leaders and all the people gathered for the celebration. The ruler gave magnificent feasts, at which it was customary to eat and drink plentifully until completely intoxicated. Traditional festive games and competitions were held in Samhain, and those who, by the will of fate, had a chance to compete, these days could determine superiority with the help of a duel.

The feast was often accompanied by more friendly skirmishes, when rivals fought simply for the best piece of meat. The meal usually consisted of bread and plenty of beef, lamb and pork. The Celts especially loved the latter: they used it fried, boiled, cooked corned beef. Fish was also present in abundance - baked, boiled, salted. In addition, milk, butter, sour cream, cheese, apples and nuts certainly stood on the festive table at Samhain. The feast was accompanied by the singing of bards to the accompaniment of the ancient analogue of the lyre.

During the celebration, bonfires were lit everywhere. Ethnologists have not been able to figure out the exact order and meaning of the rituals so far, it is only known that on the eve of Samhain, the Celts extinguished any fire, and then the Druids kindled the fires of the new year. They also predicted the future by placing the bones of slaughtered animals in the fire and observing what designs the flames burned into them. People jumped over bonfires or walked between two tall bonfires lit nearby - this ritual symbolized purification by fire. Cattle were often led between the fires.

In general, Samhain was a kind of celebration: festive, but with a very gloomy tinge. Human heads and skulls were planted on the walls of houses and on the palisade around the fortress. True, by no means with the aim of frightening a random traveler - just the heads of the killed enemies were supposed to scare away evil spirits. Apparently, the custom was associated with the belief of the Celts that the life force and spirit of a person are enclosed in his head.

Samhain served as a kind of epilogue of the year, summing up. On the eve of the holidays, the Celts carefully cleaned the house, cleaned the hearth, and left food and drink for the souls of the dead. The sacrifice had two goals: the first was to receive the help of the gods or express gratitude to them for this help, the second was to protect oneself from their evil influence. This is especially true for the spirits of the dead. It was believed that in these cloudy days and long November nights, the border between the worlds becomes thinner, and the supernatural is able to penetrate our world. It was believed that people who happened to break the geis - a sacred vow, die in Samhain.

Geys were a kind of taboo common in Ireland, but not collective, but personal. Most often, a person voluntarily undertook to limit his life in some way, so as not to anger the higher powers with his excessive well-being. Often, the geys were quite noble: the prohibition to refuse a traveler an overnight stay, or the inability to refuse any food offered to a guest, so as not to offend hospitality, not to resolve a dispute between two slaves.

It happened that the vows contradicted each other, and this could lead to the death of the owner. Or the observance of the geis itself turned out to be dangerous for his life: one of the heroes of the Irish saga, who vowed "not to muddy the waters", could not escape the chase by running up the stream. Sometimes geys were imposed on someone for faults, and sometimes the druids imposed them on newborn babies, usually well-born: in this way, their social superiority was "balanced". Regardless of how the geis was obtained, its non-observance was punishable by death. The spirits of Sid - the other world - vigilantly followed the actions of the living, and those who violated the sacred vow on the morning of November 1 did not wake up. Samhain was a reminder that the laws of the world order must be observed.

With the advent of Christianity, Samhain gradually transformed into Halloween, All Saints' Day. The meaning of the holiday was distorted: creatures from the Other World turned into demons, the dead were no longer honored, they were only afraid of them. People tried not to leave their homes on the night of Samhain in order to avoid meeting with ghosts, they said prayers to protect themselves from the influence of the other world. True, the revival of modern youth at the word Halloween is more reminiscent of the joy of the Celts in anticipation of Samhain than the horror of the devil. So Samhain, one might say, received a second birth. Thanks to a surge of interest in Celtic culture, this holiday has also reached Russia: now it is celebrated in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod as part of festivals of Celtic culture.

Yana Filimonova

Eh, winter has come... It's snowing... And here's a new story for you... About the New Year.
In general, the ancestors of Santa Claus in some countries are considered local gnomes, in others - medieval wandering jugglers who sang Christmas songs, or wandering sellers of children's toys. Among the relatives of our Santa Claus is the East Slavic spirit of cold Treskun, he is Studenets and Moroz.
In the legends of the ancient Slavs, there was another character - Zimnik. He was presented as an old man of small stature, with white hair and a long gray beard, with an uncovered head, in warm white clothes and with an iron mace in his hands. Where he passes - there expect a cruel cold. Among the Slavic deities, Karachun, an evil spirit that shortens life, also stood out for its ferocity. The ancient Slavs considered him an underground god who commanded frost. And there was Pozvizd - the Slavic god of storms and bad weather. As soon as he shook his head, a large hail fell on the ground. Instead of a cloak, the winds dragged behind him, snow flakes fell from the hems of his clothes.
New Year is a ritual that has ancient origins. Spruce among the ancient Celts, and, of course, not only among them, was revered for a tree that is endowed with a magical meaning. The Christmas tree is an evergreen tree, which means that it does not succumb to any destructive forces. And therefore, the spruce was the abode of the forest deity, friendship with which was very important for people.
The spirit was in the oldest and most powerful spruce, in front of which they gathered during the winter solstice to appease the spirit. In the old days, they knew how to appease only one method - by making sacrifices. At first they were human victims, later they became animals.
The insides of dead victims were hung on spruce branches, and the branch itself was smeared with blood. They were the prototype of modern Christmas decorations.

ancient celts

The ancient Celts also celebrated the New Year when the work in the field ended. But only not after sowing, but after harvesting, in the fall. Samhain or "Samhain" was celebrated on the night of October 31st to November 1st. It was one of the four major Celtic festivals. In the modern world, it has been replaced by the famous Halloween - the eve of All Saints' Day.
Samhain was considered the time when the border between the ordinary world of Mortals and the Other World disappeared, so spirits at that moment can come to our world, and people can get into another world. “On the eve of Samhain, a ghost sits on every step,” as the old proverb says. For example, there was even a special goblin, Samhanah, who only appears on the night of Samhain. This was a great danger, so no one should be alone that night. And the Celts preferred to get together, feast (the day before, cattle were slaughtered for the holiday), sing, dance and have fun, trying to drive away the ghosts. Mass festivities were held in Tara - the sacred capital of the ancient Celts - the people competed in various games and races.
In addition, on Samhain, the hearths in all houses were extinguished, and the Druids kindled ritual bonfires, from which, in the New Year, the hearths in the houses were lit again.

Ancient Scandinavians

The ancient Scandinavians also celebrated the New Year on the winter solstice, December 22. This holiday was called Yule (from the Scandinavian word “wheel”, “spin”, perhaps this meant, as it were, the turn of the year to spring, or maybe there is a solar symbolism of the wheel here). It was a very magical holiday. The longest night was supposed to end with the victory of the Sun and the New Year, various magical rituals were used for this. Just like the Celts on Samhain, the Scandinavians believed that on Yule night - the longest of the year - the boundary between the obvious world and the other is erased, and spirits penetrate people. Therefore, the whole clan must be together, feast and have fun.
Ordinary people built a "Yule bonfire" and arranged a huge feast, where they ate horse meat and drank a lot of beer to the glory of the king, the Scandinavian gods and dead ancestors. Sanctuaries of pagan gods were sprinkled with the sacrificial blood of horses. On the doorsteps of their houses, they left the corpse of a previously selected virgin frozen to death, which evil spirits planted on the top of the spruce, ripped open her stomach and wrapped the tree itself with intestines. Skald poets who tasted the "poetry honey" performed at the feast. Once, at such a feast, the god Odin himself, the head of the Scandinavian pantheon, came to the Norwegian ruler Olaf. After the adoption of Christianity, Yule was still celebrated for some time, but at the feast they no longer ate horse meat and did not glorify the pagan gods.
Yule lasted for 13 nights - perhaps the tradition of the Christmas holidays comes from there. The next day was called the “day of fate”, since the most truthful signs appeared precisely on the “twelfth night”. In addition, all actions and deeds committed before sunset determined all the events of the next year, hence the proverb “as you celebrate the New Year, so you will spend it.”

edited news Anomaly - 14-11-2011, 15:01

wheel of the year

Our ancestors drew attention to the connection of man with the change of seasons on Earth, celebrating days that can be called turning points. The remains of many folk customs point to the importance attached to the relationship of man with nature, the course and change of the cycles of the seasons and the Sun. In Wicca, these traditions are restored and woven into the eight holidays of the Wiccan year, which are called Sabbats.

Of the eight holidays that witches celebrate, four are directly related to astronomical events: the winter and summer solstices and the spring and summer equinoxes. The dates of the eight Sabbats in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres are reversed (as shown in the two adjacent columns) due to the fact that when it is winter in one hemisphere it is summer in the other, and vice versa.

SUNNY HOLIDAYS

The four solar festivals in the Wiccan tradition each have their own name. The winter solstice is called Yule (Yu1e - this name comes from the Scandinavian word Yu1, meaning "wheel"). We believe that our Nordic ancestors marked this time as a period of halt, completion, a point on the revolving Wheel of the year that completes the cycle.

The summer solstice is called Lita, and the origin of the word is less obvious. Oddly enough, it also means "wheel", although it symbolizes other events (see pp. 68-69). The Spring Equinox, sometimes referred to as the "Feast of Trees", is best known among Wiccans as Ostara. This holiday is named after the Teutonic goddess of fertility (the Anglo-Saxons called her Eostre) and celebrates the resumption of growth and the new birth of the Earth. The autumnal equinox is called Modron, which means "mother." Modron is the Universal Mother, the aspect of the Goddess responsible for fertility and growth, which corresponds to the season of harvest and harvest.

If we imagine the year as a wheel, with Yule in the north and Lita in the south (in the Southern Hemisphere - on the contrary), the other two solar holidays will be strictly in the East and West. Between them are four Sabbats, which are called the Celtic festivals of fire. Although they are dated to approximate calendar dates, they are more mobile, and many witches prefer to celebrate them on the first full moon (or other lunar phase) after the appearance of certain plants.

CELTIC FIRE FESTIVALS

The first of them, if you move along the wheel from east to west, starting from the winter solstice, is Imbolk, whose name comes from ewe`s milk - “sheep's milk”. Traditionally, it is celebrated on the next full moon after the first thawed patches appear. It is strongly associated with the Celtic goddess of fire Brid (also called Brigid) and therefore is often called the Brid Holiday.

Imbolc celebrates the awakening of nature, the first signs of spring, the first thawed patches, the birth of lambs. We move further along the wheel: between Ostara and Lita stands Beltane, which means “bright fire”. Belle Tyne is celebrated when the hawthorn blossoms, or on the first full moon thereafter. Beltane is a holiday greeting to the Earth and its fertility in all manifestations: in plants, birds and animals, and is associated with the Green Man, spirit or god of nature.

Between Lita and Modron, Lughnasad, or Lammas, is celebrated on the day the first sheaf is cut, or on the first full moon thereafter. Lughnasad is a festival of harvest and harvest, a day of blessings and honoring the spirits that helped the grains ripen. Finally, between Modron and Yule, Samhain is celebrated, which means "the first frosts." As the name implies, this holiday is sometimes celebrated when the first frosts come, or on the first full moon after them (see dates for both hemispheres in the table on page 50). This is the Feast of the Ancestors, the Day of the Dead, and also the New Year of the ancient Celts, the day when the warm time is left behind, and darkness sets in, leading to Yule.

There is a tradition in the ancient fire festivals that they begin at sunset of the previous day and end at sunset of the next day. This means that if you celebrate Beltane on May 1st, then the holiday begins at sunset on April 30th and ends at sunset on May 1st.

So here are the eight Wiccan Sabbats, the spokes of the Wheel of the Year. Learning about the traditions and meanings of different holidays will help you better understand pagan beliefs. If you yourself experience how witches work with the changes of Gaia, it will help you to tune in to the rhythms of the spirit of nature and better understand the changes that occur in your life.

As you delve into the study of the holidays, you will realize that each Sabbat is a moment of rest on the wheel of the year, which is incessantly turning. Lita marks the longest day of the year, but says that after that the days will begin to decrease. The spring equinox is a perfect balance of day and night, but after it comes a period when there is more light. This is the case with all solar festivals and, on a more subtle level, with all fire festivals. Each marks a change in the cycle of the seasons, and each bears the seed of its own doom. You will discover for yourself the deep spiritual lessons that the Sabbat provides as you begin to follow the cycle.

Samhain - Feast of the Dead

Celebrated on the last day of October in the northern hemisphere and V first day of May in southern. Samhain is located in the middle between Modron and Yule. It is sometimes seen as the start of winter, but it is also the day of the dead when we remember and honor our ancestors. This is a magical time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is thinned, and Wiccans on this day celebrate death as a part of life, which gives a positive meaning to the idea of ​​​​falling into darkness.

The Celts considered Samhain the main turning point of the year, an opportunity to start over. In the eighth century, the venerable monk Bede noted that November was popularly called the "bloody month", and associated this with the season of slaughtering animals, preparing supplies for the winter. Summer has already burned at the stake, we have made peace with the dead and prepared for winter - our ancestors could consider this day as a starting point, the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Therefore, modern pagans call this holiday the Celtic New Year. While Samhain literally means "first frost" and is the first of the winter holidays, it also marks a readiness for change.

WORSHIP OF THE OLD WOMAN GODDESS

This period is associated with ghosts, spirits and the dead roaming the earth. This is the time of the Crone, one of the three aspects of the Goddess who guides us through life, sympathizes with us and sees us from life to death.

Today, witches commemorate this day by performing a ritual in which the dead are named, honored, remembered and spoken to. Starting with those who died in the last year, we remember all our family and friends, and then all together - all our ancestors. Then, forgetting grief, we rejoice and remember the newborns that appeared this year, new friends and the opportunities that stood out to us.

Samhain serves as a reminder that there is death in life, but there is also the mystery of rebirth and the forward movement of the cycle of life.

Yule - winter solstice

Yule marks the shortest day of the year, followed by the heaviest days of winter. The sixteenth-century poet John Donne referred to this time as "midnight of the year," when "the blood of the whole world freezes." However, Yule carries with it a paradox: the winter solstice both celebrates the yearly lack of sunlight and welcomes its return. Therefore, Yule is also called the "return of the Sun."

Yule is the time when the Goddess gives birth to the Star Child, and our European ancestors called this night "the night of motherhood." For witches who worship God and Goddess, the Star Child is the Sun God, who by the time of Ostara will grow into a young man and, together with the young, full of fertility Goddess, will conceive a new Star Child, who in turn will be born on the next Yule.

The rebirth of the sun

No matter how we imagine what is happening at Yule, the symbolism of the rebirth of the Sun is reflected in our holidays. In the darkest time, when the Earth looks bare and empty, we bring evergreens into the house - holly for protection, ivy for loyalty to promises, mistletoe for fertility. In the first days of winter, they remind us that the Earth will turn green again. We feast to lighten our hearts and share the bonds of friendship with others, to warm ourselves from the inside when everything seems colorless and cold. How important human society is to us at Yule is evident when you look at how many people travel to sacred sites to watch sunset and sunrise with others. Members of my group organize a ceilidh—a gathering of folk music and dance—for our community to celebrate Yule.

Although the surface of the Earth is devoid of luxuriant greenery in this dark time, nevertheless, under the cover of snow, the seeds sleep, preparing to germinate. Witches take a cue from them and use the dark season to dive into the depths of the mind and spirit, meditate and draw on new ideas that will develop further. In the rituals of Yule, we are looking for the invisible Sun: the inner spark of life, which, once again gaining energy, will support our spirit and physical strength and help us survive the winter. The candles we light symbolize our desire to revive the inner Sun as well. “As in heaven, so on earth,” say the Wise.

Imbolc - Feast of Breed

In Imbolc times, the days are noticeably longer, and there are signs that winter is loosening its grip. The first sprouts make their way out of the ground on thawed patches, snowdrops adorn gardens and forests. Imbolc marks the birth of the first lambs and the time when the ewes begin to give milk; therefore this holiday is associated with milking. In one old song, a milkmaid soothed a cow she was milking by telling her that "Saint Brigid herself" was milking "the white clouds in the sky."

The "Saint Brigid" mentioned in the song is the Christian version of the Irish goddess of fire Breed, whose huge popularity among the people could not be destroyed by Christianity. Even among the first snowdrops of modern pagans, Breed is a much loved and revered goddess, and Imbolc is considered her feast. Brid acts as a fierce protector of women, children and newborn animals, which is reflected in Christian mythology, where Saint Brigid helped in the birth of Mary. In Wicca, she also helps spring to be born, this is a deity who warms the Earth with her fiery breath in order to awaken it. Her role extends to helping new beginnings in different areas of our lives.

SECRET RITUALS

Imbolc is more of a women's holiday; according to tradition, in the first part of the celebration, women conduct their own ceremonies, which are not talked about outside the circle or in the presence of men. Of course, men also have their own mysteries, which are held while they are waiting for an invitation to the circle as guests of honor. They bring gifts to Brid, which are placed at the foot of a statue of the goddess, dressed and adorned with women's hands and placed in a basket. During ceremonies, celebrants may approach her and whisper their secrets and secret desires.

Brid is the goddess of healing, the inspirer of poets and the patroness of blacksmiths and other people who work with metal. She is a flame in the hearts of poets and those who make every effort to achieve their goals, the goddess of inspiration and action, the goddess of transformation. At Imbolc, a time of renewal, we celebrate the changes around and within us and renew our commitment to making the world a better place. We honor the spark within us and amplify our healing energy.

Ostara - spring equinox

Ostara celebrates the vernal equinox, the time of balance between daylight and darkness, the turning point after which the day becomes longer than the night. In the Northern Hemisphere, it falls during Christian Lent. It is also a celebration of growth, and its name comes from the name of the Germanic goddess, whose symbol was the hare. The expression "crazy as a March hare" appeared as a result of observing the behavior of these animals during the mating season at this particular time of the year. Hares are animals of enviable fertility, and many moon goddesses associated with the female reproductive cycles have a hare among their symbols and totems, meaning sexuality and fertility.

Today, the Easter Bunny is the emasculated heir to the early Pagan fertility symbol, but it is nonetheless revered by witches, recognizing it as a modern remnant of an ancient tradition.

SYMBOL OF FERTILITY AND RENEWAL

Eggs have been associated with this season for thousands of years. This ancient, pre-Christian symbol of fertility, renewal and vitality inspires modern pagans to celebrate Ostara by painting eggs. Sometimes empty painted eggs are hung on branches located in the center of a sacred place. These are branches that have broken during the winter or during the spring winds; never cut a branch from a living tree. Since eggs symbolize life's potential, we magically fill them with our desires and hopes that we want to fulfill this year.

Ostara is a good time to be in nature and watch for yourself how the buds swell on the trees and how the nesting birds fuss. This is the time to look at daffodils - the flowers of this holiday - in their natural surroundings and understand why they are called "heralds of spring". This is also the perfect time to find balance in life; during the festival, we sometimes pass between two candles, black and white, and stop before we cross this threshold of summer to ask God or Goddess about how to restore balance in life, which will allow us to grow further.

Beltane - the time of the Green Man

Beltane celebrates the arrival of summer. This is the time when the Green Man, the companion of the Goddess and the ancient spirit of the Green Forest, is honored and glorified. He joins Marian, his May Queen.

How everything rejoices, sings, rings!

The valley is in bloom, the zenith is on fire!

Each leaf trembles on a branch,

A merry whistle is not silent in the groves.

How this joy

fit in your chest! —

Look! and listen!

breathe! and Live!

"MAY SONG", I. GOETHE

Translation by A. Globa

This is the time of Gern - a giant with horns on his head, the protector of the Green Forest and a symbol of fertility, growth and change. When the stags shed their antlers after the mating fights in May, and the Goddess carries the Star Child, Gern declares his readiness to give up wandering and take a place beside her. On Beltane Eve, some witches go into the woods to "bring home" hawthorn at dawn. For our ancestors, this was a time of sexual freedom. It is not surprising that many pagan weddings and betrothals took place on this holiday.

CLOSE TO THE MAGIC WORLD

On the Wheel of the Year, Beltane stands opposite Samhain; just as the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead thins at Samhain, so at Beltane the worlds of mortals and faeries, supernatural beings, converge.

On May 1, the Celts led their cattle between two fires to protect them before sending them out to pasture; These bonfires were called bel-tine, which means "fortune bonfire." It is also likely that this holiday is named after a god or goddess named Bel/Belenos/Bellisama. The Celtic root bel means "bright" and hence this god or goddess was associated with the Sun.

Whatever the origin of this holiday, the sacred fire occupies an important place in Wiccan rituals. If they are celebrating outside, we light a small fire that those who wish can jump over to receive Beltane's blessing. Sometimes a broom is used instead, symbolizing the sacred union of the male (handle) and female (rods) principles and marking the threshold between spring and summer. By crossing it, we make promises that we will fulfill this year.

Lita - summer solstice

While the best summer days are yet to come, the summer solstice marks the longest day of the year. This is a time to gain strength from the Sun before the day begins to decrease, as it will in the next six months. Like Yule, the festival of Lita contains a paradox: we celebrate the moment of the highest flowering of the forces of the Sun, which is also the beginning of their extinction. This reminds us of a truth that applies to both body and spirit: our holidays are fleeting moments of rest on the Wheel of Change, and in themselves they symbolize the constant change that is the essence of our existence.

The word "Lita" is thought to mean "wheel", although its origin is unclear. However, it may be related to a tradition first described 2,000 years ago of lighting a wheel and rolling it down a hill, supposedly symbolizing the fading of the powers of the Sun at its peak. There may also be an element of sympathetic magic in this ritual: symbolically, the Sun is rolled into the fields so that it warms them and makes the ears of corn growing there ripen faster. Of course, there is also a strong connection with the midsummer bonfires that are lit everywhere and the torches are carried over the hills.

Litha is usually celebrated outdoors, weather permitting, and most often the witches gather at ancient sacred sites such as megaliths, circles, and hills to observe the movement of the Sun together.

Many of us begin vigils on the evening of June 20 (December 20 in the Southern Hemisphere) and wait until the next morning. That is, we stay awake on the shortest night and entertain each other with stories and songs after the sun goes down below the horizon to the sound of our drums. At dawn we start beating the drums again, this time to wake up the Sun, coax it to rise early, climb high into the sky and shine bright and hot all the next day. The rest of the day is usually spent on the street, in rituals and a joint feast, we get enough sleep, making up for a sleepless night, and go home.

Lughnasad - the feast of the harvest

Lughnasad falls between the summer solstice, when the powers of the sun are at their peak, and the autumn equinox, when the time of night darkness and daylight are equal. It is a festival of harvest and harvest, and its second name, Lammas, is believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon word hlaef-mass, which means "lots of bread". The name "Lugnasad" comes from the name of the Irish god Lug, whom the pagans revered as the god of the Sun and celebrated on the day of harvest that the harvest had risen thanks to its hot rays.

For our ancient ancestors, the cycle of grain ripening also meant something more mystical and mysterious: the growth, fall and rebirth of grains reflected the cycles of growth, death and rebirth of a person. Figurines depicting an ear are found in ancient burial grounds, which indicates their spiritual and material significance. The spirit of the ear must be appeased and brought back to the fields, and later documented traditions speak of couples making love in the field after the harvest in order to restore fertility to the land and re-grow the ears. The mysterious but powerful spirit of the ear was lured and held captive with the help of pupae woven from ears that participated in the holidays - sometimes they are called “spirit traps”.

This is the time of John Barleycorn, an aspect of the god who plays the role of a caring father, who married a pregnant goddess in May, and now he is killed during the harvest to feed the people.

Once again, we are faced with the contradictions inherent in the holidays: a time of abundance and celebration is also a time of death and sacrifice. The festivals of Lammas still exist in some parts of England, reminiscent of the times when harvest time was met with wild celebrations.

For city dwellers accustomed to eating nutritious food all year round, it's hard to understand the importance of harvesting for those who have stockpiles from last year that could run out weeks before the next harvest.

In Lammas, the time of gathering the blessed gifts of nature, we also remember the importance of even distribution. Therefore, some witches combine the pleasures of a feast and feast of plenty with an obligation to "repay" either money or charity, to ensure that the harvest is fair for all.

Modron - autumnal equinox

At the western point of the Wheel of the Year is Modron. Like Ostara, this is a day in which the dark and daylight hours are the same. However, unlike Ostara, which promises long days, the autumnal equinox warns of the onset of the dark season. Modron is the time of harvesting the fruits of Mother Earth.

For witches who worship God and Goddess, this is the time when the dying Sun God begins his journey across the western ocean to unite with the elder aspect of the Goddess in the land of the dead at Samhain. In Arthurian legend, witches see the echo of the dying god in the form of King Arthur, who sailed west to the Land of Eternal Summer, or Avalon, in the Celtic Otherworld, accompanied by three (sometimes nine) maidens, who symbolize the triune Goddess. His rebirth is the appearance of the Star Child at the winter solstice. The child will then rapidly become a youth, a hero and protector of the new cycle.

HIDDEN MYSTERY

The connection between Avalon - the "Isle of Apples" - and Modron is expressed in some modern day ceremonies celebrating Modron. During rituals, we cut apples to reveal the secret hidden in them - a five-pointed star, symbolizing all the elements together. We eat them and it reminds us that we witches are walking between two worlds: the world of conscious reality and the magical Otherworld. At this festival, we stand between the columns of light and darkness, ready to descend with the gods and goddesses from myths into the Other World, into the long night of the year. We eat these fruits and, like Inanna, Persephone, Freya and Ishtar, descend into the deep darkness of the next six months, full of creative powers. As a grain ripens in the darkness of the earth, so we grow, preparing for peace in the darkness, plunging into the depths of renewal and returning with treasures of creativity and spiritual knowledge.

If Yule is the midnight of the year, then Modron is its sunset, and at sunset we take what we can from the noon power of Lita's Sun and carry it into darkness. After Modron, we move to the new Samhain and with this we complete the journey along the sacred Wheel of the Year, closing the cycle.

Tuesday, 12/30/2014 Wednesday, 12/31/2014

New Year. Yesterday and today

The New Year holiday, beloved by many since childhood, is not as simple as it seems: it has a history as ancient as the world and has undergone many influences and changes throughout its long life. Almost all peoples of the world, scattered in various parts of our planet, have analogues of this holiday. New Year's traditions such as decorating the Christmas tree are based on ancient customs and symbols. However, the deep meaning of the holiday remained almost unchanged.

The New Year is a holiday of renewal, which, obviously, from its very name, it completes the past annual cycle and begins a new one. For an ancient person, the change of seasons took place somewhat differently than for us, since initially it was not connected with the calendar (a clear reckoning usually appeared at the stage of agriculture), but with the change of seasons itself and with a change in lifestyle in changing climatic conditions. In addition, in almost all mythologies there is a memory of heavenly bliss and unity with the gods, the subsequent overthrow of man and the creation of the world. New Year's rituals reproduced all these basic actions, because the change of the cycle was presented in the mythological consciousness as a real new creation of the world. The pagans did not know linear time at all, the whole universe for them was an "eternal return". In the ancient agricultural tribes, the New Year was primarily associated with the end of field work, when the entire crop was harvested and stocks for the winter were ready. Farming, unlike hunting, provided a surplus of food. The meaning of the annual feasts was not only sacred, but also practical: the ancients for a long time were not inclined to accumulate and store their crops for a long time, and therefore they simply ate an obvious surplus or pleased their gods by burning the remaining food on ritual fires.

The Aymara Indians living in Bolivia celebrate the New Year on June 21, the day of the solstice. They honor Pachamama (mother of time and earth) and Pachacamac (the Universe), pray to them for the improvement of the world and human souls and for the maintenance of the universe. Like other ancient peoples, they burn llama meat, coca leaves, bread and sweets at the stake. With their ritual actions, shamans, as it were, return the world to its original order.

The Chinese New Year has its origins in prehistoric times. It is celebrated for a whole month, from the end of January to the end of February. It was celebrated exclusively in the circle of a large family, but close friends could also be invited. The Chinese called it "round the year". According to tradition, you need to stay awake in order not to oversleep your happiness. This time is special, because during this period the border between the worlds of people and gods, according to Chinese beliefs, is especially thin. Like other ancient peoples, the Chinese honor the spirits of their ancestors on the New Year, bringing them sacrificial food. However, the focus was on the "great gods" such as Tian Gong (Lord of Heaven) and Nu Wa, the goddess of earth and fertility. Separate tables were set up for them, on which the most delicious dishes were served. In ancient times, blood sacrifices were made to the gods, for example, it was customary to kill horses in their honor. Nowadays, the ritual of killing a horse has been replaced by burning a paper horse. Also in ancient China, sacrificial battles were organized between different representatives of neighboring villages, armed with real weapons. They tried to conduct these battles as humanely as possible, but they often ended in severe injuries and the death of a number of their participants. The battle was for nothing but happiness and the mercy of the gods. To this day, this custom continues to live in some Chinese provinces, however, instead of a real battle, they arrange fistfights or mutual stone-throwing. The Chinese year is a small cycle with its own characteristics. For the Chinese, the onset of the new year is not only a different number on the calendar, but also a whole set of favorable and unfavorable trends in various areas of life, only an ancient horoscope can tell you what to expect. Each year of the twelve-year cycle corresponds to one animal, a certain natural element and color. All of them had to be present during the holiday, because prosperity in the coming year depends on it.

An integral part of the Chinese New Year is a dragon named Nian. According to legend, in addition to his formidable disposition, he had a legendary appetite. Under pain of death, he took food from the peasants. Nowadays, according to tradition, food is sometimes left at the doorstep of the house, thereby hoping to appease the evil dragon.

In ancient Rome, the New Year, called "Saturnalia", was celebrated on a special scale. This became the Roman interpretation of the earlier ancient Greek "kronii", from which the key rituals were adopted. The holiday began on December 17 and was celebrated for a whole week. It was dedicated to the god Saturn, the Roman counterpart of the ancient Greek god Kron. Kron-Saturn - the god of agriculture and harvesting, while he was the god of death and birth at the same time. This is evidenced by his Greek name Κρόνος, which comes from "χρόνος", that is, "time". Saturn was the ruler of the Golden Age, which again came in the period of Saturnalia. During the festive week, the Romans were free from the power of the stern thunderer Jupiter and tried to live the same way as people of the era of the reign of Kron:

Those people lived like gods, with a calm and clear soul,
Grief not knowing, not knowing labors, and sad old age
I didn't dare to approach them. Always the same strength
There were their arms and legs. They spent their lives in feasts.
And they died, as if embraced by sleep ...
Hesiod, Works and Days.

These days the streets of Rome were full of people, people exchanged gifts and greeted each other with exclamations of "Jo Saturnalia!". According to the laws of Saturnalia, the rich had to share their wealth with the poor, otherwise Saturn-Kronos could deprive them of their manhood with his sickle, with which he had already once castrated his father Uranus during the creation of the world. Interestingly, this applied not only to free citizens, but to a greater extent to slaves. The masters changed roles with their slaves, ministering to them and honoring them during the festivities. The slave even had the right to scourge his master. The king of Saturnalia, the so-called rex bibendi, was appointed, who enjoyed unquestioned authority, and his desires were the law, because he was the very embodiment of Kronos-Saturn. However, in some parts of the Roman Empire there was a nuance - at the end of the holiday, he had to die on the altar. This bloody custom persisted in some provinces until the 6th century AD. e., as evidenced by the fate of the Christian saint Dasius. He was appointed king of the Saturnalia in 303, but at the last moment refused to voluntarily go to the slaughter and was martyred. Similar bloody New Year's customs were not only among the Romans, but also among many peoples of the Ancient East. The Carthaginians made annual infant sacrifices to the god Baal, and the Syrians also made human sacrifices to the sun god El. Both of these deities were often identified with Kronos. It's funny that these customs continue to live in a modified form in modern Europe. So, in France, to this day, during the celebration of the New Year, a comic king is appointed by lot. A bean is hidden in a traditional meat pie, and whoever gets it is appointed the "bean king". Like the king of Saturnalia, he becomes the ruler of New Year's Eve.

Jordaens Jacob (1593-1678), "The Bean King". This man is more fortunate than his Roman predecessors, because the holiday takes place in the Christian era and he will not be sacrificed to Kronos.

The origin of the well-known Christmas tree is very gloomy. The ancient Celts considered spruce a sacred tree, as it embodied eternity and immortality, remaining "in winter and summer in one color." The veneration of this tree was timed to coincide with the harvest and death of Samhain, the Celtic New Year. The Celts believed that when winter came, the goddess of death, Kalich, returned and hit the ground with her hammer, causing it to crack, destroying the border between the worlds of the living and the dead. The Druids sacrificed humans and animals to Kalich by hanging their entrails on the branches of a sacred evergreen tree. With the adoption of Christianity, the insides were replaced with figurines and garlands. Who would have thought that this is how modern New Year's toys appeared? According to the pagan beliefs of the Celts, during the calendar period "Gevryakh", that is, in the autumn-winter time, the Sids, inhabitants of the underworld, who were distinguished by viciousness and loved to kidnap people, walk around the world of people. In order for them to leave the settlement alone, they chose a virgin and tied her to a sacred spruce and left it to be eaten by the Seeds or the formidable Northern Elder, the god Bran. In short, being chaste as a Celtic girl was life-threatening. Some scientific versions say that it is from here that the fairy tales common among European peoples about the snowy companion of the "New Year's Grandfather" take their roots.

Celtic copper image of Bran. Like Santa, he has a beard. Sometimes he was depicted with deer antlers. Santa and Rudy the reindeer are obviously kinder than their festive Celtic ancestor, the Elder of the North.

M.V. Vasnetsov, Santa Claus. 1885 In the Russian Empire, this character of ancient Slavic legends turned into the well-known Santa Claus. His mythological prototype was more good-natured than foreign colleagues. Although he could cause damage to the household, he was always fair to honest people, giving them gifts if they deserved it.

Halloween (Halloween) - the night before the Catholic "All Saints' Day"

October 31 - Samhain, Celtic New Year! Which was later dubbed Halloween.

The ancient Celts divided the year into two parts: light (summer) and dark (winter). The time of transition from the summer half of the year to the winter one coincided with the harvest, the end of the summer field work and the pasture season. These Days of the Transition lasted from October 29 to November 3. The main peak of the holiday fell on the night of October 31 to November 1.

On November 1, most Celtic peoples (not all) celebrated the New Year - Samhain.

"Samhain" literally means "end of summer" in Old Irish. This is one of the four main calendar holidays of the Celts. Being on the border of the dark and light half of the year, Samhain, as it were, connects two worlds - the World of people and the Other World, which in Ireland was called Sid.

Sides is the ancient name for hills in Ireland. And according to the Elder Edda, elves live in them. Therefore, Irish elves are often called Sid.

The holy days of Samhain are not included in either the coming year or the outgoing year, these are the Days of Timelessness. During this period, the border between the worlds becomes very thin. Therefore, the Seeds at this moment can come to the World of People (which is called Mitgard in the Edda), and people can get to the World of the Elves (Alfheim).

This is a very appropriate time to remember and honor all those who have died during the past year. For the dead on the days of Samhain, it is necessary to leave food and drink (for Catholics, the "commemoration day" is November 2, for the Orthodox it will be on Saturday - Great Mother's Saturday). Well, or bring something to the owner of the cemetery.

People arranged games and feasts and in honor of the dead, they invited elves. And the elves held their own feasts and invited people to join them.

"On the eve of Samhain, a ghost sits on every step" - as the old proverb says.

The probability of meeting an elf on the night of Samhain was very high. If a meeting with light elves could be desirable, then communication with dark elves (gnomes, goblins and other "evil spirits") was not safe.

The Celts tried their best to protect themselves and their home from their intrusion.

It is now difficult for us to restore the rituals of this holiday in their original meaning. But there was a tradition according to which people tried to look like sids that night, dressed appropriately, went from house to house, sang ritual songs, asked for refreshments.

In the 1st century AD, when the Romans conquered the Celtic territories, the tradition of celebrating Samhain has existed for several centuries. The Romans had nothing against this holiday, especially since it coincided with their own Day of Pomona, the goddess of plants. In some areas where the Romans and the Celts lived together, Samhain began to gradually "dissolve" into the Roman tradition.

The Christianization of the islands of Britain and Ireland led to the fact that the population had to abandon the Celtic pagan customs. But the memory of Samhain still remained to live in the people's memory.

In the 9th century, Pope Gregory III moved All Saints' Day from May 13 to November 1. The day before - October 31 - in medieval English was called All Hallows Even, or All Hallows Eve (which means "all saints' evening"). Later it was called Hallowe "en, and in the end - Halloween.

At the same time, the ideas about the seeds penetrating into the world of people, in the medieval Christian consciousness, turned into ideas about the evil spirit that comes out on this day to frighten the pious inhabitants. That is why in the era of the Middle Ages and the New Age, Halloween was chosen by witches, who necessarily arranged a sabbath on this day. Indeed, most of the items that we associate with Halloween (vampires, devils, etc.) come from this period and not from Celtic mythology.

New York and Los Angeles were the first big cities to celebrate Halloween in the 1920s. By the beginning of the XX century. in all US cities, the fashion began to spread on Halloween, petty vandalism actions - to break windows, set fire to trees, etc.

Since the middle of the same century, Halloween has also become a profitable commercial enterprise. Costumes, candles, decorations, greeting cards and pumpkins are very popular, despite the fact that the holiday is still not official.

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halloween(English) halloween, All Hallows" Eve or All Saints" Eve) is a modern holiday dating back to the traditions of the ancient Celts of Ireland and Scotland, whose history began in the territory of modern Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is celebrated on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day. Halloween is traditionally celebrated in English-speaking countries, although it is not an official holiday. Since the end of the 20th century, during the process of Americanization and globalization, the fashion for Halloween paraphernalia has also arisen in most non-English-speaking countries of Europe and the CIS. Halloween is informally celebrated in some other countries with close cultural ties to the US or the UK, such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, a number of island countries in Oceania, and more recently Russia and other CIS countries.

Name etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "Halloween" was first mentioned in the 16th century as a Scottish abbreviation of the English phrase All-Hallows-Even(rus. All Saints' Evening , even - short for evening (rus. evening); in Scots it is read as "halloween"). So at that time they called the night before All Saints' Day. Although the phrase All Hallows can also be found in Old English (ealra hālgena mæssedæg - Rus. All Saints' Day ), the phrase All-Hallows-Even does not appear in written sources before 1556.

Story

Traditional Irish gazing mask (early 20th century) and home decoration with jack-o'-lanterns in 1919

Historian Nicholas Rogers, who studied the origins of Halloweena, noted that, despite attempts to connect its origin with the ancient Roman holiday Parentalium, the prototype of Halloweena most likely originated only with the advent of the Celtic pagan festival Samhain, a description of which appears in Old Irish literature from X century. The name of this holiday comes from the Old Irish word Samhain, which meant "end of summer" and later became the Irish name for the month of November.

According to the Oxford Dictionary of Folklore, Samhain was a holiday for all the peoples of the British Isles at the same time and was strongly associated with death and the supernatural. At the same time, there is no evidence that in pagan times the holiday had any special significance other than agricultural and seasonal. It is traditionally believed that the perception of Samhain as a dark pagan holiday associated with the dead owes its appearance to Christian monks of the 10th-11th centuries, who wrote about it about two centuries after the establishment of All Saints' Day and about four hundred years after the adoption of Christianity in Ireland. At the same time, already in the 8th century, All Saints' Day began to gradually replace Samhain; Thanks to the interpenetration of Gaelic traditions and Catholic rites, the first rudiments of the future Halloween are beginning to form.

From this moment begins the successive development of the two holidays. Like Samhain, Halloween is traditionally celebrated on the night of October 31st to November 1st. In Scotland and Ireland, Samhain was called Oidhche Samhna and Oíche Samhna (in Scottish and Irish respectively), and modern Gaelic speakers still refer to Halloween as Oíche/Oidhche Samhna, including such a name preserved in the Irish Wikipedia. Until now, in the north of Scotland and Ireland, it is customary to perform rituals to calm the dead and tell legends about ancestors on the night of October 31st.

Around the 16th century, there was a tradition of gazing - begging for sweets on the night of October 31st. Children and adults put on cloth masks and went from one door to another, demanding treats from the owners and petty shawls. The custom of wearing role-playing costumes and carrying a “jack-o-lantern” during gazing appeared only at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and in exchange for money or food, it was initially necessary to offer various entertainments. Subsequently, due to the mass emigration of the Scots and Irish to the United States, Halloween is popularized there as well.

Symbols

Most of the symbols of the holiday have a long history. For example, the tradition of making gourds originates from the Celtic custom of making lanterns to help souls find their way to purgatory. In Scotland, the turnip was the symbol of Halloween, but in North America it was quickly replaced by the pumpkin as a cheaper and more accessible vegetable. The first creation of pumpkin lamps in America was recorded in 1837; this ritual, performed at harvest time, had nothing to do with Halloween until the second half of the 19th century.

Costumes from classic horror films such as The Mummies and Frankenstein's monster are popular. Symbols of autumn, such as village scarecrows, play an important role in the festive decoration of houses. The main themes of Halloween are death, evil, the occult and monsters. Traditional colors are black and orange.

jack o lantern

Jack-o'-lantern carved from turnip, early 20th century. Museum of Traditional Life, Ireland

The main symbol of the holiday is the so-called jack o lantern(English) Jack-o'-lantern— Jack Lantern). It is a pumpkin carved with an ominously grinning face; a lit candle is placed inside the gourd. For the first time, "Jack lamps" appeared in the UK, but initially they used swede or turnips for their manufacture. It was believed that a similar fruit, left on All Saints' Day near the house, would drive away evil spirits from it. As the Halloween tradition spread to the US, lamps began to be made from pumpkins, which were more readily available and cheaper.

The origins of this custom can be found in the ancient Irish and British traditions of carving faces on vegetables during various rituals. The modern look of the "Jack lamp" acquired around 1837, at the same time he received this name. By 1866 it was already strongly associated with Halloween. However, in the US, long before the popularization of Halloween, a carved pumpkin was used as one of the symbols of the harvest. By 1900, its use during this holiday gradually came into use.

Oh! - favorite fruits of childhood! - reminding old days,
When the vine tree turned purple and the brown nuts fell!
When the wild, ugly faces we carved into its skin
Peered into the darkness with a candle inside!

— John Whittier, Pumpkin (1850)

Traditions

Suits

Dressing in carnival costumes is a relatively recent element of the holiday. For the first time as a full-fledged custom, it was recorded at the beginning of the 20th century and goes back to the American traditions of costume parties. For the first time, the wearing of fancy dress on Halloween was recorded in 1895 in Scotland, when masked children went from house to house and received cakes, fruit and money. There is not a single mention of such traditions in the USA, Ireland or England before 1900. In Scotland, children who, dressed in carnival costumes depicting various monsters or other characters, go from house to house and beg for sweets, are called guisers, and the custom itself - Guising("Gizing", from English. Guise- wearing a mask, attire, comic dressing). Halloween costumes usually go on sale in August.

A study by the US Retail Institute found that in 2005, 53.3 percent of Americans planned to buy a fancy dress for Halloween and intended to spend an average of $38.11 on it. Total costume revenues were $3.3 million in 2005 and $4.96 million in 2006. In 2009, during the economic crisis, the average cost of purchasing Halloween paraphernalia by US citizens decreased by 15% compared to 2008. and amounted to 56 dollars 31 cents.

Holiday-decorated houses in Ottawa. Halloween home decoration says kids are welcome

The main theme of Halloween costumes is various evil spirits or supernatural characters, but completely arbitrary costumes are also popular, although the main motif continues to be the most common. So, in the 2000s, among Halloween costumes one could find not only costumes of vampires, werewolves or witches, but also fairies, queens, pop culture figures and even role-playing costumes with a sexual theme.

Trick-or-treat

The tradition of dressing up in costumes and going from house to house begging for sweets dates back to the Middle Ages and was originally associated with Christmas. In England and Ireland, the poor have long gone door to door and begged for so-called "spiritual cakes" on All Saints' Day (November 1), promising in exchange to pray for the souls of the deceased relatives of the owners. Although this custom is considered to be originally British, researchers have also found references to it in southern Italy. One of the characters in William Shakespeare's comedy "Two Veronas" says the phrase "You whine like a beggar on All Saints' Day", which indicates the widespread use of this custom at the end of the 16th century.

Term Trick-or-treat first began to be used in the United States, the first time its use was recorded in 1934, and he began to actively spread only in 1939. Literally it can be translated as joke or treat(common options are trick or treat, sweetness or nastiness etc.), which indicates a comic threat to harm if the owner does not bring treats to the children. But there is no established translation of the term into Russian and it is usually given in the original, or with a replacement for the phrase trick or treat. Although the term was first mentioned only in the west of North America, by the 1940s it was already widely used throughout the country. In modern times, the phrase has a distinctly jocular connotation and is often used outside of the US, such as in Ireland and Japan, without fear of getting charged with extortion.

Games and other traditions

In addition to begging for sweets and wearing a variety of costumes, the celebration of Halloween is also associated with some specific games and fortune-telling. For example, one can come across references to divination with the help of a peel: Scottish girls cut off the peel from apples, trying to make it as long as possible, and threw it over their shoulders. It was believed that the fallen peel took the form of the first letter of the surname of the betrothed. Another custom was based on a well-known belief about Bloody Mary which has now become a popular urban legend. This fortune-telling consisted in the fact that young girls had to climb the stairs with their backs forward in a dark house and hold a candle in front of a mirror. After that, the face of the future husband was supposed to appear in the mirror, but the girl could also see the skull in the mirror - this meant that she would die without getting married.

attractions

An important tradition of celebrating Halloween is the organization of the so-called Haunted attractions(rus. Attractions inhabited by ghosts ), the main purpose of which is to pleasantly scare visitors. The oldest such attraction is the Orton and Spooner Haunted House, opened in 1915. In most cases, this business has a clear seasonal framework. These attractions differ from the usual "haunted houses" in the use of haystacks and corn mazes in symbolism. Events like this bring in an estimated $300-500 million a year in the United States and attracted up to 400,000 customers during the industry's peak in 2005. The technical level of such projects is constantly growing, up to the Hollywood level.

In the US, there are a number of requirements for these rides. In addition to the standard compliance with safety rules, they must be equipped with signs warning of thick fog, loud sound, and the like. Usually these attractions are closed to pregnant women and people with a weak heart. According to the law, before opening the attraction must obtain special permission from the inspectors.

Festive table

halloween sweets

Because the holiday falls around the time of the apple harvest, most Halloween candy is based on apples. Apple caramel, apples in syrup (sometimes with nuts), apple toffee are prepared especially for the celebration. At first, there was a tradition of handing out candy apples to children, but it quickly faded away due to an urban legend that said that evil people put pins and needles into such sweets. Although such incidents have been reported several times, they have never resulted in serious injury. Many parents were convinced that these cases were provoked by the media, which nurtured hysteria amid initially false rumors.

In turn, in North America, candy corn and candy pumpkins, sweets in the form of corn and pumpkin, are popular. Candy corn is a candy made from sugar, corn syrup, artificial colors and binders. Their recipe and method of preparation have not changed much, the production of candy roots is still based on manual work. Despite its name, pumpkin candy is just a variation of the previous sweet. The main difference between "pumpkins" and "corn" is the use of honey, the more abundant addition of marshmallows and, finally, the often used special low-fat cream.

In addition to a variety of sweets, there is the traditional barmbrack bread, which is prepared in Ireland for various holidays, especially Halloween. When preparing a festive barmbrack, peas, a wooden chip, a piece of cloth, a coin and a ring were hidden in the dough. An object that came across to the eater predicted the future: peas - do not wait for an imminent wedding, a sliver - troubles in family life, a piece of cloth - poverty, a coin - wealth, a ring - an imminent wedding. In accordance with this tradition, barmbreaks with toy rings inside are now sold.

Halloween celebrations in the world and regional differences

After Halloween began to be actively celebrated in the United States and Canada in the 19th century, it has spread throughout the world due to the influence of American culture, while there are a number of regional differences. For example, in Ireland it is customary to arrange large-scale pyrotechnics and bonfires, while in Scotland this custom is absent. Outside the countries where the descendants of the Celts live, the holiday is more commercial in nature than cultural or ritual. In Japan, annual parades are held in honor of the holiday, sometimes reaching a huge number of participants, because of which they create major problems for city services. The most famous event of this kind takes place in the city of Kawasaki, which is considered to be the oldest Halloween venue in Japan.

Halloween in Russia

Despite the huge popularity of the holiday around the world, and the official status in the United States and major English-speaking countries, for Russia, Halloween is still exotic and ambiguous. According to sociological surveys, Russians know about the holiday, but only one-fifth is ready to celebrate it. But this situation is gradually changing, there are shops selling costumes for parties, including Halloween, and its celebration is included in the schedule of shopping centers and nightclubs. According to the saleswoman of one of these stores, which has been in existence for 6 years, Russians prefer to sew everything themselves, buying only complex paraphernalia like edged weapons, masks, horns, etc. At the same time, the Russian Orthodox Church continues to have an emphatically negative attitude towards the holiday, which, the head of the communications service, Georgy Zavershinskiy, calls "the carnival of evil" and "a religious festival incompatible with Russian culture." According to religious scholar Ivar Maksutov:

In our country, Halloween has never been a carnival, carnivals are usually quite rare in Russian culture. Thus, all these dressings, even theatrical in some ways, have no cultural roots in our culture. The Orthodox Church has always conservatively assessed such phenomena, and in cases where the holiday is painted in a certain confessional tone and seeks to imitate a different religious culture, the negative reaction is quite understandable.

Following the priests, the negative attitude towards Halloween was supported by a number of officials, which was also expressed in a number of regional bans on celebrating it in state institutions, including in the Kuban in 2012 and Karelia in 2001. However, this initiative quickly exhausted itself. One of the reasons for this is called a departure from the roots of the holiday in Russia, since among Russians it is increasingly becoming fashionable to wear during Halloween and historical or themed costumes that are far from mystical themes.

Relationship with religion
Christianity

Representatives of various Christian denominations have different attitudes towards the celebration of Halloween. Some parishes of the Church of England support the holiday as part of the Christian tradition of All Saints' Day, and some Protestants celebrate Halloween in memory of the Reformation, which is celebrated on the same day. Father Gabriel Amort, a Vatican exorcist, said that “if American and English children dress up as witches for one night of the year, then this is not a problem. There's nothing wrong if it's just a joke." Many modern Protestant and Catholic clergy see the holiday as a fun event for children, allow it to be held in their parishes, allow children and their parents to dress up, play games and receive free candy.

Most often, believing Christians perceive the holiday as neutral because of its outright joking and pretense. The Roman Catholic Church does not consider the holiday a religious one, but recognizes its connection with Christianity, and therefore allows it to be celebrated in any parochial schools.

At the same time, some Christians criticize and reject the celebration of Halloween, believing that its traditions go back to paganism and some areas of the occult that are contrary to Christian ideals. Separate fundamentalist and conservative evangelical churches coincide with Halloween and issue pamphlets describing the torment of sinners in hell, and protest against the holiday, citing the fact that it developed from the pagan day of the dead. Sociologist Jeffrey Victor and cultural scientist Jack Santino argue that in the United States on the eve of Halloween, the number of "sensational" newspaper publications increases and the "satanic panic" in general increases.

In Eastern Europe, many representatives of the Orthodox Church strongly oppose the celebration of Halloween, believing that it is "a holiday of inner emptiness and a byproduct of globalization." Archbishop Luka of Zaporizhia and Melitopol even appealed to the authorities of Zaporizhia and the region with a demand to stop the spread of the holiday in the region “foreign to the Orthodox people”. Despite the growing popularity of this holiday in Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Council of Muftis of Russia have a negative attitude towards the celebration of Halloween a:

The rituals associated with this day teach people from childhood to pay some kind of tribute to evil, to reconcile with it, even to cooperate - instead of fighting evil and resolutely rejecting it, as the Russian Orthodox Church teaches.

— Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin

The same opinion was shared by Mikhail Dudko, a priest from the Assumption Cathedral in London. According to him, Halloween symbolizes the victory over Christ, and, like other aspects of modern pop culture, preaches pathological aggression. The reason for this, he called the errors of the liberalism of the Anglican Church.

neo-paganism

Wiccans identify Halloween with Samhain and celebrate it as the holy day of the year. Among the Wiccans, Samhain and Halloween are considered the same holiday, they call it "sow-en". This approach is based on the cult of the "god Samhain" (or "Sam Aina"), whom Wiccans, following a number of folklorists of the 19th century, considered the Celtic god of Death. At the same time, some Christian fundamentalists considered the word Samhain to be derived from the name of Satan. Both of these points of view are refuted by the modern scientific community, since in fact the word "Samhain" is literally translated from Old Irish as "November", and the same meaning of the word has been preserved in the modern language.

Reenactors of the life of the Celtic peoples make offerings to the gods and their ancestors on this day.

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Halloween, Samhain (October 31, Scorpio Day 8) - the first fiery holiday, a kind of New Year, the day of the spirits, the Celtic Festival of the Dead. Samhain symbolizes the triumph of eternal life, death, the rebirth of the universe, the celebration of carnivals and entertainment with a touch of black humor. It marks the death of summer and the coming of winter. Gates to another world open on Samhain, the line between the material world and the realm of spirits, between good and evil, is erased. The holiday sometimes includes an element of mourning for Cherridwen (Kerridwen, Cerridwen). On this day, try to remember your dead relatives. On this day, the strength of totem energies increases. The house and the altar are decorated with candles and pumpkins, as well as autumn leaves, magical rituals are performed to get rid of everything that interferes.

The legend of the holiday Semain

"First Fire Festival"

First Fire Festival. Also known as Samhain. In many witchcraft traditions, this is a kind of New Year, the main holiday in the entire Wheel of the Year.

Samhain symbolizes the triumph of eternal Life, Death and Rebirth of the universe and marks the death of Summer, the Coming of Winter. It is believed that the gates to another world open on Samhain, the thin line between the material world and the realm of spirits is practically erased. Also, the line is blurred between good and evil. The holiday sometimes includes an element of mourning for Cherridwen (Kerridwen, Cerridwen). The power of totem energies is growing. Samhain's colors are gold, silver, black and white. Plants - oak, mandrake, dope, nightshade, wormwood, white raven. Celtic Feast of the Dead. The circle, the house and the altar are decorated with candles and pumpkins, as well as autumn leaves. On this day, try to remember your dead relatives, because Samhain is the day of spirits.

The night of the first of November, the night when the reins of power in the sublunar world are taken by the Lord of Winter, the Lord of Death. On this night, the souls of the dead are allowed to visit the living for the last time during the year. On this night, dark forces are playing around people. Many people are just having fun, driving away fear and darkness. Since ancient times, it has been a custom for people to dress up on this night so that the souls of enemies do not recognize and do no harm. To scare away dark forces, scary masks are made from sunny orange pumpkins, inside which a candle is lit. But on the same night, it is easiest to descend into the dungeons of your subconscious and gain the Force if you overcome fear. This is a magical night of testing and initiation.

God Himself lived a good life. He was born by the Great Mother, the Goddess, on the day of the Solstice. At Imbolc he played as a child in the snows of winter under the tender care of his Mother. As a young man, he met the beautiful Oster on the days of the Spring Equinox. In Beltane they married and enjoyed mutual love. Litha - the time of their heyday. He basked under the admiring glance of his Spouse, and the Earth surrounded their marriage bed with flowers. In Lughnassadh they rejoiced in the first fruits of their marriage - the Feast of the First Harvest - the beginning of the grain harvest. The Second Harvest came to Mabon - fruits, vegetables, nuts, mushrooms. They are already old, but she is strong - the Woman does not lose Strength, and he becomes weak and tired. He knows that there will be a time of the Third Harvest, Samhain, when he himself will become the fruit plucked from the branch. And then came the Night of the Spirits. One should mourn God, but remembering his happy life.

Recall in your memory those who have already died. They also lived their lives and gave their fruits to the world, like God. It does not matter whether they were evil or kind, generous or stingy, strong or weak. It doesn't matter what they were and how they lived - they helped shape, create the world in which we now live. The history of the World comes to us together with the souls of the dead. This is a time for purification, reflection, understanding and, perhaps, the transition to a new level. This is a good time for initiation rituals.

On this holiday, try to enjoy every taste, every smell and sensation. Feel that you are alive. May this day, the shadow of weeping for the dead God, become a celebration of living life. Rejoice, have fun. But remember that not only loved ones will come to visit you from the world of the dead. If there are among those who have already left our world, the souls of your enemies, offended by you, then they will also try to find you in order to look into your eyes with reproach or hatred. Remember also that those of the living who have a lot of anger and hatred turn to the Other World for support on this night and also find such support. For them, this is a celebration of the denial of life, so be careful not to put out the fire on your altar all night. Let candles burn in hollowed gourds at the windows and at the threshold, driving away evil from your home. The husks from the grains are scattered on the threshold and windows.

On this night, you need to give something to everyone who asks. In addition, you need to take out of the house and throw away all the garbage and old, unnecessary things. Make sure that someone else's garbage is not thrown to your doorstep.

The Night of Spirits is the night of mummers and masks. This is a great time for all kinds of divination and getting advice from the spirits of the ancestors and from the Goddess. On this day, you need to cook the food that the dead loved most of all, to whom you want to turn for advice and help. For their souls, separate appliances are placed on the table in places of honor. The gala dinner tonight should be held in silence. Wine is drunk from a horn, passing it in a circle and splashing a little to the spirits.
Third Harvest, Samana, Day of the Dead, Old Hallowmas (Scottish/Celtic), Vigil of Saman, Shadowfest (Strega), and Samhuinn. Also known as All Hallow's Eve, (that day actually falls on November 7th), and Martinmas (that is celebrated November 11th).
Symbols of Samhain:
Harvest, Dark mysteries, Rebirth through death.
Pumpkins, apples, black cats, lanterns.
Plants of Samhain:
Wormwood, cloves, oak leaves, mandrake rhizome, sage, straw
Samhain Products:
Pumpkins, apples, nuts, turnips, mulled wine, pork, beef, poultry.
Essences of Samhain:
Mint, muscat
Samhain colors:
Black, Orange, White, Silver, Gold oh.
Samhain Stones:
All Black Stones, especially black and obsidan

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"Legend of Semain Holiday"

This story started a long time ago. Then beautiful Ireland was a country of a free people who did not know troubles and oppression, and the Celts inhabited Ireland, a mystical and mysterious people. Many beliefs and traditions were brought from ancient France to the British Isles by Celtic magicians - druids. They taught the Irish to collect medicinal herbs, call on the forces of nature to help, escape from evil and bury

their ancestors in the earth. But even the druids could not know what was on the other side of life, beyond the mysterious gloomy line, where there is no more grief, no joy, no tears, no laughter, no enemies, no friends. There were no religions in Ireland that promised heavenly life or hellish torments, and therefore the afterlife seemed to them something terrible, and the dead - malicious and aggressive.

Twice a year, according to an ancient Irish legend, dead ancestors came out of the ground, on Samhain Day and Beltane Day. They came out, angry, and wandered the earth and looked for victims. If they manage to drag a living soul with them, the earth will release them from its bowels upward, to the bright sun, to the clear sky. But the Celtic thirst for life was strong: they extinguished the fire, the underground child, attracting the dead, dressed more terrible and scared the dead. Only in the morning they kindled the fire again from a common source - Usinach - and supported it all year long, not letting it go out.

And it was night Samhain- from October 31 to November 1 - the most terrible, and the Celts were so afraid of her that the Romans, who conquered Britain, could not eradicate this fear. The Romans fought the Irish for a long time, Christianization went on for a long time, and only one ancestral holiday was preserved by the beautiful people. Magic was forgotten, magic was forgotten, the druids were brutally destroyed, but the day of Samhain remained. And so the Romans decided: since they cannot eradicate this holiday, they will make it Christian. And was with the Romans from time immemorial feast of all saints(All Hallows Day), which fell on the same dates, and this holiday merged with Samhain, and it was called Halloween (Halloween). And then the Normans came to the islands. The Vikings had their own culture, their own holidays, and they had a holiday called Elven Blot, when they brought treats to house elves, they thanked them for their care, and this holiday also merged with Halloween.

A lot of traditions united in Halloween, the traditions of different peoples, different religions. From the Normans came the custom of putting a candle and a dish with a treat for the mysterious forces on the threshold. Halloween costumes are a legacy of Celtic beliefs:

The famous competition - catching apples floating in a basin with your teeth - went from the Romans: at the end of October, the day of the Roman goddess Pomona, the goddess of fruits and trees, was her symbol and the Halloween apple was originally. This is where the most popular Halloween treat came from. candied apples:

The Romans gave us the widely known, adored by children and disliked by many adults "trick-or-treat" - begging for treats. Since ancient times, on the day of all saints, the Romans baked pies with currants and went around towns and villages and served them to the poor: the more pies you give, the more sins the pious wanderers will pray for you in the coming year.

And the brightest, in the literal sense, decoration, symbolic for Halloween, is a pumpkin, or “Jack-o-lantern” - Jack's lantern - as the Americans call it, it appeared in America:

This holiday came to America in the 19th century, along with the Irish fleeing the British and Norman conquerors, and immediately took root so much that even today it is celebrated there much more widely: just think, American children, for the most part, are wealthy and do not know the troubles , on the eve of Halloween, they arm themselves with needles and threads and sew costumes for themselves, and not because they cannot be bought, but because it is considered simply indecent to appear at the ball in a ready-made costume - you must certainly sew it yourself, put a piece of your soul into it, endowing things with magical protective properties.

But back to Jack's lantern: it was first mentioned by one of the first truly American writers, Washington Irving. Here is a legend, I don’t know if it’s true or not, this writer told:

“There once was a drunkard and a bully Jack in Ireland. And he was so desperate that he once managed to drive Satan himself into a tree, and so that he would not cry, he carved a cross on the tree. And they made an agreement: Satan promised never again to lead Jack into temptation, for which Jack agreed to let him go. And so, when Jack died, they did not let him go either to Heaven, for his drunkenness and hooliganism, or to Hell, for his joke on Satan. Satan gave him a single candle to light the way in the impenetrable darkness of the afterlife. The candle was placed in an empty turnip, which did not allow the wind to extinguish it. The Americans, however, were so practical that they preferred a dense pumpkin to a relatively soft and small turnip. This is how Jack's flashlight was born.

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