It's the end of October, a time when small children start to think of candy and college students start to think of Halloween Parties. (No, this is not going to be one of those "don't get drunk" PSAs.) Halloween is yet another one of those holidays in which we do lots of stuff, but we're not exactly sure why, hell it's just another great excuse to drink beer. Halloween does actually, however, have some significant religious roots.

This time of the year was known as Samhain (pronounced SOW-in or SAH-vin) by the old pre-christian Celtic peoples. Although most of the other Pagan holidays became incorporated into Christianity (rebirth of the Sun-King becomes Christmas, celebration for Goddess Eostar becomes Easter, etc.) Samhain really has never been incorporated into the Christian mythos. Today we think of ghosts and ghouls and they play Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Friday the 13th endlessly on the tube. The original holiday did have to do with the dead as well, but it was not in the context of the dead coming out of the ground and roaming around as zombies. The Ancients believed that at this time of the year that the "veil between the worlds" of the incarnate and discarnate was the thinnest. This belief had little to do with theology and was more influenced by the way people observed and interacted with Nature. This was the time of year that things were dying: the trees became bare, the grasses withered, and you might start to pick which animals to slaughter before winter. The people theorised that if many were passing from this world to the next at this time (to them all life was pretty much equal) then the gates to the "other side" must be opened wide to allow everyone through and that spirits on the "other side" could pass through that extra space. These spirits were not necessarily feared. Often people would leave food and drink out or set a place out for those spirits of loved ones and ancestors who might come to visit. This, then, was a time to honour these ancestors and departed family and friends.

With the coming of Christianity to Europe, these old beliefs clashed with the new. The old styles of worship that honoured the Earth Mother, and thus all women, were being forcibly replaced with the Roman Church. Churches were built on the site of old Sacred Groves. People were being forced off their land and into crowded cities. In the countryside, however, the people that were closest to the land most naturally stayed true to their old ways and old beliefs. In fact, the word "pagan" comes from the Roman "Pagani", from the countryside (i.e.- hick). Soon the Roman Church became more insistent that everyone convert to their religion. All other religions were condemned as blasphemy and were branded as evil. The Goddesses and Gods of the old religion were either incorporated into the new one as Saints, such as Bridgit, or were turned into devils, such as the goat-footed Pan who became the model for the Christian Devil (after a little red paint was slapped on).

In Medieval times during the Plagues, the Church made its definitive move to wipe out the Old Religion once and for all. The Inquisition brought fear and death though out Europe and by the end of it, perhaps as many as 9 million people were killed, mostly women. During this time, plagues were sweeping through the land and people were finding no comfort in the Church. Even worse, some were finding help through the village herbalists and Wise Women. They were perceived as a threat to the Church and male dominance. They healed the sick; they helped women to have control over their pregnancies (i.e. - could provide abortions if needed); and they passed on knowledge of not only herbs, but of the Old Religion. They were seen as a threat not only by the Church, but also the new male dominated Physicians. They were hunted down and killed. The Church wrote manuals instructing what torture was to be used and exactly what one was to confess to have done. Witch hunting soon became a very profitable profession and the madness escalated to terrifying proportions and in some places entire villages were wiped out.

Now all we have left is a hodgepodge of customs we've forgotten why we do. As you go through all your usual Hallow'een customs this year, perhaps you may also remember those who died during the "Burning Times," which was a forgotten Holocaust of women and those who practiced a different religion. It is important that events like this not be forgotten, lest they be allowed to happen again. Blessed Be.