(Cont'd)

As a feast of divination, Samhain was the night par excellence for peering into the future. The reason for this has to do with the Celtic view of time. In a culture that uses a linear concept of time, like our modern one, New Year’s Eve is simply a milestone on a very long road that stretches in a straight line from birth to death. Thus, the New Year’s festival is a part of time.

The ancient Celtic view of time, however, is cyclical. And in this framework, their new year’s eve represents a point outside of time, when the natural order of the universe dissolves back into primordial chaos, preparatory to reestablishing itself in a new order. Thus, Samhain is a night that exists outside of time and, hence, it may be used to view any other point in time.

Many of the customs we now associate with Halloween are also derived from ancient celebrations. For example, the current custom of going door-to-door to collect treats started in Ireland hundreds of years ago. Groups of farmers would go door-to-door collecting food and materials for the village feast and bonfire. Those who gave were promised prosperity; those who did not received threats of bad luck. When an influx of Irish Catholic immigrants came to the United States in the 1800s, the custom of trick-or-treating came with them.

During the first century the Romans invaded Britain. They brought with them many of their festivals and customs. One of these was the festival know as Pomona Day, named for their goddess of fruits and orchards. It was also celebrated around the 1st of November. On this day, the Romans bobbed for apples, drank cider and made centerpieces out of apples and nuts for Pomona.

After hundreds of years of Roman rule the customs of the Celtic's Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona Day became mixed becoming one major fall holiday. And in the year 835 AD, perhaps in an effort to solidify the relationship between the pagan Celtics and the Roman Catholic Church, November 1st was made a church holiday to honor all the saints.

You’ve probably heard all of this before, but it seems as though this historical aspect is rarely spoken about today and it really puts a different spin on the holiday.