Installment number 2 of the Halloween/Samhain is up and running:  Okay where were we, oh yes we were leaving goodies to pay off angry spirits.  Now Samhain is not just about spirits walking the earth, it also connected to the fertility of the earth and animals (human animals included).  This was the time of year that farmers prepared for the coming winter (cure the meat, make preserves, my granny used to make plum jelly and fig preservesand my most hated "pickled okra". Here is a picture of the dreaded field where I used to pick pepper, okra and peas each morning of the summers of heat and doom! LOL!  I can't believe how much I miss it. 

Samhain is seen by most witches as the third festival of the Harvest, after Lughnasadh around August 1st and the Autum Equinox around Sept. 21.  The traditional pumpkins, apples and nuts we have around this time actually link back to early pagan fertility magick so watch out! 

The Celtic underworld is not a fire and brimstone kind of place even though early christians likened it to their firey hell complete with souls in torment.  Christians thought of the Celtic God of the Dead as the Devil, which is a long long way from the truth.  The God of the Dead is actually a kind of shepherd who sees that the souls of the dead make it to their next phase. These religious mis-understands translated into sometimes violent and bloody conversions from Paganism to Christianity.  Interestingly many of the symbols of Christianity are transplanted from Paganism, the crucifix is one such symbol.  Yes I know that Jesus was crucified and that the crucifix is a symbol of that sacrifice, but the crucifix was in use in paganism before the crucifixion and before the time of Christ. Don't Panic! I am not gonna go there.

All Saints day was introduce in the 7th century to honor God and the souls of the dead by Pope Boniface IV.  This was a festival that the Catholic Church endorsed and was held in May until Gregory III changed it to Nov 1st. in 900 as a way to re-introduce the old Samhain festval of the dead. All Saints day is sometimes called All Hallows Day (hallows means holy) or Hallowmas which would make the day before (oct 31) All Hallows Eve which was later called Halloween because of changes in pronunciation. 

Halloween was brought to  the US by Irish immigrants in the 1800's, the influx was due to the potato famine of  the 1840s(certainly, there were earlier transplants from other places already practicing paganism and the farmer's lifestyle was largely pagan well before the 1800s) there was some disention but it eventually took hold and here we are!!!!!   

This information comes from a number of sources and is written in my clumsy way.  Thanks for the interest and I will see ya soon for more Samhain/Halloween history.

Goddess Bless