Parties, then devotions
Why we celebrate Halloween and pray for All Saints’ Day
Halloween is now firmly established in Austria: Many children are already eagerly awaiting October 31. But why do we actually celebrate this spooky festival? And why do we celebrate All Saints' Day the next day - and All Souls' Day on November 2?
Self-carved pumpkins herald the eerie night of lost souls, the Celtic god of death Samhain and the witches' Sabbath in front of many houses in Austria long before October 31.
Children have adopted the custom of going from house to house in costume. Using the German equivalents of "Trick Or Treat", they jokingly extort sweets, usually with the words "Süßes, sonst gibt's Saures". Nevertheless, it remains mostly harmless. The legends surrounding Halloween are not.
Gloomy legends of bloodthirsty Celts
A Roman poet wrote about the change of month from October to November: "... This night is terrible! The Celts drink the blood of children. Then they indulge in repulsive sexual practices. They spare neither children nor mothers, people of all ages and genders ..."
The oldest roots can be found among the Scottish and Irish Celtic druids: According to them, it was the day of harvest and the night when the earth was closest to the world of spirits and their stray souls wandered about. These were to be appeased with a feast.
Today, children have taken on the role of the spirits. They roam the streets dressed as ghosts, witches, gnomes, dwarves, demons, devils, skeletons, bats, owls and other mythical creatures.
One classic ingredient is still missing for a successful Halloween celebration - the pumpkin: there is also a fairy tale to go with it. It concerns the Irish village blacksmith Jack O'Lantern, who is said to have been so stingy and greedy that he was even denied entry to hell. He was destined to wander around with a lantern forever. All he got was a piece of glowing coal in a hollowed-out, wrinkled sugar beet. The story of Halloween came to America via Irish emigrants - and there the turnip became a pumpkin.
The name Halloween in turn has to do with November 1st, All Saints' Day. This is known in English as "All Saints Day" or "All Hallows", and the evening before is known as "All Hallows Eve" - or Halloween for short. Incidentally, it is said to be very suitable for divination. Prophecies about wealth and personal happiness are popular.
The meaning of All Saints' Day is related to Easter. The festival is characterized by the belief that many people have reached their goal in life with God after their death and can therefore also be called saints. On this day, the church therefore commemorates the many unknown saints who are not included in any calendar.
The roots of the feast can be found in the Orient, where all martyrs were commemorated as early as the fourth century. The date was different in the various churches. The Friday after Easter, May 13th and the Sunday after Pentecost have been handed down as days of remembrance.
The spread of the feast is possibly linked to the consecration of the Pantheon in Rome as a church in honor of the Mother of God and all holy martyrs by Pope Boniface IV in 610. November 1st was introduced in France in the ninth century by Louis the Pious and has been celebrated throughout the Church ever since.
A large part of the population uses the holiday to visit the cemetery. Traditionally, the Catholic Church also blesses the graves on this day.
All Souls' Day - not a public holiday - has its roots in prayers for the deceased, which have been handed down among Christians since the second century. The actual "birth year" of All Souls' Day is 998. In this year, Odilo, abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Cluny, decreed for all monasteries under his authority that on the day after All Saints' Day, all the deceased should be commemorated through prayer and mass. This custom quickly spread to France, England and Germany.
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