It’s no coincidence that the first article I decided to cobble together for Darkulture v.2 was on Halloween as this is a day in the year which has always entranced me and still does. It’s a time of year when you really notice the changes taking place outside be it the rust coloured leaves falling from trees, the cold claws of winter just around the corner or the veil of darkness descending. Halloween quite rightly deserves its place in the calendar and this article focuses on the history of this ancient festival, its position in the modern age and gives some practical advice on different ways to enjoy the celebration.

Samhain was one of the ancient Celtic festivals associated with harvest time and honouring the dead. The festival took on many guises depending on location and there were variations between areas such as Gaul, Ireland and Scotland, each having their own particular blend of customs and legends. I do not wish to delve too deeply into the ancient history of the festival as this is beyond the scope of this article. There are many books that can be found ranging from chapters to whole books written on the ancient festival.

It will come as no surprise to you when we consider how commercialised Halloween has become. You only have to visit any corner shop or supermarket to see what’s on offer this time of year. There seems to be an endless selection of Halloween-related products on offer from fluffy spiders and sweets to pumpkins, battery-operated toys and costumes. Jim Gilchrist wrote in The Scotsman last year that according to research analysts, ‘Halloween is the third-most profitable event for retailers in Britain’ with spending rising from £12 million in 2001 to £120 million in 2006. In Canada it’s even bigger. Joanne Richard wrote in The Ottawa Sun last Sunday saying that ‘Last year more than $1.15 billion was shelled out on Halloween spending’. However, all these figures seem paltry when compared with the United States. David Woodfill highlighted in the Arizona East Valley Tribune that the National Retail Federation predicts American consumers will spend more that $5 billion on Halloween products in 2007. It is no wonder therefore why retailers are viewing Halloween as the new ‘Christmas’.

I’m not being a killjoy as it’s nice to know that many people get so much pleasure out of Halloween but I think that so much commercialism tends to take the focus away from its origins and themes and turn it into a horror festival. One of the unfortunate stereotypes reinforced every year is that of the wicked evil witch. It’s totally untrue. If there are some items I’d like to see banned in shops under religious discrimination, it would be those fake noses complete with warts and horrible looking masks of witches. Let’s turn this on its head. If a supermarket started selling noses and called them Jewish, they’d be accused of anti-semitism. I think paganism suffers because it works on a largely loosely-based structure as opposed to organised mass religions therefore the lobbying is a lot harder. It does have a voice nevertheless and these issues should be raised with politicians to get the message across. This kind of thing doesn’t belong in the 21st century, it deserves to be left in the past. These stereoptypes are consistently fed to our children and it needs to be eradicated. These kind of images of women have been perpetuated since medieval times in which tens of thousands of women were persecuted and burned at the stake for alleged witchcraft. The popular image we have of the witch owes more to the trio of witches in Macbeth but has no true basis in fact. I'm not denying that there's been no progress. TV shows like Charmed give witches are more glamorous persona but there's still a lot to do. It should be remembered that medieval witches were the village wise women who knew a thing or two about herbalism and tried to do more good than bad. They were the forerunners of our modern day doctors. The next time you go to a Bonfire night, just think about these poor unfortunate women who died during the witch craze. It might just change your perspective if you imagine Guy Fawkes as a poor unfortunate woman.

There’s no set method of celebrating Halloween/Samhain. My advice would be to go with your instincts. If you want to party, do it in style. If you want to understand the true nature of the festival read some books on the subject, have a browse around the web or visit your local pagan shop. Every city seems to have one these days. In Manchester we have one, New Aeon books, who are happy to help novices and the more experienced. I’ve recommended a few books in the bibliography for you to check out.

I have to admit that I’m a bit of a lapsed pagan but have done rituals at Halloween. Sometimes my Halloween celebrations have been more organised than others. I haven’t always felt the urge to do things on a grand scale. I say I’m a lapsed pagan, only in the sense that I’m not rigid about the things I do. In an ideal world I would like to be more elaborate but as with everything in this modern world we live in, you have to factor in time and money. My advice is to understand your feelings and do the appropriate level of activity for yourself. If you’re going to work with others get to know them well, don’t do anything you feel you’d rather not. No true pagan would ever force you to do something against your will. It’s not in their philosophy. If they do then they’re not pagans at all. Always be aware that one of the key principles of paganism is ‘an it harm none, do what you will’.

The rituals will differ in time and space and but the central themes of death and rebirth will be explored. Get to know about these. Use your senses. Go outside and look at the trees and the plants around you. Although the trees are shedding their leaves, they are not dying, their growth is but retreating till the spring. Notice what plants are still around once all the colourful flowers of summer have rotted away. Life finds a way. It’s good to notice these things. If you’re an urban dweller then it’s easy to lose touch with nature so try and appreciate what’s out there and if you get the opportunity, visit the countryside. Not only will you develop a greater understanding and respect for nature, you’ll actually enjoy, appreciate and value the experience.

Samhain is a time to remember the dead as the Celts believed it was the night when the veils between the living and the dead were at there thinnest. Divination and scrying are popular forms of activity at this time of year to try an establish contact with the otherworld. Divination can take many forms but runes and tarot readings tend to be more popular forms. Scrying can be done using a bowl of water or specially made black mirrors.

There are also lots of other ways to entertain on Halloween. Where possible I think Halloween works best when the TV is turned off. I believe in the notion of TV killing conversation as it reduces the art of thinking. Having said that I’d be a total hypocrite if I said I’d not watched TV on Halloween before, but mind you, only to watch a good horror film. More about that later.

So what activities could you decide to do? There are many but I’ll attempt a few. Firstly though, set the mood. Doing this well is something your guests will remember. Make a room dark and atmospheric. If you have time decorate the room, take the whole day to do it. I remember a few years ago going to Abakhans fabric store in Manchester and buying a roll of netting. The rooms looked superb. I tied dried leaves, twigs and other things into the netting to give it an added effect. It works well on those horribly clinical white walls that you just love to hate. If you have time do something like that, but if you don’t, don’t worry as there are plenty of other things you can do. Turn off your mobiles. Find some appropriate music. The kind of things I’d look for would be dark ambient to horror soundtracks depending on the tempo of the event. Dig out or try and get hold of some Inkubus Sukkubus, preferably their earlier albums, they were known as Incubus Succubus back then. Type O Negative is also worth a play. October Rust is a special album which always comes to mind at this time of year. Non-invasive creepy soundscapes work well as a background and this works especially well when reciting ghost stories. If you intend to do this read some M.R. James, Edgar Allan Poe or H.P. Lovecraft. It’ll go down a treat. Very important are candles. Use all different types if you can and try to place them in areas where they’re unlikely to get knocked over, especially if there are children around. Think about positioning too as candle shadows create superb effects. You have to invest in at least one pumpkin. It's the law! In many ways they become the focus of the evening with their grinning mouths, almost like an extra guest. The whole carving is a ritual in itself and try if you can to offer this task to someone who’s never done it before as they have to start somewhere. Hurry to your local supermarket as you’ll be surprised how fast these sell out. This happened to me a few years ago and I ended up buying a swede. To give it credit, it did look rather nice but carving a swede out with a knife and spoon for an hour is a pretty daunting task and you’ll end up with sore fingers. So be warned :) Food essentials would be things like the usual party snacks plus toffee apples, parkin, treacle toffee, etc. A lot of these foods tend to be eaten on Bonfire night too. Apples too are another item to get as apple-bobbing is another popular activity on Halloween. Now there's an idea ;)

Ok, if you’re going to flick the TV on and reach for the DVD remote far be it for me to criticise but choose something suitably scary. Choosing the right movie can be a tricky task as not everybody likes the same type of horror films. I don’t think you could go wrong with films like Fright Night or Halloween which are still splendid films to watch.

Anyway that’s it. So how will you be celebrating Halloween this year? I hear you ask. This year I’ve been invited to a party so I reckon I’ll be doing a lot of the things I’ve already mentioned above. As long as I don’t end up carving a swede and that everybody has a good time I’ll be happy.

I wish you all a Happy Halloween and to those pagans out there blessed be and Happy Samhain.

 

Bibliography

David Woodfill, 'Helping adults find their inner ghoul: retailers big on kids for Halloween, but grown-up sales are also on the rise', East Valley Tribune (Mesa, Arizona). Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News, 9 October 2007.

Glennie Kindred. Sacred Celebration: A Sourcebook (Glastonbury: Gothic Image Publications, 2001), pp. 207-31.

Jim Gilchrist, 'How Halloween turned into a monster',.The Scotsman, 30 October 2006, p. 10.

Joanne Richard, 'Boo!; Halloween and candy sales have grown into a billion dollar business – now that’s scary', The Ottawa Sun, 28 October 2007, p. 8.

Laurie Cabot, Power of the Witch: A Witch’s Guide to Her Craft (London: Arkana, 1990).

Vivianne Crowley, Phoenix from the Flame: Pagan Spirituality in the Western World (London: Thorsons, 1995).

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