How consumerism erased a festival
Halloween may be all about costumes and parties, but its origins lie in Samhain, a spiritual celebration of life, death, and the changing seasons.
Whether you are a 5-year-old looking forward to trick-or-treating or a 20-year-old university student looking forward to attending the best parties in town, everybody looks forward to Halloween. But in the process, people often overlook the deeper cultural and spiritual meaning to Samhain (pronounced sah-win), a Gaelic festival celebrated by many Pagans, even in modern days.
The name Samhain originates from the Gaelic word for “summer’s end,” and the festival is celebrated on the evening of October 31. It is the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next, marking the witches’ new year. However, it is not only linked to the seasons’ cycle but also the cycle of life and death. It is said that the veil between the spirit realm and the world of the living is at its thinnest on this date, bridging the worlds and allowing the spirits of our loved ones who have passed away, including pets and animals, to come visit us. Pagans set up altars and offerings to make the spirits feel welcome and remembered. With the boom of Christianity in Europe, Samhain was incorporated into Christian celebrations as All Hallows’ Eve, which later became Halloween.
As one of the four main sabbats on the Wheel of the Year, the festival has various traditional practices. Celebrants would gather to light a community fire using a wheel that creates friction, sparking flames. People would honour their ancestors by telling stories about family history or making a special meal to honour those that have gone before. These traditions strike a contrast with common Halloween customs today, like wearing costumes, going trick or treating, or painting pumpkins, which are far from the original meaning of honouring ancestors.
Halloween has been commercialized in many ways. It is not hard to notice this phenomenon when you see houses decorated excessively with strip lights, scary skeleton figures, inflatable pumpkins, and even toilet paper hanging around trees in your neighbourhood. Halloween is also used as a theme for house parties, events, and theme park as attractions, centering it for the spooky vibes with printed paper plates, cake toppers, and store bought paper cutouts of ghost figures. Fear and horror have become more prominent than reflection and honouring the dead, and the holiday has completely shifted away from its original, deeper cultural meaning of thinking about death and mortality.
It can be beneficial to reconnect Samhain’s themes, fostering mindfulness, treasuring the present moments, and building a healthier relationship with mortality by acknowledging it. “Memento Mori”, a Latin phrase that translates into “remember you will die,” reminds us of our mortality and the passage of time. This is especially relevant to today’s society where everyone is constantly stuck behind a screen, blinding themselves to the realities right in front of them.
With Halloween approaching soon, I urge readers to incorporate Samhain traditions into it this year, connect with its meaningful origin, and take it as an opportunity to honour your ancestors.
There are a few ways to bring elements of Samhain into Halloween celebrations. Reconnect with your family history by delving into family genealogies and stories from your grandparents. In Samhain fashion, consider cooking a traditional meal with your loved ones in honour of those who have passed away. It is also a common practice to make a charitable contribution with the intent of honouring our loved ones that have passed away.
Incorporating Samhain traditions into Halloween allows us to reconnect with the festival’s rich cultural roots and its themes of life and death. Together we can move away from the commercial focus and connect with the deeper meaning of honouring ancestors and reflecting on our mortality by blending modern celebrations with ancient practices, creating a Halloween that is not only fun but also spiritually meaningful.
