HALLOWEEN ENGLISH
Pubblicato il 13 Novembre 2011
It’s the magic night when the barriers which separate the world of the living between the world of dead fall.
This celebration has ancient origin, connected to the Celtic feast of Samhain which means “the feast of the end of summer”. It represents the arrival of dark time of winter, times of great suffering for those who had few food supplies.
The last harvest of the year was celebrated with a big feast and a big fire. Tradition said that all the fires of the village had to be extinguished and then re-lighted from this big propitiatory fire. This celebration was called Samhain, a magic day.
Celtic culture respected the cycle of time and considered this day a day with no dimension. This day didn’t exist so everything was possible. It was the day when dead entered the world of the living to go back to those places in which they lived once. So it was celebrated so much.
Costellation of Pleiades was very visible in that period (they were very important stars for those ancient people, they were very visible from that point of the earth.) Pleiades were the stars of the winter, so of the dark.
Solar and lunar rhythms were very important for agriculture. They celebrated a feast of destruction and reconstruction of cosmic time. Who didn’t participate risked to be destructed, that is ruled out of the time. Who didn’t come to Samhain feast lost his mind
When Romans conquered Ireland they got in touch with ancient traditions and found a simile with their feast of the dead which they used to celebrate in the month of May. After Christianization Feast of All Saints had been established.
