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Grex Synthesis Item 81: Hallowe'en/Samhain <long> [frozen]
Entered by birdlady on Mon Oct 23 21:39:32 UTC 1995:

Hello all!  I found this on Netscape earlier and thought you may find it kind
of neat.  It gives the Pagan Federation's view on the story and traditions
of Hallowe'en.  <shrug>  I thought it was kind of neat, and it's time we had
a discussion on Hallowe'en/Samhain.  What does everyone else usually do for
it?  Do you have any traditions that you would like to share?  Well, here's
the text:

There are some people who find Hallowe'en a frightening time. We as Pagans
appreciate it as a
time of positive celebration to be enjoyed. Most Pagans refer to it by its
Celtic name, Samhain
(pronounced sow-en) It is the season when cold winter approaches, the trees
become bare and the
nights darker. This was the Celtic equivalent of New Year's Eve, a natural
time for looking back at
who had died in the previous year and making divinations to see what the New
Year might bring.
In a time when not all cattle could be overwintered, the remainder would be
slaughtered, providing
a surplus of meat. The resulting feast would help put on some fat to see one
through the winter. 

When Britain converted to Christianity, many of the old festivals and
religious sites were taken
over and renamed. Thus the All Saints (All Hallows) festival remembers the
dead at the same
period as the old Samhain and on the continent many Christians picnic at their
family tombs. 

As Pagans we celebrate life, but recognise that death is a part of that cycle
of natural seasons, each
to be remembered in turn. Thus the hag / crone aspect of the Goddess
associated with Samhain
should be balanced with the Maiden and Mother aspects at Spring and Summer
respectively. There
are just as important but not commented upon so much in general. The festival
survives in many
native folk songs and traditions, from the burning barrels of Ottery St. Mary
in Devon to the
Antrobus Soul Cakers of Cheshire. We believe that remembering the dead is more
sinister than
Remembrance Day and that children should be allowed to confront the concept
of death in a safe
way, just as they do by watching slightly scary TV programmes. This does not
mean that we
support indiscriminate 'trick or treating' to the elderly or strangers. We
consider it better that
schools and families arrange safe exchange visits under adult supervision.
It is good to see the
revival of traditional activities such as ducking for apples and pumpkin
lanterns. 

Adults can join in the fun as too, with this an appropraite time (between one
year and the net) for
divination, be it by astrology, tarot, runes or other methods. It is a
favourite time for fancy dress
parties as well. We want young and old to enjoy this time of year, but not
to forget its origins. 

For Pagans it is a major religious festival, at which they connect into their
personal vision of the
God and Goddess. Pagans follow a variety of paths but generally love and
respect the natural
world, acknowledge a Goddess as well as a God and try not to harm anyone in
either thought,
word or deed. 

I apologize for the format...I couldn't figure out how to fix it.  =(

7 responses total.

#1 of 7 by selena on Tue Oct 24 05:39:42 1995:

        I have reformatted the above text into proper paragraphs <took
some doing, too!>.. If anyone wants a copy, type:
        !cp /u/selena/samhain   
at any non-shell prompt <for shell users, leave off the !>
        Or, if you just want to read it:
        !more /u/selena/samhain
Have fun! <Psst! Sarah! Now that there's a reformatted version,
you want to freeze this item and start over, or no?>

#2 of 7 by bjorn on Tue Oct 24 15:41:25 1995:

Hmm...
I was watching something on Lifetime that was really about Wicca alone,
but also mentioned Samhain.  I was a bit offended by the voice over
of the documentor who seemed to imply that practicers did not even
know how to pronounce their own rituals name, i.e. the documenter said
"Sow-Won", whilst the witches all said "Sow-in".
(without phonetic symbols, doing pronounciations is hard to type)

#3 of 7 by cormac on Tue Oct 24 23:00:55 1995:

     Well bjorn, I guess it takes time for new things to sink in.
Believe it or not I remember a time when even the *Witches* called it 
"sam-hane*.

      [ Cormac cackles hideously while pounding his cane on the floor ]

#4 of 7 by birdlady on Tue Oct 24 23:24:24 1995:

<giggle>  I accidentally called it "Sam-hane" for a year!  Eep!  

Selena -- sounds good...if I only new how to freeze this and start a new one?
 Do you want to do it?  (Thanks for formatting it, btw).

#5 of 7 by bjorn on Wed Oct 25 04:15:26 1995:

I called it "same hane" until I read D.J. Conway's trash.
Well, the pronounciation guide is useful.

#6 of 7 by selena on Fri Oct 27 04:43:12 1995:

        Sarah- only the author of the item, and the FW can freeze it, so you'd
have to type freeze at the respond or pass prompt. To start over, you just
type "enter", go to your editor, and read in /u/selena/samhain.

#7 of 7 by birdlady on Fri Oct 27 15:05:29 1995:

Okay...thanks Selena...freezing in 3...2...1...

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