The Furious Spinner

Tonight Mario and I will carve a couple of pumpkins we picked up at Food Front, the food coop we belong to in Portland. They're organic, so I might even save the guts and make pumpkin pie. I did that once about twenty years ago, and it was quite a project.

A few years ago, I had an art show at our house celebrating Halloween. We had 38 pieces of art by 17 different artists. Mario and I created a Hallows Art Show catalog, and it is from this booklet that I've culled this post.

Hallows

The creation of Halloween was an attempt by the church to Christianize the European Pagan festival Samhain (pronounced SAH-win). Pagans celebrated Samhain as the third and final harvest festival and as the feast of the dead. During this time especially, the dead were honored and invited into the homes of their descendants. When the Christians took over Europe, they tried to suppress all Pagan festivals. They were not successful, so they incorporated them into Christianity, calling them by new names: Samhain became All Hallow's Eve, or All Soul's Day.

Many of the symbols, ceremonies, and deities of the Pagans were demonized by Christianity. During the inquisition, commonly called the Burning Times, tens of thousands of people were tortured, tried as witches, then murdered by the legal authority of the church. Most of those accused were women, usually healers, midwives, or widows who would not give up their lands to the church—some probably were magical practitioners who worshipped nature. Even today, as Starhawk says in Circle Round, "Many people still do not respect religions that say the earth is sacred." The word pagan comes from paganus which means "country dweller." The origins of the word witch are obscure, though it appears to come from wicce which may or may not mean "to bend." Many modern women (and men) have reclaimed the word witch and call themselves witches to honor those who died during the inquisition and to proclaim that they, too, believe the Earth is sacred.

Today, Halloween is celebrated by Pagans and non-Pagans. Most cultures have a day (at least) set aside to honor their dead. All over the planet, people honor their dead by creating rituals, altars, ceremonies, and special meals.

Below are some common Halloween symbols and what they may (or may not) mean today and historically:

Cats were demonized by the Catholic Church during the inquisition, probably because of their affiliation with the goddess. They were considered familiars of witches and were often killed after "their witch" was executed. Many European households did have cats, and healers probably had some awareness that cats kept down the rodent populations which were responsible for so many diseases. Sacred to the Egyptians, cats were often depicted pulling the chariot of Norse Goddess Freya.

If someone found a frog in your yard in medieval Europe that was enough cause for that someone to accuse you of witchcraft. Frogs were associated with Hecate, the Egyptian Goddess of midwives and crossroads. On her Amulet of the Frog was written the words, "I am the Resurrection." To the Egyptians the frog was a symbol of the fetus and rebirth.

No one is really sure how jack 'o lanterns came into existence. In Europe, Pagans carved out turnips and placed candles inside to protect them from wind and rain. These vegetable lanterns provided light when the country dwellers were out in the woods. Later when they had to hide their celebrations from the inquisitors and others, they may have started to carve frightening images in the vegetables to scare away any Nosy Nellies. When Europeans came to North America, they brought the vegetable lantern tradition with them, only now they used pumpkins. Some say that the light in the jack 'o lantern, whatever vegetable it came in, has always meant one thing: Spirits, you are welcome here!

People have donned masks and costumes for as long as people have been on the planet. (They've found ancient pictographs on cave walls of masked people.) Why do we dress up for Halloween? Many of those who practiced Earth-based religions considered Halloween as New Year's Eve and dressed in costumes to "inhabit"the essence of who they wanted to be the following year: a prosperous person, healthy person, etc. They also wore masks to honor the Dead or Nature Spirits. It was a great celebration! Some scholars believe that masks became so popular because the Pagans had to hide who they were from the inquisitors or meddlesome neighbors who might turn them in if they saw them dancing in the woods.

The witch was not the only one to wear a pointed hat, though she may have been the only one to wear a pointed black hat. Many believed a pointed hat helped direct powerful energies into the body of the person wearing it. A dunce hat was used not to embarrass children but to give them the "technical" means to be smarter. Popes wear pointed hats and have for millennia.

The black clothing usually associated with a witch symbolizes her Crone aspect, the waning phase of the Moon, and the end of the year. To the Earth-worshipping Celts and other Pagans, death was a part of the cycle of life and they did not fear it. They revered older women—the Crones—whom they considered wise and powerful. Darkness, blackness, and old-age were not despised.

A witch is often seen with a broom, or besom. Like the frog and cat, the broom is a symbol of Hecate, the priestess midwife. According to Barbara Walker, in The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, the midwife used the broom to sweep the "threshold of a house after each birth to remove evil spirits that might harm the child." Jumping the broomstick was part of Pagan weddings. (After a time, of course, the church caught on and declared these "by the broom" marriages illegitimate.) Some believe the association of the witch with the broom symbolizes her true identity as a shaman, someone who "flies" to the spirit world on behalf of her community.

Happy Halloween!

All photographs and written material copyright © 2003-2008 by Kim Antieau unless otherwise indicated. May not be used without permission.