The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1915-11-04
HALLOWEEN WAS PAGAN FESTI.
VAL.

l VAL.
Mystical Rites Which Make This Sea-
I son Attractive Originated in Early
| Times with Ancient Druids.
|
Halloween, the ever observed fes-
tival day and night, Is but relic OF
paganism, the mystical rites of which
have an interesting origin. Hallow-
cen or All Saints day as it is some
times called, had it's origin in the dim
dark past, when belief in elves,
witches, pixies and other unseen pow
ers and forces were believed in and
all the powers of evil were supposed
to strongly possess the hearts of men
and so the FRANKS and jokes played
today by the youth Of America are
but relic Of the greater ceremonies
carried out for this pagan festival
Halloween and it's mystic rites and
| ceremonies were known long before
christianity came into the world. Cen
turtles before the institution of All
| Souls day, the inhabitants of ancient
Ireland Frustrated themselves before
| Saman in prayer for the souls of rela-
tives who had gone before. Novem-
Der was also sacred in the time of
the Druids and was set apart as the
! great autumn festival of the Sun,
when all gave thanks for the harvest.
It was from the ceremonies of this
thanksgiving time that early print
| tive man gained his ideas peculiar to
the season. The Druids were firmly
possessed of belief in the transmit
! grafton Of souls, and every year ac-
cording to their belief, Great Saman
| hnf i'm oil
| souls that had been assigned to oc-
| cupy bodies of animals for their final
| judgment. Charms and music were
used to propitiate the great god in an
attempt to cause him to commute the
punishment and living sacrifices
were made by relatives to the priests
in order that they would intercede in
! behalf Of the lost ones. From this
| old festival we gain an explanation
| of the house to house tour in some OF
| the thinly settled and remote dis
| tricts of Ireland to collect cakes,
bread, eggs, butter and cheese; the
baking of the griddle cakes, and the
leading of the fatted calf and black
sheep to the slaughter to pay devo-
ton to St. Columbkill, which is sub
stitution by the early christians for
the feast of Saman, on the vigil of
All Hallow's day. But long before
the institution of All Souls day the
primitive Irish prayed Saman to give
rest to the souls of their departed
relatives.
November 1 was also held as a
festival day by the pagan Saxons,
who dedicated it to goddess who
presided over fruits and seeds. This
festival has been traced by some writ
| ers to an oriental source and was
called by the early Saxons, LA Macs
Abhal," or, roughly translated, ''The
Day of the Apple Fruit" From this
it can be safely seen that the apples
which are employed for diversion in
these modern celebrations are very
appropriate to the occasion. The nuts
which are found in every Halloween
celebration in these modern days
have the authority in bygone history
for their use Centuries ago, when
the spirits of the dead were common
~ believed to wander about the earth
for short period Of time and to
have power to foretell the future of
their relatives still on earth, nuts
were offered to the wandering spirits
to gain for the donor long life and
happiness. To this day the vigil of
All Hallows bears the designation OF
"crack nut night" in the north OF
England. The use of nuts and apples
at this season of the year is well
sanctioned by history.
From study of the origin of Hal
lowe'en it need not surprise us to see
lpaganism and christianity existing
together in different parts. of the
country strange mixture of the two.
But few of US have any knowledge
that even in this day of practical
America the very games and pasumes
of the Halloween season or All
Saints day, as it Is known by the
church, are the survivals of rites and
practices coming down to us from the
days of paganism. The Roman Cath
Ollie church and the Episcopal church
have set the day apart for religious
observance, but the secular world
celebrates the day in the way in
which it was observed in pagan days
before christianity had shown itself
to the world. According to the old
English method of celebrating Hal
lowe'en, it was a day when the un-
seen forces underground came forth
to work good or ill, and when spirits
ordinarily unseen made themselves
visible and became all powerful. This
night of Halloween also was regard.
ed as peculiarly appropriate for as
pertaining the future and more espec-
/ tally to find out what was to be the
fortune Of the curious one during the
year which was to come. The desir-
ed facts made themselves known
from the divining powers of nuts and
apples, which often manifested them
selves in miraculous ways. Bobbing
for apples is supposed to furnish a
means of divining the future. One
method that is often followed is that
of mounting the stairs backwards
while muttering an Incarnation, fol
lowing which the curious one enters
q dark room unaccompanied, and
looks into mirror and then glanches
over her shoulder. II these instruc-
tons are carefully followed the young