I always prefer to let other faiths and religions speak for themselves when discussing festivals and beliefs. We now leave the time of the western Christian festival of All Hallow's Eve and the pagan Festival of Samhain, but also the secular festival of Halloween. Much is erroneously written about the connections between these three festivals, which are not shared by the Orthodox church. Even some Orthodox, perhaps former protesants, have been quite wrong on these festivals.
One sources states: "October 31st was the last night of the old pagan European year. It was believed that on that night, all the forces of evil walked the earth seeking to destroy and corrupt. The Church took this ancient fear and faced it head on."
I am afraid this is sadly, how do I say it, rubbish. To quote a close friend who happens to be a Druid- "Samhain is the time of year (not night) when the old year is folding up and everything that cannot survive the winter is put aside, dies, or transforms. It is not a god. It literally means 'summer's end' and pagans see it as the end of the old cycle, but not yet the perceptible beginnings of the new one (that becomes more visible at Yule, or the Winter Solstice).
Samhain, therefore, as the beginning of this 'no-time', the melting pot where everything germinates for the next year and darkness is waxing, is the time when the gateways between the worlds are thinnest: the time not only of giving thanks for the past year, but all the years before that, and honouring our ancestors of blood, tribe and place. It is beginning of the time when the element of Earth holds sway, of decay, dark and the more uncomfortable side of life. Many modern Pagans interpret Samhain psychologically as a time to face up to your own demons, those issues inside yourself that you battle with, yes and the fears, or the darker sides to your soul and spirit, and those in others."
Halloween does not exist in Eastern Christianity. The Orthodox festival of All Saints is the first Sunday after Pentecost, which is forty days after the Resurrection- not at the fall of the year. The end of the Orthodox Liturgical year is Sept 1st, now dedicated to prayer for creation. I guess the closest to the Samhain pivot point of the year, for Christians, ought to be Advent which is in fact, a time of fast and repentance before the Festival of the Nativity of Christ, so not stuffing oneself with mince pies and hot toddy, but rather simple fasting and prayer- facing up to one's demons is not a cyclical process, although the four Great Fasts per year could be said to be cyclical. One will be expected to make one's confession before Christ before the Feast of the Nativity.
Perhaps we can be humble and brave enough to face up to our own demons and not project them on others.
