As a life sciences teacher, coach and athlete, Senator Torlakson offers personal insights, inspiration and suggestions for helping us all achieve health and fitness in our lives through his periodic Torlakson’s Tips.
2004 Tip #31:
What’s It All About?
Today, November 1st, is All Saints Day in the Christian calendar and tomorrow is All Souls Day. The Day of the Dead is a celebration during these first two days of November, a tradition blending Aztec and Christian Mexican traditions. Most cultures and religions have ways of contemplating the cycles of life and have special ways of remembering and honoring ancestors and loved ones who have “gone before them.”
Halloween is a combination of the words “hallow” (holy) and “e’en” (short for evening). Falling on Sunday, this year’s Halloween seemed quieter than usual. School the next day. And, for the first time in 23 years, there was neither Tiffany nor Tamara at home, dressing up and going out with kids in our neighborhood. I took my Mom to 6 o’clock Mass and then to our house for dinner and some time to greet the few trick-or-treaters still out. I reflected on the meaning and history of Halloween and the special days to honor the dead and contemplate the continuity of life.
A Celtic Festival dating back over 2000 years ago is where it started. The new year began in Great Britain, Ireland and northern France on November 1st. The night before and through the “new year” day, a festival honored the Celtic lord of the dead, Samhain. “The celebration marked the beginning of the season of cold, darkness and decay. It naturally became associated with human death. The Celts believed that Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to their earthly homes for the evening.”* Later, after the Romans conquered the Celts, two Roman autumn festivals – including one to honor their dead – were merged with the older Celtic tradition.
During the 800’s, the Christian Church established the holy day of Saints on November 1st – adroitly incorporating the associated “pagan” festivals of the newly Christianized Europeans. Later, All Souls Day – honoring ancestors and loved ones who have died – was established by the Christian Church on November 2nd. Halloween is the “evening” before the “All-hallow-mass” on November 1st.
Beyond the skulls and skeletons that remain, what’s it all about?
One of the readings at Mass was the following psalm:
Lord, you will show me the path of life
and fill me with joy in your presence.
--Psalms 15:11
What paths to take? What joys to seek? What can we learn from the good and the help of those who have gone before us?
*World Book Encyclopedia, 1988, Volume 9, Halloween article on page 25.
