Historic Halloween: From Feralia, Samhain, and Beyond

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 25 ноя 2024

Комментарии • 54

  • @RenaissanceSpirit
    @RenaissanceSpirit  Месяц назад +3

    Professor Reginald Thistlewick returns for another haunted adventure in our latest video, watch that next! ruclips.net/video/aPudu0S_2jA/видео.html

  • @gusthegrinch7390
    @gusthegrinch7390 Месяц назад +18

    Seems like it should be a great video, but might I suggest slowing down the narrative? Spooky is not quick and upbeat. This is just being read entirely too fast.

    • @RenaissanceSpirit
      @RenaissanceSpirit  Месяц назад +2

      @gusthegrinch7390, thank you for the constructive feedback, I appreciate it. I'll definitely keep that in mind for future videos, thank you!

    • @sharkbite1974
      @sharkbite1974 Месяц назад +4

      @@RenaissanceSpirit I think it’s just fine, but the other listener can slow down the rate of speech in the settings. I wish people knew how to work things before they would complain.

    • @melodyszadkowski5256
      @melodyszadkowski5256 Месяц назад +4

      ​@@sharkbite1974I wish you would learn the difference between a constructive opinion and a complaint before you complain.

    • @dwhitman3092
      @dwhitman3092 26 дней назад

      Lol. I actually think it's just right. I continually tap on that settings icon and increase the playback speed. -- Can be slowed down as well.

  • @Casper-jx1zd
    @Casper-jx1zd 28 дней назад +1

    Such an interesting video! Thank you 🎃🐈‍⬛🎃

    • @RenaissanceSpirit
      @RenaissanceSpirit  28 дней назад

      Thank you very much, @Casper-jx1zd! If you enjoyed this, you may want to check out our other videos including the light-hearted election parody with Professor Thistlewick here: ruclips.net/video/aPudu0S_2jA/видео.html

  • @rayskitten78
    @rayskitten78 27 дней назад +1

    I am Pagan and some of the terminology you used was mispronounced and why did you use a puppet that looks like a puppet that used to be on CITV when I was a child an interesting video for those who maybe a starting on the road of education regarding this time of year

  • @RenaissanceSpirit
    @RenaissanceSpirit  Месяц назад +3

    I hope you enjoy the latest video, Historic Halloween! If you do, please check out some of my other videos including "Unmasking Halloween: Halloween as an American Cultural Icon" next! ruclips.net/video/1-6N8zNOHoY/видео.html

  • @RavenblackWood-fk8hm
    @RavenblackWood-fk8hm Месяц назад +3

    Actually the ancient Celts celebrated Samhain it was never a Roman now modern day witches known as wiccans celebrated it

    • @surisound-waters2249
      @surisound-waters2249 Месяц назад

      Thank you! Not Samhain. It's pronounced as Sow-wen. Amateurs

  • @kavikv.d.hexenholtz3474
    @kavikv.d.hexenholtz3474 27 дней назад +1

    The Romans conquered the Celts around 40 AD and remained in Britain and Ireland for almost 400 years. Because of this, many people assert that these Roman holidays were assimilated with Samhain celebrations. However, this contradicts the typical Roman strategy of letting the natives/conquered people practice their own customs with as little interference as possible from Rome.
    Ferālia was an ancient Roman public festival celebrating the Manes (Roman spirits of the dead, particularly the souls of deceased individuals) which fell on 21 February. This day marked the end of Parentalia, a nine-day festival (13-21 February) honoring deceased ancestors. Note the dates here. To suggest that this was somehow incorporated into Gaelic Samhain doesn’t stand to reason. Not only is the date completely off, but as mentioned, there is no historical evidence that Samhain had anything to do with the dead and/or honoring ancestors. It’s a complete mismatch of dates based on a false assumption about Samhain.
    Pomona is attributed to the apple activities of Halloween, most notably, bobbing/ducking for apples.
    Most historians are doubtful however that the Romans ever had such a celebration called Pomona. There is a goddess of fruit trees called Pomona, but she does not appear to have had a day set aside for her observance. There was one for her consort, Vertumnus, celebrated in August, and some historians believe Pomona may have also been celebrated, but there is no historical proof of this. The Pomona celebration error can be traced to a misreading of a passage in Marcus Terentius Varro’s De Lingua Latina, which specifies August as the month of the Vertumnalia (celebration of Vertumnus, the god of seasons, change, plant growth, gardens and fruit trees.). It first describes certain festivals in August, and then in a separate sentence says that the Vertumnalia is observed “at that time” without further specifying a date. The sentence after that goes on to describe a festival in October, the Meditrinalia (celebrating the new vintage of wine). Thus, Vertumnalia came to be erroneously associated with early October and with it the alleged celebration of Pomona.
    Bobbing for apples is a fall activity not specifically connected to Halloween and comes from a British woman’s courting custom historically attested to about the 1300’s and the activity is even illustrated in the Luttrell Psalter, an illuminated manuscript written in the 14th century.
    To say Halloween’s connections to ancient Samhain, or anything “ancient” for that matter, are, at best, extremely tenuous, would be grossly overstating the facts. Virtually all of the customs associated with the modern secular celebration of Halloween developed only in the past 500 years and have no connections to ancient pagan religious practices.
    In short, Halloween just does not have the “pagan precedent” so many people seem to desperately want it to.
    Even the concept of ‘Trick or Treat’ is a relatively new phenomenon, originating from right here in the USA from about the 1920’s or so, and represents a mix of cultures, capitalism, and accommodation.
    To be completely fair, a few customs associated with Halloween do have a very old past; most notably, the carving of root vegetables and bobbing for apples. Without going into all the lengthy details, the carving of root vegetables (pumpkins in America) dates to around the 1700’s - it’s just not historically attested any earlier than that. Bobbing for apples is a fall activity not specifically connected to Halloween, and comes from a British woman’s courting custom historically attested to about the 1300’s. Neither custom is associated with, nor can they be historically attested back to, Samhain, or anything ‘pagan’ or ‘demonic’ for that matter. Further, there is zero evidence the Celts ever donned costumes of animal pelts to ward off evil spirits. Costuming for trick-or-treat comes from about 1930's America. The concept of trick-or-treat dates to about then as well. It has no ties to mumming, guising or souling. Historical similarity does not equate to historical sameness. Simply put, there is no continued ancient tradition. But misconceptions abound regarding the nature and origin of Samhain, to the point where virtually everything that people today believe about it is a complete fabrication.
    What is definitively known about Samhain would fit on about a page and a half of paper. What gets passed around the Internet as “history” and “fact” is mostly speculation and utter nonsense. The primary source of what is known comes from the books of the Ulster Cycle. By most historical accounts, Samhain proper was preceded by three days, and followed by three days. In some accounts it’s only a three-day celebration (not a seven day). Samhain seems to have been a time to prepare for winter, to welcome in the dark half of the year, cull the herds and celebrate the final harvest of the year. One particular activity that these old Gaelic texts seem to suggest was very popular at Samhain was…. horse racing. In addition, there were many ‘warrior-type’ athletic competitions and well….a lot of drinking. That sounds a lot like many European holidays today from October-January. The texts also speak of it as a time to pay tithings, gather taxes, and the holding of a judicial assembly (much like the Manx ‘Tynwald Day’). There is zero evidence that it was a religious observance, that the Celts ever donned costumes of animal pelts to ward off evil spirits, that it entailed any ritual, that it was a celebration of the dead, or that it opened the Celtic year.
    Anything else asserted to be associated with Samhain is either pure wishful thinking or absolute nonsense.
    To be completely fair, the Celts, like other cultures, practiced divination and the change of seasons (amongst other things) was seen as a liminal time in which the boundaries between the spirit world and the material world were seen as overlapping (this includes the change of one day to the next, the change of high tide to low, the crossroads on a path/road, etc., etc.), however, this was part of the broader Celtic religious framework and not something specific to any one specific holiday. Indeed, Samhain’s polar opposite celebration, Bealteine, was seen as just as powerful, if not a more powerful, time of year with respect to this overlapping.
    Let’s take a closer look at the assertion that Christian All Saints Day/All Souls Day replaced Gaelic Samhain.
    To state it briefly, the date of 1. November for All Saint's Day was practiced in continental Europe long before the date was formerly fixed by the Church to November 1st, and long before said change got to what is now the UK & Ireland; which was centuries after the time of Druids and Samhain proper.
    In addition, most people are not aware that Samhain itself is a movable feast day; the exact date varies from year to year depending on when the autumnal equinox and winter solstice fall. In short, it’s not always 31. October. In the modern Gaelic languages, Samhain is the name for the entire month of November.
    To assert that the establishment of All Saint’s Day (and All Souls Day on 2.NOV) was the early church’s attempt to “Christianize Samhain” just does not stand to reason. Think about this logically for a moment, why would the church change a major feast day affecting all of Western Christendom just to accommodate a small group of Christians who lived on, what would be considered at that time, some remote group of islands in the middle of nowhere, centuries after Druids and the observance of Samhain?
    One scholar has even suggested that November 1st may have been chosen simply so that the many pilgrims who traveled to Rome to commemorate the saints “could be fed more easily after the harvest than in the spring (when it was originally celebrated).”
    All three holidays, Halloween, All Saint’s Day, and Samhain share a common date and perhaps a “feeling”, but that’s really about it. Indeed, so much of Halloween “feels” Pagan that attempts to connect those things to ancient Samhain simply “feels right”.

    • @RenaissanceSpirit
      @RenaissanceSpirit  27 дней назад

      Thank you for the insights, @kavikv.d.hexenholtz3474! We appreciate them!

  • @matthewschultz3762
    @matthewschultz3762 Месяц назад +1

    Can you list the Halloween music in the description?
    The first song especially.

    • @RenaissanceSpirit
      @RenaissanceSpirit  Месяц назад

      Thank you, @matthewschultz3762! It's called the Haunted Hustle. It's an original work, hope you liked it! I'll be adding the list and chapters, probably over the weekend. You may also enjoy "The Haunted Election of Halloween," just put it live today: ruclips.net/video/aPudu0S_2jA/видео.html

  • @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf
    @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf 17 дней назад +1

    Happy Halloween night Mr and Mrs. reverend Johnny Kennedy newlyweds married her on Halloween night 1998 26 years ago today congratulations

    • @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf
      @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf 17 дней назад +1

      Congratulations to you both on your wedding anniversary congratulations

    • @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf
      @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf 17 дней назад +1

      Congratulations to you both on your wedding anniversary congratulations

    • @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf
      @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf 17 дней назад +1

      Congratulations to you both on your wedding anniversary congratulations

  • @adrianac3258
    @adrianac3258 Месяц назад +2

    Great video 🎃! Love scholar analysis of the spooky🩶🕸️ .

    • @RenaissanceSpirit
      @RenaissanceSpirit  Месяц назад +1

      Thank you, @adrianac3258, I really appreciate that. Have a Happy Halloween!! 🎃

  • @aaroncarson1770
    @aaroncarson1770 Месяц назад +2

    And Calan Gaeaf!

  • @tuberosity.amalgum
    @tuberosity.amalgum Месяц назад

    A game ,of leap (leep?),frog. Pogger, ball. Ping.

  • @surisound-waters2249
    @surisound-waters2249 Месяц назад +2

    You lost me as soon as you mispronounced "Samhain." It is pronounced as Sow-wen; NOT Sam-hane. Every real, practicing Witch, or Wiccan, has a good chuckle when they hear it said improperly. Being able to say it right is sort of a measuring stick of realness for us. Just saying. 😊

  • @aaroncarson1770
    @aaroncarson1770 Месяц назад

    So Parentslia overlapped with Lupercalia?

  • @tuberosity.amalgum
    @tuberosity.amalgum Месяц назад

    BECAUSE! THERE WEREN'T ANY PLUM, BLOSSOMS IN ACTUALLY

  • @Fenrir-cf5rt
    @Fenrir-cf5rt Месяц назад +2

    UGH!!!!! WTF???? The bust just said, SAM-HINE....NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...... SOW-IN! .....Thats HOW IT IS PRONOUNCED! God damn! GET IT RIGHT!

    • @k.edwards3138
      @k.edwards3138 Месяц назад +1

      Not everyone knows the correct pronunciation, it's like americans with aluminium versus aluminum. Mindfulness doesn't hurt. Blessed be.

    • @WickedRavenOne
      @WickedRavenOne Месяц назад

      calm your tits

    • @surisound-waters2249
      @surisound-waters2249 Месяц назад

      I get it. I just had a fit myself. Blessed be

  • @Circlingthedrain1313
    @Circlingthedrain1313 26 дней назад

    SAHwen you philistine

  • @Em-ht9cg
    @Em-ht9cg Месяц назад +1

    Name of song please

    • @RenaissanceSpirit
      @RenaissanceSpirit  Месяц назад +1

      Hi, @Em-ht9cg. It's called "The Halloween Veil." Hope you liked it!

    • @pamelayates5962
      @pamelayates5962 Месяц назад

      @@RenaissanceSpiritwhere can you find this song?

  • @petraroch8510
    @petraroch8510 Месяц назад +2

    Sure about how "Samhain" is pronounced? (Hint: not the way this narrator pronounces it.)

  • @TDR85
    @TDR85 Месяц назад +1

    The effect on the narrator's voice makes this unlistenable.

    • @janicestewart8291
      @janicestewart8291 Месяц назад

      I think his voice is impeccable. It gives to the eras that he speaks of.

    • @TDR85
      @TDR85 Месяц назад

      @@janicestewart8291 I have hyperacusis. Whatever that effect is is brutal on my ears.

  • @JohnShields-xx1yk
    @JohnShields-xx1yk Месяц назад +2

    I used to do coke with a guy who looks just like you.

    • @Suzzzie818
      @Suzzzie818 27 дней назад

      😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

  • @chrisskinner6291
    @chrisskinner6291 22 дня назад

    Yeah well Still Rome till this very day the America's lol and not much has changed.

  • @Fenrir-cf5rt
    @Fenrir-cf5rt Месяц назад

    VIKING SECTION: NOT pronounced as blaht! Its pronounced as BLOTE! DAMN! DO YOUR RESEARCH PROPERLY! THUMBS DOWN ON THIS!

  • @Fenrir-cf5rt
    @Fenrir-cf5rt Месяц назад

    By the way...MODERN scenery...DOE NOT...fit this video. HORRIBLE!

  • @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf
    @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf 17 дней назад +2

    Happy Halloween night Mr and Mrs. reverend Johnny Kennedy newlyweds married her on Halloween night 1998 26 years ago today congratulations

    • @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf
      @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf 17 дней назад +1

      Congratulations to you both on your wedding anniversary congratulations

    • @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf
      @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf 17 дней назад +1

      Congratulations to you both on your wedding anniversary congratulations

    • @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf
      @JohnnyKennedy-sf4sf 17 дней назад +1

      Congratulations to you both on your wedding anniversary congratulations

    • @RenaissanceSpirit
      @RenaissanceSpirit  15 дней назад +1

      Happy anniversary, Mr and Mrs. reverend Johnny Kennedy!