Basic HTML Version
OCTOBER 2012 -
SEXY X2
MAGAZINE -
39
ruled the Celtic lands, two festi-
vals of Roman origin were com-
bined with the traditional Celtic
celebration of Samhain. The first
was Feralia, a day in late Octo-
ber when the Romans tradition-
ally commemorated the passing
of the dead. The second was a
day to honor Pomona, the Ro-
man goddess of fruit and trees.
The symbol
of Pomona
is the
apple
and
the
in-
corporation of this celebration
into Samhain probably explains
the tradition of “bobbing” for
apples that is practiced today on
Halloween.
On May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boni-
face IV dedicated the Pantheon
in Rome in honor of all Christian
martyrs, and the Catholic feast
of All Martyrs Day was estab-
lished in the Western church.
Pope Gregory III (731–741)
later expanded the festival to
include all saints as well
as all martyrs, and
moved the obser-
vance from May
13 to November 1.
By the 9th cen-
tury, the influ-
ence of Chris-
tianity had
spread into
Celtic lands, where it
gradually blended with
and supplanted the older Celtic
rites. In 1000 A.D., the church
would make November 2 All
Souls’ Day, a day to honor the
dead. It is widely believed today
that the church was attempt-
ing to replace the Celtic festival
of the dead with a related, but
church-sanctioned holiday. All
Souls Day was celebrated simi-
larly to Samhain, with big bon-
fires, parades, and dressing up
in costumes as saints, angels and
devils. The All Saints Day cel-
ebra-
tion was also
called
All-
hallows
or All-Hal-
lowmas (from Middle
English Alholowmesse meaning
All Saints’ Day) and the night
before it, the traditional night of
Samhain in the Celtic religion,
began to be called All-hallows
Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
alloween