Reformation Day 500: Is Halloween Christian or not?

The Origins of Halloween

Halloween/All Saints' Eve has been corrupted and co-opted with a great deal of commercialism, mysticism, and Modern Neopagan/Wiccan influence. But the origins and purpose of the holy day are uniquely Christian. It did not originate in Celtic practices.

And despite the many articles and documentaries which may make the claim: Halloween does not come from pagan origins, witchcraft, or the occult. It was in no way attached to these kinds of belief systems in its origin. Only in the last 2 centuries have these other religious movements started to claim the day and integrate their own rituals with Halloween/All Saints.

This link has more full discussion with documentation:
(All Saints' Eve, All Saints' Day: Origins and Samhain-ization)

Here is a brief summary:

The development of Halloween as a Church Holy Day began over 1,000 years prior to any known evidence of a Celtic day or festival with the name Samhain (pronounced "Sow-in"). The All Saints' day practices originated in non-Celtic areas and were widespread before the Celtic churches adopted the practice. Annual dates varied from region to region and became fixed on Nov 1 in the 8th century. The Celtic churches adopted this date from Rome and the Frankish kingdoms. This date was adopted by the Celtic Church nearly 2 centuries before there is any known mention of Samhain in Celtic literature.

The Reformation and Halloween

All Hallows' Eve/All Saints' Day is an historically significant day in the western Church not only because of the Church feast, but also because of the events that took place in Wittenberg in 1517. This year we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. It is more than a little ironic that the popular modern corruption of All Saints' Eve centers on fear, the supernatural, death, and the state of those who have died. This topic is addressed at this link: All Hallows' Eve in the Mediaeval Church and the Reformation.

If You're Really Into Learning More

I've put together a timeline/slideshow that highlights the development of Halloween, Samhain, and Celtic influences. It is available here.

And I have a short article dealing with some specific claims about a prehistoric megalithic tomb in Tara, Ireland. It is often claimed that this tomb must be evidence that Samhain is ancient, even pre-Celtic. But the claims do not really hold up. The article is: Samhain and The Mound of Hostages, Tara, Ireland.

Samhain and The Mound of Hostages, Tara, Ireland

Dumha na nGiall, Mound of the Hostages

An interesting claim about the ancientness of Samhain is made on the Knowth website. On their page for Tlachtga - Hill of Ward, they have a photo of sunrise light hitting part of the back of a small passage grave known as the Mound of Hostages. The photo was reported to be taken on Nov. 1, or the modern day of Samhain.

This mound is dated archaeologically to about 5,000 years before present. That's still 3,000 years before known Celts, and 4,000 years before documentation on Samhain.

Here's what they say on the page:

The Stone Age Mound of the Hostages is also aligned with the Samhain sun rise. The following image was photographed by Martin Dier, it shows the sunbeam illuminating the back of the chamber. The illumination is impaired by the modern gate at the entrance of the passage. 

Among the rest of their arguments supporting Samhain on the page, this tomb would seem to lend support for the notion that Samhain is far more ancient than Christianity.

So let's look at a map of the site:

The original map is the black and white. I added the features in color. Here's the issue. I'm not able to go to Ireland for all these days to make sure that this is possible. But I want to find out whether or not the sunrise hits the back of the passage grave on any other days. This is mathematical, not an actual experiment.

• The Blue Line is the meridian at -6.6117,20 deg.
• The Red Line is the Southern most angle from which part of the back of the tomb is partially lit. Angle A to B is 54 degrees.
• The Green line is the Northern most angle from which part of the back of the tomb is partially lit. Angle A to C is 76 degrees.
• That gives us 23 degrees from North to South and then again from South to North where the sun can rise and illuminate the back of this tomb.

One of the difficulties in evaluating a claim like this the general difficulty of verification. Mathematical is as close as I can get. The horizon on a smooth area of the earth is 7 miles. But there is nothing really to block the sunrise, Tara is a hill, and this is a mound on top of the hill. Google Earth even has a panoramic hilltop view.



I used Sun Calc Net at the location of the grave and chose ranges of dates. This website calculates the angle of sunrise, sunset, etc, for any Gregorian date. But I'm using a physical protractor on the screen to get my angles. So you astronomy types can jump in here to suggest the correct angles.

Sun Calc set to The Mound of Hostages on Nov 1, 2016

http://suncalc.net/#/53.5795,-6.6117,20/2017.11.01/12:25 

This is about 65 degrees from South.

So, in the Autumn, by the math, this should be what happens:

• From just after October 15 the sun rises at about 76 deg from the south.

http://suncalc.net/#/53.5795,-6.6117,20/2017.10.15/12:25

• At this point the light of the sunrise should start to cover the back of the tomb.
• The back of the tomb should continue to be at least partially covered by light from the sunrise until December 10th when the sun starts to pass 54 degrees from the south. That's about 45 or more days.

http://suncalc.net/#/53.5795,-6.6117,20/2017.12.10/12:25

And after the winter solstice the sun starts to go back north on the horizon.

• It crosses 54 degrees from the south some time around January 9th.
• From that time until it crosses about 76 degrees from the south around February 20th the sunrise should beam its new dawn somewhere on the backstone of the tomb. That should be about 40 days.
• You've got the links now to the tool, check the data for yourself.

I know my crude angle maths are off a bit. They could be refined. But let's round down to say that the sunrise probably shows on this backstone for around 80 to 85 days during the whole year, split fairly equally during two different general seasons.

Once we realize this, is there anything really special about the Gregorian date of Nov 1 (Modern Samhain) in the construction of this tomb?

Not really. The Knowth website has a picture from Nov 1 with sunrise light hitting the backstone. A feat that can be done for almost 1/4th of the whole year.

No there isn't anything special about Samhain in this tomb.
Why should there be? If the archaeological dating is correct this tomb is 3,000 years pre-Celtic and 4,000 year pre-Samhain.

Remember, what we actually know of the origins of the Celtic calendar show that it was lunar. The Celts in Ireland and the British Isles appear to have adopted the solar calendar at the same time they adopted Christianity. This was certainly the main cultural process with the Germans and the Franks adopting the Julian calendar. Certainly it was also with the Gregorian reforms for Ireland and the rest of Europe.


----Additional notes:

I found this description on the BoyneValleyTours.com website:

The Mound of the Hostages

The importance of the Hill of Tara predates Celtic times, the oldest monument on the hill is a Neolithic passage tomb known as the Mound of the Hostages, built about 5000 year ago. It is circular in form, roughly fifteen metres in diameter and three metres high. It is built in the same style as the Newgrange tomb, although on a much smaller scale. The structure is dome-shaped with an inset for the entrance and a small doorway, set almost one metre into the side of the monument. The doorway is framed with undecorated standing stones. As with other passage tombs the entrance is aligned with the rising sun at certain times of the year, in this case the chamber is illuminated on the mornings around Samhain (early November) and Imbolc (early February). Inside, the passage into the Mound of the Hostages stretches for four metres in length, one metre in width, and is 1.8 metres (6 feet) high. It contains decorated stones with images of swirls and circles. 

There are two things to note:
1. The page acknowledges that the tomb gets light from the rising sun for several days before and after Samhain, not just on Samhain: also getting sun in for many days around the start of February. I have summarized the ancient sources on Imbolc/Candlemas/Presentation/St. Brigit's Day here.

2. The page states: "As with other passage tombs the entrance is aligned with the rising sun at certain times of the year." All I think can really be said is that from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice there is a range of about 90 degrees through which the sunrise travels on successive days, the sunset also. Roughly put, any tomb with an opening facing toward the Northeast through the Southeast will have some range of days in which the sunrise shines through the entrance down the passage, if the passage is somewhat straight. For sunsets the same is true but from the Northwest to the Southeast. If the tomb's entrance alignment falls between the Southeast and Southwest there will be some range of successive days where the noon sun will do the same. Whether sunrise, sunset, or noon, any tomb opening not facing between the Northwest and Northeast will have some day or range of days that sunlight will come into the entrance for a ways.

I would suggest that perception bias based in ritual/calendar dates that have become more important culturally in recent decades influences the interpretation of the Mound of Hostages.

For those who are interested: a useful study on the orientation of the openings of passage tombs was published recently by Frank Prendergast, "Interpreting Megalithic Tomb Orientations and Siting Within Broader Cultural Contexts" Modern Archaeoastronomy: From Material Culture to Cosmology IOP Publishing, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2016.

Luther's Notes on the Sunday Gospel: All Saints' Day -Saints and Martyrs

November 1
All Saints' Day


Matthew 5:1-12

New King James Version

5 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Luther's Explanatory Notes:

The Sermon on the Mount.

Christ, in Matthew v., vi., vii., teaches briefly these points:

1. First, as to the eight beatitudes or blessings, how every Christian ought particularly to live, as it concerns himself; 
2. Secondly, of the office of teaching; what and how a man ought to teach in the church, how to season with salt and enlighten, reprove and comfort and exercise the faith. 
3. Thirdly, he confutes and opposes the false expounding of the law; 
4. Fourthly, he condemns the wicked, hypocritical kind of living; 
5. Fifthly, he teaches what are upright and good works; 
6. Sixthly, he warns men against false doctrine; 
7. Seventhly, he clears and solves what might be found doubtful and confused; 
8. Eighthly, he condemns the hypocrites and false saints, who abuse the precious word of grace. 

1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain; and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 

 Jesus went up into a mountain. Here the Evangelist gives a preface and display of how Christ disposed him self for the sermon. It is not God's will that we should run astray with his word, as though any one were driven by the Holy Spirit, and therefore must preach and seek places and corners, houses and pulpits, where he has no official appointment. Rom. 15:20; 2 Cor. 10:15 and John 16:20.

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Those who are not spiritually high minded. To be spiritually poor means, that we do not attach our hearts to worldly possessions, whether God has given us worldly goods or not.

And again, to be rich in spirit means to be attached in our hearts to worldly possessions, whether God has given us worldly goods or not. (Psalm 62:10) Those are spiritually poor who are not self-confident, who keep God before their eyes, and do not live at random, like the world; but who are careful of what they do, and do not do; who honestly compare their lives with the word of God, and see how our nature is so corrupted by sin that the proper obedience is sadly lacking, and they appear to themselves as the greatest sinners.

The kingdom of heaven is theirs. That is to say: Behold, man shall be delivered from death, sin, hell and all misfortunes, and shall have God for his friend, a cheerful conscience and in addition eternal life.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 

Blessed are they that mourn. Thisis another characteristic of the Christians, that they not only have oppressed hearts, but also tearful eyes, because all kinds of misfortunes befall them. Because, while the devil and the world are the most inveterate enemies of the Christians, it is impossible, that such enmity should continue without injury. But since Christians also have flesh and blood, it is not possible that they should laugh in their afflictions; they are plagued, oppressed and driven so long, that their eyes overflow with tears.

They shall be comforted. Christians mourn; but only for a season. Look to the future and then the promise is: "Blessed are they, for they shall be comforted." This we see exemplified in the case of poor Lazarus. For it is not Christ's will that there shall be nothing but mourning and sorrow; but he warns those who are not willing to mourn, and teaches his Christians, that when they meet with adversity it is God's will, and they should also be resigned to their condition, and that they should not curse and rage and despair, as though there were no mercy with God.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 

Blessed are the meek. When it goes evil with worldly people their eyes overflow and they conduct themselves badly; but my disciples, says Jesus here, have a meek and lowly heart, and would not think of avenging themselves; but as God in his providence has permitted the affliction to come upon them, they cheerfully resign themselves to his will, and endure the affliction.

For they shall inherit the earth. Here we see what his promises are: In verse 3 heaven was promised them, and here in addition also an earth ly inheritance is promised them — their bodily wants shall also be supplied.

The world regards itself in possession of the earth, and seeks to protect its claims.

Therefore choose one of two things, whichever you will; either that you live in meekness and patience among the people, and retain what you have in peace and good conscience; or lose more by tumultuous, riotous contention and strife, than you can gain, and yet have dissatisfaction and a bad conscience in addition.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Blessed are they which hunger and thirst. This hunger and thirst is experienced, by those who love to hear and read God's word. Such a one has this firm hope, that he shall find comfort and consolation from the word of God, in all kinds of trial, perplexity and in death. But those who are filled with their own conceit, who do not read or hear God's word, but disregard and despise it, shall finally hunger and thirst so intensely, that no one can relieve them with the smallest drop of water, just as was the case with the rich man in hell. Luke 16:24.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 

Blessed are the merciful. One quality of mercy is, that we readily forgive sinners and fallible ones. The other quality is, that we are generous to those who are suffering distress and are in need of help, and this also towards our enemies, for all of which we can not expect any recompense.

These, the merciful, then have the consoling promise, Ye shall also find pure mercy, both here and hereafter; and such mercy shall ye find, which shall unspeakably transcend all human benefaction and mercy. Just as we are merciful, and assist the poor in their distress, even if they are our bitterest enemies, so God also will assist us in our trouble, readily forgive and forget all our sins, and grant us grace and mercy.

8. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 

Blessed are the pure in heart. He who would indicate a pure heart to be such an one in which there are no evil thoughts, no murder, no adultery, etc., has indeed correctly indicated; but the Holy Ghost alone prepares the heart by means of the word of God; otherwise where the word and faith are not already in the heart, the heart remains unclean.

Shall see God. This does not mean to lead a contemplative life, or to see him with our bodily eyes (with these no one can see him in this life) but by faith which sees his paternal, friendly heart, in which there is no anger or unkindness.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers. The peacemakers are more blessed than the peaceable; namely, those who make, promote and maintain peace among others; here they offer a good word, there they interpose a good word, and every where they seek to promote quietness and peace, where they find strife, disturbance and con tention. Thus also did our Lord Christ.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven; for so per secuted they the prophets which were be fore you. 

Blessed are they which are persecuted. Here the Lord states in conclusion, what shall be the treatment of the faithful Christian, that for this, that he is full of good works, even towards enemies, and bad people, his reward from the world shall be that he shall be persecuted, and exposed to bodily injury, the loss of all worldly goods and life itself for Christ's sake.

But he also distinctly adds, For righteousness' sake, to show, that it is not sufficient to be simply persecuted, when it is not for righteousness' or Christ's sake.

Blessed people are ye! For in the first place, ye suffer from the world and have not deserved it; therefore ye suffer for my sake, and I will richly reward you in heaven. Are there one or two who persecute us, then there are many more, yea, ten thousand angels, to one, who take our part, who smile upon us, console us, and pronounce us blessed.

But what do you say to this, that there is so much said in the Sermon on the Mount about reward and gain? Answer: It is not meant here, that by our own merit, we shall gain the grace of our baptism, or Christ and heaven ; but all relates to the fruits of Christianity. For in this sermon Christ does not say how we become Christians, but speaks only of the works which no one can do, unless he is already a Christian, and is in grace, as the words show, that they must endure poverty, distress and persecution, because they are Christ ians, and inherit the kingdom of heaven. These are pure consolations to the Christians, as without them they could not endure such distress, persecution and misery, which they know he will certainly reward. This does not mean that they merit for giveness of sins and the inheritance of heaven, but that they shall be rec ompensed for their sufferings with so much greater glory.




Luther's Explanatory Notes on the Gospels, pp. 25-27.