Regardless of religion, ethnicity or cultural background, the closing of the old year and the beginning of the new year is celebrated in many countries in many ways and has been for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years. Here in the West traditions such as resolutions, counting down the clock, New Year’s Eve parties, resolutions and resounding renditions of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ are the norm. In fact, much of the modern New Year’s traditions celebrated in the United States stem from the ancient Scottish tradition of Hogmany.

Hogmany stems from the ancient pagan festivals celebrating the changing seasons and the phases of the moon. It seems to combine both Roman and Druidic traditions of the winter solstice and may have originally run from the shortest day of the year to the beginning of the Pagan new year. Today, Hogmany runs from December 31 to January 1 or 2, depending on local custom.

The Scottish Reformation of the 1600s, that changed Roman Catholic Scotland to Calvinist Scotland, saw an end of superstitious and loose interpretations of religion such as the celebration of Christmas. Despite this Scottish version of the Protestant Reformation, the celebration of the new year was never thwarted even though sometimes, the celebrations, feasting and singing went underground.

It wasn’t until the 1960s that Scotland made December 25^th a national holiday. Until that time the winter celebrations were confined to the Hogmany festival. Even today, Hogmany is most often the time the Scots swap gifts, visit friends and take time off work to be with family.

The word ‘hogmany’ means night of the new year and comes from the Gaelic and involves a few customs that never crossed the pond.   In Scotland, new year’s parties often include a bonfire which may stem from ancient festivals where fire and the sun were worshipped across the highlands. Community sized parties rather than small social gatherings are also the norm in Scotland. Being the first to enter a house after the clock has struck midnight with a small token such as a lump of coal is meant to bring good luck.

The famous song Auld Lang Syne was rewritten from ancient sources by the famous poet Robert Burns in 1788 and has become the song of choice for Brits, Scots and Americans alike. It is a song celebrating friendship, kindness and good cheer and is sung when the clock strikes midnight. 

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Many new year celebrations came to America with the immigrants but many have grown around the advent of television. Watching the ball drop in Times Square is a new tradition that allows many modern Americans to bring in the new year from the comfort of their living rooms. Perhaps this year as we sing Auld Lang Syne and bring in the new year, we will remember how the celebration comes to us from times past connecting us to history as it propels us into the future.

Tags: American Immigrant, Auld Lang Syne, Calvinism, Celtic, Druid, history of new year's eve, Hogmany, New Year, new year's eve celebration, Pagan, poet robert burns, Protestant Reformation, Roman Catholic, Scottish Reformation, Times Square

One often wonders where the traditions of our most beloved holidays actually originate. The American holiday of Halloween has come a long way in two thousand years with a mixture of both ancient and modern rituals playing a large role in this annual celebration. Bobbing for apples and wearing terrifying masks come to us from the murky pagan past but pumpkin pie contests and parties are more recent additions to this, the spookiest of seasonal festivals.

Samhain is the name of a Celtic druid festival celebrated before the onset of Christianity in Ireland. It represented the time after the gathering of the harvest and before the onset of winter. Samhain was the beginning of a new agricultural year for the Celts and during this time, the veil between the realms of the living and the dead were temporarily lifted. All those who had died in the last year were free to leave their graves and visit their relatives. With the good, so came the bad and the Celts made sacrifices, performed magical rituals and created defenses against a predicted onslaught of ill maligned ghosts and ghouls.

Brightly burning fires were the Celts main defense against the darker side of the world of the dead and this symbol remains a part of the modern Halloween custom. The bright fires were symbolic of the sun as the darkness of winter settled over the land. In some areas, the two-day festival of Samhain culminated with the lighting of new fires that were used to light the homes and cook the food for the following year.

After the Roman Empire came to the British Isles in 43 BCE, the practice of Samhain took on a new form and now included the worship of the Roman goddess of fruit, Pomona. As the Celtic holiday coincided with the apple harvest in Europe, the two celebrations became co-mingled with bonfires and apple treats and fortune telling games indulged simultaneously.

With the arrival of Christianity, the Catholic Church replaced many of the pagan festivals with Christian festivals accounting for the modern dates of such practices as Easter and Christmas. Samhain didn’t really fit into the church’s timeline, forcing into reality a new holiday meant to replace the ancient beliefs. At the close of the ninth century, November 1 was declared to be All Hallows’ Day, a time of remembrance and prayer. The word ‘hallow’ means holy and the day was set aside for all the saints and holy people in the Christian worldview. Yet the pagan practices still persisted, especially in the rural areas of Britain where the lives of most people were dictated by crop cycles and the changing seasons.

All Hallows Eve was the church’s compromise to old world traditions and was meant as a time for visiting the cemeteries and praying for lost relatives. What actually happened was a combination of fire lighting, cemetery trips, fortune telling (using apple peels) and the persistence in the belief that on that night negative spirits walked the earth.

As the years passed, the traditions and rituals of Halloween expanded and took on regional variations. In the English countryside villagers would roam the streets requesting currant filled sweet breads known as soul cakes that were to ward off evil and provide some sustenance for the poor. They carried with them hollowed out turnips with candles to light their way. The turnips were often potatoes back in Ireland and the requests made door to door were for food and money for the less fortunate rather than soul cakes.

The concept of trick or treat most probably originates with the English mischief night tradition when the less than savory members of the village used the excuse of Halloween to make trouble for neighbors they felt had slighted them. Covering chimneys so houses filled with smoke was a common trick and anyone questioned would always blame the unexplainable events on the spirits, the goblins or the elves. Tricks were also reserved for those who chose not to make donations to the poor.

It was considered a good idea to wear a mask when performing such tricks so no one would recognize the mischief makers. The idea of masks has many origins. The ancient druids used masks (or severed heads) to ward off evil during their rituals. The early Catholic Church encouraged parishioners to dress up as angels and devils on All Saint’s day. Masks not only hid the face, but offered the chance to confuse the evil spirits as they passed by.

The Halloween costume of today embraces the history of disguise but has evolved to include both scary costumes and fun, creative costumes. The competitive aspect of costume making is a recent concept, as is shopping mall parades, trick or treating in daylight and making pumpkin pies. These are adaptations based on both availability (turnips become pumpkins in America’s harvest) and safety (young children inheriting the tradition of going door to door).

So although the concept and traditions behind Halloween have passed down over many centuries, the American version of Halloween came over long after the pilgrims. The Irish potato famine sent the Christianized Celts to America’s shores where they brought hope, ghost stories and the celebrating of Halloween.

The concepts, understandings and rituals surrounding the Halloween tradition continue to change and its popularity is returning to its British roots. For many years, the celebration of Guy Fawkes Night on November 5 overshadowed British traditions of Halloween. Yet the export of American culture back over the pond has renewed English and Irish ties to their pagan and early church roots. All Hallows Eve is finally retuning home. And the American additions of candy, pumpkins and parties are going along for the ride.

Tags: Celtic, Druid, England, guy fawkes, Halloween, Ireland, Samhain