In parts of Britain, these customs came under attack during the Reformation as someProtestants berated purgatory as a popish doctrine incompatible with the notion ofpredestination. Thus, for someNonconformist Protestants, the theology of All Hallows’ Eve was redefined; without the doctrine of purgatory, the returning souls cannot be journeying from Purgatory on their way to Heaven, as Catholics frequently believe and assert. Instead, the so-called ghosts are thought to be in actuality evil spirits. As such they are threatening.[48]Other Protestants maintained belief in anintermediate state, known as Hades (Bosom of Abraham),[51] and continued to observe the original customs, especially candlelitprocessions and the ringing of church bells in memory of the dead.[35] In the 19th century, in parts of England, Christian families gathered on hills on the night of All Hallows Eve. One held a bunch of burning straw on a pitchforkwhile the rest knelt around him in a circle, praying for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames went out. This was known asteenlay, derived either from the Old Englishtendan (meaning to kindle) or a word related to Old Irish tenlach (meaning hearth).[52] The rising popularity of Guy Fawkes Night (5 November) from 1605 onward, saw many Halloween traditions appropriated by that holiday instead, and Halloweens popularity waned in Britain, with the noteworthy exception of Scotland.[53] There and in Ireland, they had been celebrating Samhain and Halloween since at least the early Middle Ages, and the Scottish kirk took a more pragmatic approach to Halloween, seeing it as important to the life cycle and rites of passage of communities and thus ensuring its survival in the country.[53] In France, Christians, on the night of All Hallows Eve,prayed beside the graves of their loved ones, setting down dishes full of milk for them.[47]On Halloween, in Italy, families left a large meal out for ghosts of their passed relatives, before they departed for church services.[54]In Spain, women, on this night, made special pastries known as “bones of the holy” (Spanish: Huesos de Santo) and put them on the graves of the churchyard, a practice that continues to this day.[55]
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 05:19:03 +0000
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