Asturian-American Migration Forum

Samain or Samhuin, a romantic version for the seasonal change.

Irish mythology is full of winks to the reader. Populated with Gods, magicians, druides, kings and queens; bards, witches and, in summary, all a continuous vindication of their culture and way to think, are the one that better gathers the celebration of Samain, "the summer end", and also well-known for the Celtic New Year. With different variations, this festivity also is present in Brittany and Scotland, being today one of the fundamental pillars which it is known like Halloween, thus transformed when they began to celebrate it the Irish emigrants to the USA. The romantic version of this celebration, that means the beginning of the winter, gathers that in Samain it is when they enter communication, by once to the year, the deads with the alive ones. For example, it is related, in the case of Brittany, that in that night the vehicles do not have to run by the lateral part of the way, because the risk of bothering to the deads that return, by one night, to the alives world. In the case of Ireland, the Samain was most popular of its four main celebrations: Samain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lugnasad. In Ireland they ignited a fire in the center of the town and to him they went the people to take a burning torch to put it in its homes. The Samain, that lasted three days, remembered Irish the arrival of the cold time and was the first night of the New Year that was dedicated to the celtic god that Julius Caesar called Dite Pater (The Father Death, Dagda in gaelic), in demand of fertility and abundance. The Breton writer Jean Markale, in its book "Celtic Christianity", remembers that in presbiterian Scotland, Halloween is "the occasion to multiply little compatible jokes with there habitual religious rigorism".

Irish, French and English traditions, in North American beater.

Who was Jack, the one of the lantern? Why people disguise themselves in Halloween? Why the children request candies? To what extent the immigrants of different European countries contributed with some custom to this celebration? The certain thing is more that, for all it, a single and unique answer does not exist and its multiple versions tend to grow dark, than to clarify, its origin. According to it says one old Irish legend, "Jack of the lantern" was a quite evil man who, nevertheless, managed to deceive until the very same devil. When dying the entrance refused to him, not only in the Paradise, but also in the Hell, of where the only thing which he obtained was a burning coal that threw him the Lord of Hell. Jack drained giant "nabo" (a kind of rounded white carrot) that became pumpkin in the United States, and inside put the coal, being condemned by the eternity to wander by the dark ways illuminating itself with its peculiar lantern. There are some students on Celts matter that consider that the pumpkin is a representation of the Celtic Peoples custom to cut the head of its enemies, because they thought that it was the essence of the human being and who it contained supernatural powers. Nevertheless, others differ and think that the pumpkin and the ancestral rite do not have anything to do.

With the arrival of the Romans to most of the celtic territories, the celebration of the Samain did not get to disappear absolutely, then, of some way, these fused it with its Celebrations of Pomona, dedicated to a goddess of the fertility. As far as the disguises, that are thought that its origin is French and that was born between centuries XIV and XV, in the bubonic plague or "black death" made damage in the population. The masses of deceaseds were multiplied and been born artistic representations that remembered to the human being their mortal aim. Known as "Dances of the Death" ended up becoming authentic celebrations of disguises, with the death like common denominator. Finally, the demand of "prank or candy" (trick or treat) that the phantom disguised children do when knocking to the houses is based, apparently, in a mocking celebration that was celebrated in England in a day called of "Guy Fawkes". In her, some groups of protestants, hidden under disguises, visited the catholics and they demanded beer and pies to them under the threat of "trick or treat", that is, "prank or candy". The celebration also arrived at North America with the first pioneers, and finished built-in to the celebration of Halloween.

The playful celebration of the eve of All the Saints, whose maximum exponent is today Halloween, rescues from the past some custom that already existed in Asturias

Halloween not always was called thus nor therefore it was known in Asturias the eve of All the Saints. Both ways to celebrate it either were not equal, although they shared some element. It is the case of "Jack-o'-lantern" ("Jack, the one of the lantern"), name of the pumpkin illuminated in its interior by a candle. Before the U.S.A. put last names to him to this vegetable, it says that in Asturias already this custom existed. Perhaps to have to look for some name to him, it could be "Xuan, the one of llinterna".

One week ago, approximately, the celebration of Halloween in Asturias returned to provoke all kind of commentaries. While the new generations enjoy the concerned customs of the United States - loaded of an eminent commercial component -, others judge that the fashion of the pumpkin, the disguise of witch and the fascination by the topics of "the Other World" occupy the place of older traditions, until the point of being supplanted by just the arrived from other countries.

But neither Halloween was always called Halloween, nor the idea of the illuminated pumpkin or the food request by the houses in such night is exclusive of the United States. Apparently, the vespertine watch previous to the celebration of All the Saints was translated the English as "All hallow's even" (watch of All the Saints) and that with different pronounciations went deriving to the name with which it is known today.

The base of this celebration is in the Irish tradition of the Samain, or celebration of the change of station, with the entrance of the winter. In his origins, it was most a pastoral that agrarian rite, with the return from the flocks to the stable. Also, it was time of encounter with his deceaseds - in the context of their mytological rites- the souls were imagined within a big bored "nabo" (sorry, I don't know the translation), in whose interior, drained, a burning candle was put. In the United States, the Irish changed "nabo" by pumpkin and conserved their name: "Jack-o'-lantern" (Jack, the one of the lantern).

In Asturias, apparently, this Jack could here be called, to do some resemblance to him, "Xuan, the one of llinterna", or made its appearance on the eve of All the Saints, like pumpkin illuminated in the orchards, the crossroads and until in some mount near some village, as it happened in some localities of Salas, Villaviciosa or in Turón Valley, in Mieres, to say of some folklore searchers.

As far as Celtic origin or not of these customs -a culture that also has a increased interest today-, the writer Alberto Alvarez Peña clarifies that "in the case of my grandmother or other old people than the pumpkins remembered, do not know what is to be or not to be Celt, only know that that was made here long ago, even before the Spanish Civil War, and now it seems that is an American invention when, in any case, its origin is eminently European".

Other customs that have been disappearing went those to leave water to the entrance of the houses, so that the souls satiated their thirst in case of stopping before them, or to leave the fire ignited, food on the table and not to lie down in the bed in case the souls wanted to rest. One even remembers that, until it does about 80 years, it had by custom to take some dishes with food (generally the favorite food of the deceased) to the cemetery, for the deceaseds.

Thus Asturian mythology remembers Constantino Cabal in its book "The Gods of the Death, the Gods of the Life, and the Devil's Priesthood" (Los dioses de la Vida, los dioses de la Muerte, y el sacerdocio del Diablo). On this point he indicates that "in the day of Deceaseds no longer there is nothing remembers the Baccanals of long ago, against which the Church raised his voice, flood of love and solemnity. But still until recently, in the mountain, that is the same for the case that in all Asturias, to ten in the morning of that day put in the tombs the offerings, consisting of greasy quarters of sheep, rancid Malaga wine and candy breads". About "deceaseds magüestu" (a today playful ritual that consists of roasting chestnuts), it was generally the previous day, and the chestnuts in the field were eated, near a bonfire, and when the finishing they left a few to the object of which "they were eated by the deceaseds".

As far as candy requests by the houses -by the childrens at Halloween night-, there are some people that compare it with the food request that, house by house, was making the children in some towns of Asturias in that night, although were a custom that disappeared quickly due to a religious prohibition.

"The traditions are lost as the towns disappear"

"Formerly, the Day of Deceaseds, the relatives left on the tomb a plate with the favorite food of the deceased"

When Alberto Alvarez Peña speaks of "its countrymen", the voice becomes to him warm and near, as if only yesterday he finished recovering another custom more than it had sunk in the river of the forgetfulness, there where this ethnographic searcher found "xanas" (femenine faeries) and put face and body to them to another one of so many mytologic beings whom already we see through its outlines. Enthusiastic of his country, Asturias, as well as of the Celtic culture in general, this Gijonian has already published numerous books between which are titles like "Legends from Piloña", "Legends from Asturian coast", "Magical Asturias", "Celts in Asturias", "Conxuros and responsos" and "Ayalgas and hidden treasures in Asturias", among others.

An interview with Berto Peña.

- It gives where comes the celebration from Halloween and what it motivates that it has more and more adept in Europe?

- The root of this celebration is European and not American, as it is possible to be believed, because the celebration of the Samain or celebration of the change of station is based essentially on, being the most well-known the one of Irish tradition. For the Celtic peoples origin, or we say by Indo-European roots, is a celebration that implies the summer end and the beginning of the winter, and in addition, the 1 of November was also the only moment of the year which the deads take contact with the alive people. Of that origin we have happened now to a commercial and playful, merely empty celebration of content. We would have to vindicate our own traditions in these dates in Asturias, where the custom of the pumpkin already existed long before which the American Halloween arrived to us.

- That is, which in Asturias also an own "Jack of the lantern" existed?

- Without a doubt. In Salas my grandmother remembers that the night of All the Saints pumpkins drained and an ignited candle was put inside. They were placed in the orchards or the crossroads. Another example is of the Tandión Mount, in Villaviciosa, through which that night nobody dared to happen there because they believed to see the face of the Devil. One was a skull with a burning candle that somebody placed there to crack the joke to the neighbors.

- The candy request by the houses, also existed here?

- Without having to identify it with candies necessarily, it is necessary to remember that bishop González Pisador prohibits of sudden form, in the Sinodal Constitutions dated in 1786, and among other things, that at night of deceaseds the children of the town leave to request foods by the houses, as well as that place takes a food of all the neighbors that was celebrated, with such reason, in the town hall of the church. There he was habitual to eat, in Holy Days, the leftover "bread of charity", also known like "souls bread".

- That bread was offered at night of All the Saints exclusively?

- No. In principle it was an offering to deads. When somebody passed away an enormous bread it was cooked and distributed between people that attended the burial. Also that bread is understood that distributed in the parishes Sundays. In turn, each neighbor took a bread, that blessed by the priest, was divided and distributed between the presents that, in return, gave alms.

- What other customs took place in Asturias that night?

- It had of a whole little. For example, in Argandenes, in Piloña, he was habitual to leave outside the house the ferradas (a kind of wood kettles) with water so that the souls drank in case of stopping there. In some places they did not even lie down that night in the bed, to leave him to site to the spirit visitor or it was intensified plus the fire so that it was warmed up in him. In some towns it was gotten to leave on the tomb of the relative a dish with which was its favorite food, it see fabada, rice with milk, pote...

- The Güestia, according to Asturian mythology, left habitually or it did only in that night?

-(Smile). Good, the Güestia, as it is known the procession of souls in pain, we say that in that night it did not let appear.

- And the one of "not sweeping the happiness"?

- Oh, yes. Long ago one said that at night, and fundamentally in All the Saints, one was not must to sweep towards outside the house, because one thought that the happiness was swept and the misfortune was attracted. It was considered that in the ash there was part of the souls that went to warm up themselves near fire, and that would bring to the home bad luck in case of expelling them. They are traditions that are forgotten, that they are lost as the towns and the people disappear who inhabit them.

(This is a translation done by me from the article published today in La Nueva España newspaper, without spirit of profit and with authorization of my friend Alberto Alvarez Peña, with the only intention to make its reading to the English speakers easier. The original article can be free consulted in Spanish in the digital edition of LNE, www.lanuevaespana.es)

That's very interesting, Carlos!

I found part of the article here:
http://www.lne.es/secciones/asturias/no ... oticia=18&

I'm probably not your average American, but I do want to say that I know many of us would never say that Halloween (along with trick-or-treating, witches, goblins, carved pumpkins, and the like) originated in America. All the same, we'd call it "American" because it is very much part of the culture now (just as a Spaniard might call mandarinas or oranges "Spanish" when htey probably came via the Moors).

In the US, we're generally aware that many of our traditions came from Europe--actually from all over the world--along with our great grandparents or their great grandparents. (Some of the reputation Americans have for being patronizing is well-deserved, but not all of it! Of course, many of our politicians do us no favors in this arena.)

If Halloween is being promoted as "American" in Spain, I'd guess that it's a marketing ploy to get people to buy their "sheik" (irresistably attractive) products. We learn in school that the Christmas tree is Germanic in origin, the Easter egg from somewhere else.... What we may not have heard in school is that these things come from our pagan ancestors. But that idea seems to have become general knowledge today.

Anything "pagan", even the word, is often considered too controversial or dangerous to talk about publically. When I lived in the midwest I was surprised to hear friends talk about "witch hunts". I would never have guessed that there were still people intent on persecuting witches, but then I saw with my own eyes an announcement in the paper that a church was holding a workshop on how to tell if your child was involved in witchcraft. America is an odd blend of the Puritan pre-modern and the ironic post-modern--and thus it's a land of contradictions.

In recent years, Halloween's pagan origin has become a very sensitiive issue. As Americans on the fringe of the society became more interested in pagan customs and rituals, conservative Christians also began worrying about the pagan roots of many of our celebrations! (At least I'm guessing that's how this got going.) Today, many conservatives refuse to let their kids go "trick-or-treating" or give out candy themselves. Schools have to be careful about having the kids color pictures about Halloween because enough parents don't want their kids doing anything pagan. Of course, they're being selective: I haven't heard any complaints about Christmas trees yet!

Carlos' post reminded me of something my father told us last week. There used to be (and may still be in some areas) a "mischief night" or "trick night" the night before Halloween. My dad told us that on this night he and his young friends used to run around the neighborhood pulling pranks, but there was no trick-or-treating--at least not in Glenville, West Virginia in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

The pranks would include things like writing on windows with bars of soap, throwing eggs, and pushing over people's outhouses (a small building sitting over a hole in the ground--for defecating).

A few years ago, a man who had grown up in the same town told me that every year kids would pull the same prank on my grandfather (my dad's father). They would fill a bag with fresh cow manure and put it on the front porch of my grandfather's house. Then they'd light the bag on fire, knock on the door and run like mad. My grandfather, would always come to the door, see the fire, and stomp it out. I'll bet that was a mess! You'd think he'd have learned.... My father remembers the same story, so it must be true.

Well, my dad said that when he was away in the service during WWII, he was horrified to hear from his mother that the kids were knocking on doors and begging for candy! He thinks the town may have promoted trick-or-treating to stop the destructive night of pranks.

Was there ever a mischief night in Asturias?

Dear Carlos,

Thanks for the interesting stories on Halloween. For some reason, I thought Halloween was a Mexican or South American holiday that came to the United States. But now I see it has its roots in Spain and the Celtics.

El otro dia en el telediario del dia 31-10-2003 cuando estaban hablando de la fiesta de HALLOWEEN dijeron que´ esta fiesta era originaria de IRLANDA,que´ la llevaron los IRLANDESES a ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA en los tiempos de la emigracio´n supongo que´ ellos si querian guardar las costumbres de su pais. saludos

Buenes a toos.
Equi n'Asturies tola vida se cellebró "halloween" pero equi llamamoslo "el Dia tolos Santos",na mio casa nun yera un dia festivu en si pero axuntabemonos munchos de la familia y yera la nueche na cua,l aconceyaos,al lleu de la llariega remembrabemos a los familiares muertos.
Hai una parva lliendes al rodiu "el dia tolos Santos" n'Asturies de les mas antigues ya falare enantes Carlos, pero la mio güela por exemplu dicia que si metíes el palu de la escoba per debaxo la cama au morriere dalguien, entos notabes que'l palu la escoba tropezaba con dalgo duro pero si tinies cuayu abondu pa echar una güeyá embaxo la cama nun viies na.
Mio güela cuntome de piquinu un balagar d'elles pero agora escaeciles casique toes.
Un saludu!