It's a strange idea, isn't it? After all, the
traditional Quaker testimony against keeping of times and seasons
holds that there is no spiritual significance to any day. Quakers do
not, traditionally, take liturgical notice of Christian seasons and
festivals, be it Lent or Advent, Easter or Christmas. How then can we
have a Quaker Halloween, a festival that is now of limited liturgical
significance even to mainstream Christian churches.
There's more to Halloween than the lack of
liturgical significance, however, and more to Quaker approaches to
Christmas and Easter than their lack of liturgical significance for
us. The important aspect of many of these festivals is now, in the
global economic north, cultural. Practising members of many faiths
will celebrate elements of such holidays, giving presents and
attending parties.
Then, also, there is the strong religious
significance of Halloween to many modern pagans, generally those of
traditions claiming heritage of the British Isles or Northern Europe,
though they may call it other names, such as Samhain (pronounced
without even the hint of an English phonetic 'm', by the way), the
Gaelic/Celtic celebration marking the end of the harvest and
beginning of the darkest part of the year. Both Celtic
Reconstructionists and Wiccans hold it to be a day of special
significance to the dead, a time for honouring and remembering them,
or even communicating with them.
Liberal Quaker practice and teaching is a
marvellous balance of the individual with the communal; a path that
allows individuality without individualism. As such, any attempt to
consider the relevance or importance of anything
to Quakers has to be bracketed in with caveats about the difference
of individuals and that the speaker speaks only for themselves.
However, I will try to give some ideas about what other Friends have
expressed to me, and what I think Halloween could mean, or how it
could be used by Friends that have paid it little regard before now.
The very name of
Halloween comes from the Christian liturgical calendar, even if it
has little meaning for Christian liturgy now. The 1st
of November is All Saints' Day, or the Feast of All Saints, also
known as All Hallows' Day; the 2nd
is All Souls' Day, the feast commemorating all of the “faithful
departed”, that is to say, those who died baptised, although the
restriction to the baptised has generally been loosened in recent
centuries. These are both “celebrations” of the dead, and are
often handled together. All Hallows' Eve refers to the evening before
these feasts, when vigils are traditionally held. The connection of
these celebrations to the pre-existing pagan celebrations at this
time of year are most likely not coincidental, though the Christian
calendar pinned them down when it is likely that the pre-Christian
celebrations moved somewhat; some theorise that Samhain was
celebrated at the first frost, or the day the local harvest was
completed. It was celebrated from sundown on the day in question,
which the Christian practice of an evening vigil before All Saints'
Day fits with. Both festivals concern the dead, though this was only
part of the meaning of the day to the pre-Christian pagans. This is,
in fact, one of the pre-Christian celebrations of the Gaelic and
Celtic world that there is good evidence for, so perhaps one of the
best cases for the allegation of appropriation by early Christian
authorities.
Quakers, in my
experience, spend little time openly considering the dead. Given the
range of attitudes to the question of what happens after death, and
perhaps the perfectly good reasons we find no need to dwell on such
questions, this is unsurprising. But the act of thinking of the dead,
even of praying for them – a common feature of many faiths – is
not something that carries benefits only (if at all) for the deceased
themselves. Much as a funeral serves an important psychological and
spiritual purpose for the bereaved and other mourners, so too can
remembrance later on. To remember those beautiful moments you shared
with the deceased, or the characteristics that made them special is
like reflecting on a beautiful painting or sculpture, and doing so
from time to time helps keep those memories fresh. Perhaps such
practices, whether you take them as inspired by pagan Samhain or
Christian All Souls' Day, might see some role in Quaker practice –
not as formal rituals, but as a spiritual practice that some Friends
might find helpful.
Then, of course,
there is the modern secular Halloween, of the costumes and pumpkins
and trick-or-treat. I confess that I am at a loss in seeing a
spiritual practice that Quakers might draw from this – but
spiritual practice is not all there is to life. Secular, cultural
celebration of holidays and festivals helps to build community; this
can be strengthening our community, as the Religious Society of
Friends, but also building our links, both as individuals and as
Meetings, with the wider communities within which we are situated.
There's also another, very important value, personal and religious,
to these celebrations. As noted in written ministry elsewhere on this
blog, faith
is also found in joy and laughter, the lighter side of life. Our
spirituality would be hollow, were we serious and sombre all the
time.
