Falls Feasts and Festivals: Ghosts, Goblins, and Gobblers

By The Rev. Grant S. Carey
Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento, California

By my front door I have a reproduction of an illuminated and ancient Scottish prayer: From Ghoulies and Ghostles, Long Leggitie Beasties and Things that go Bump in the Night, Good Lord Deliver Us!

Perhaps this is a very good prayer to begin our thinking today about the topic Dean Brown assigned me - - the festivals and feasts of this particular season, where they originated and what they mean to us today in a very modern, highly industrialized, and rather sophisticated age. We certainly do not believe in "Ghosties and Ghoulies and Long Leggity Beasties and Things that go Bump in the Night ..." Or do we?

Some of the movies that people pay huge admissions to see - - and a lot of the fare on TV tells me that many of us either believe in the paranormal or enjoy pretending that we do. This much we do have to admit - - that there is much we do not know, and in spite of our vast knowledge of science - - not everything that goes "Bump in the Night" can be easily explained.

One thing is certain - - at least to me from my inquiry into these feasts and festivals, and that is the most beloved traditions of the Fall Season - - Halloween and Thanksgiving, and two much respected religious events here at Trinity - - All Saints Day and All Souls Day, come to us from the distant past and show no indication of fading away. And this is probably because we really need them; they add balance to lives that are so immersed in so called "practical things." All of our Fall feasts and festivals allow our imaginations to take us into realms of fantasy, fable, and fun, while at the same time teaching us a great deal about life as it is lived in the "real world..."

This morning, we are going to take a look at our "Fall Feasts and Festivals: Ghosts, Goblins, and Gobblers."

So let us begin with the Ghosts and the Goblins.

Halloween has its origin, as far as I can discern, in Celtic Lore. And by Celts, I am especially referring to the ancient people of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, many of whom made their way into what we today call England.

Long before Christianity made inroads into their culture and beliefs, these people observed a festival they called "Sam-hain." This was their New Year's Day and it took place on what would later become November 1st. During this time, they implored the sun not to desert them during the long winter months and they made fires for protection, light, and warmth ... and as a pledge of Spring to come.

Part of their belief was that on this very special day, the spirits of the dead returned to earth and bonfires were also lit to welcome them back.

This custom was so deeply rooted that in 837 the Church transferred the commemoration of All Saints from the spring of the year to November 1st - - the day which we celebrate here and in all Episcopal and Roman Catholic Churches as well those that have adopted this feast in recent years.

In ancient times, even among Christians, it was thought a good idea to leave an offering of food for the departed in order to appease those who might ...have a bone or two o pick.

Later on in ... shall we say ... more enlightened times, masked revelers, often wearing costumes, went house to house to receive these gifts - - all of which led to much frivolity and fun and sometimes mischief, so much so that the Church of the Middle and later Ages did not think highly of this idea of fun and games. In fact, they saw in these revels the influence of demons and devils ... the personification of evil in the world ... who misled the faithful to worship false gods.

In other words, many people during the middle ages truly believed that there were witches and ghouls and things that go bump in the light, which is why the prayer I read at the beginning was taken seriously.

As we know from out studies in American history, in the New England colonies, witches were tried, and put to death. I have the unhappy distinction of having an ancestor who served as one of the judges during the witch-craft trials in Salem in the late 17th Century. Not only were witches put to death, but so were black cats because they were believed to have been the witches' "familiars..." or the agents thorough which they communicated with the Devil.

The idea of sorcerers or witches, however, goes back to the Old Testament and the story of King Saul who sought to contact the dead Prophet, Samuel, through the powers of a woman known as "The Witch of Endor..." And we also know that there are covens of witches today in Sacramento. Some years before I became involved at the Cathedral, there was a theft of the Blessed Sacrament, an altar cross, and red vestments - - all of which figure in the "Black Mass..."

So Halloween has a dark side, as I am sure we all know - - though we attempt, as people have for centuries, to dispel the darkness by making light of and having fun with what we may deep down, inside, really fear - - death - -the unknown world - - and things that do go bump in the night.

All Saints Day has generated various observances around the world... such as The Day of the Dead. I know that Mexico has a particularly interesting tradition of candies made to look like coffins or skulls and other very strange and ghoulish things. El Dia de Los Muertos, rather than being a spooky time, is a festive occasion and a time for great fun

But when I lived in Puerto Rico some years ago, I visited a priest friend on the island of Vieques which held to many of the older customs - - and I recall that we visited the cemetery on the 31st of October where many people gathered for picnics on graves that were illuminated with candles. We and other priests went from grave to grave where folks asked for prayers and blessings. It was a happy, family time.

How does Halloween (or the Eve of All Hallows) relate to the life of the Church today ... and especially Trinity Cathedral?

The first centuries of the Christian era were marked by great sacrifice on the part of the faithful. Thousands were put to death because of their faith. The persecutions began during the First Century and continued for three hundred years until the Emperor, Constantine decreed that Christianity should become the official religion of the Empire.

Many of those who died were remembered on special days set apart for them. Today we have an official Church "calendar of Saints", and if you attend the Cathedral on the weekdays you will encounter both the Red Letter Saints (those who appear in the New Testament) and the Black Letter Saints (those who came in after years, including the present century). Still there were and are many other heroes and heroines of the Faith who are not remembered by name but who have nonetheless contributed mightily to the life of the Christian community.

All Saints' Day is the Church's way of remembering them and holding them up to God in thanksgiving for their witness. All Saints Day - - has nothing to do with Ghosts and Ghouls, but everything to do with real people who, as a part of the Communion of Saints, live in God's nearer presence. We celebrate this day on November 1st - - and since the 1st does not always occur on a Sunday, we may celebrate All Saints' on the following Sunday, as we will do this year.

Originally, All Saint's Day was observed close to the Feast of Pentecost, but later it was moved to the fall - - the First of November. You see, the early church had a lot of wisdom. Instead of condemning pagan practices that were dear to the lives and hearts of the people, it, in a sense, "baptized" them and made them Christian.

In our Anglican tradition, All Saints Day is one of the principal feasts of the Church and the only feast that can be celebrated on the following Sunday.

We need also to remember that in the teaching of the New Testament, the word "saint" is used to describe the entire membership of the Christian community - - not only those of heroic quality or special sanctity. It was later on that "Saint" took on this particular meaning in the minds of most people, and because of this, there came to be another special day in the Church calendar; - - the day following "All Saints' Day" became popularly known own as "All Soul's Day" which appears on our prayer book as "All the Faithful Departed."

All Soul's Day was abolished at the Reformation in the 16th Century but was later restored because people wanted it. We celebrate it here with special prayers for the departed, especially those who have died during the past year. We Anglicans believe in praying for our beloved departed just as we believe that they are praying for us. Prayer, we must remember, is a means of communication.

In the coming week we will have a Book of Remembrance in the narthex for the names of those we want to have remembered at the 12:10 Eucharist on November 2nd.

It is no accident that these feasts and festivals are celebrated in the Fall; they are all associated, in one way or another, with the harvest-time.

Even Halloween.

One interesting fact that I "unearthed" was that in ancient Celtic tradition, the last person left binding the sheaves was sacrificed in order to insure the success of the next year's harvest - - and it is from this gruesome practice of human sacrifice before the coming of Christianity that led to the image of "The Grim Reaper." True or not, this is a good story.

Fall Feasts and Festivals: Ghosts, Goblins, and Gobblers.

Although Halloween can be traced to festivals in England, - -the pumpkin "jack-o-lantern," I believe, came to us from Washington Irving's story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

Thanksgiving can be traced back to much earlier source, our Hebrew forbears - - who no doubt got the idea from other people who celebrated the harvest-time with prayers and feasting.

This past September I visited friends in England, one of whom is Jewish - - and I was invited to take part in preparing for the Feast of Tabernacles or SUKKOT......... This festival commemorates God's deliverance of the people of Israel after their long journey to the promised land and sharing in the fruits of that land. I actually helped prepare a "booth" which was actually in what we might call a patio . .. an area that was enclosed with all kinds of freshly cut branches and leaves - - creating a sort of hut that was similar to what people might lived in in Biblical times. The inside was decorated with all manner of fruits and vegetables, and decorating it reminded me of the fun I had as a child decorating our house at Christmas ... and that which we enjoy in preparing the Cathedral for the Feast of Christmas.

I didn't attend the actual service of Sukkot , but I was told that people gathered in the "booth" or "tabernacle" for prayers and celebration. I have come to believe that our Jewish friends enjoy a good time as much was we Episcopalians do.

This experience helped me to understand that our celebration of Thanksgiving goes back long before to time of the Pilgrim's first thanksgiving in 1621.

For centuries, English folk have celebrated Harvest Home, a time for both religious and family observances, feasting and dancing, good food and drink, especially cider. And it seems certain to me that the first English colonists, the Pilgrims, brought this custom with them when they arrived at Plymouth Rock. I am not referring to the Puritans who came later and settled in Boston. I don't think that there was much fun in Boston because the Puritans, unlike the Pilgrim Fathers and Mothers in Plymouth, were not into fun and frolic. It is said that "a Puritan was someone who lived in anxiety that people, somewhere, might be enjoying themselves."

Accounts of the Pilgrim colonists give proof that there was a special festive thanksgiving meal after they had survived that first horrendous winter in Plymouth and that Indians also took part. But this event was most likely an adaptation of the traditional Harvest Home festival they had known in England.

Some years later, the Puritans in Boston set apart a solemn day of thanksgiving which seems to have been a religious observance in response to God's favorable Providence.

But it wasn't until 1777 that the Continental Congress set apart a National day of Thanksgiving which soon reverted to a regional observance. Then in 1863, Congress set apart two thanksgiving days - - one celebrating the victory at Gettysburg, and the other on the last Thursday in November which tied in with the First American Thanksgiving in 1621. This gained popularity, and the idea of Indians joining with the colonists was authentically correct - - but it wasn't until this century that the idea became firmly established in the minds of the American people.

Today we have our own special customs connected with Thanksgiving - - and there are many variations because of the different cultures that are woven together in the fabric of our Nation at the close of the Twentieth Century. But still high in the list are Turkeys and Pumpkin Pie.

The Episcopal Church has "baptized" Thanksgiving Day by making it a part of our Church's calendar, and most important, by including it in The Book of Common Prayer with its appointed collect and lessons.

All of our Fall Festivals and Feasts are important - - no matter how strange they may seem: dressing up in sheets and saying BOO, or "Trick or Treat..."or stuffing turkeys, ... or stuffing ourselves with turkey. These are times for the community to come together and share the good things God has given us - - to find joy in our traditions, partaking of good times and fellowship, and recalling the past - - whether that entails remembering the departed or remembering the "old times" when we joined with loved ones to share a feast and express thankfulness for all God's many blessings.

So let us make the most of all our Fall Feasts and Festivals - - its Ghosts, Goblins ...and especially (unless you are a vegetarian) GOBBLERS.