A Hellenic Polytheist's Musings about Halloween
- Marcel Schrei
- Oct 31
- 3 min read
Originally published in Noumenia News issue 61
by Marcel, Torchbearer
Hello dear friends. As some of you may know, my religious practise and the holy days I celebrate are usually based on the Hellenic (Attic) calendar from antiquity. Nevertheless, the celebration of Halloween still has a place in my personal sacred year, so I took the opportunity to think about why and what might be a connection between two quite different parts of my personal devotion to Hekate as the Guide of Souls.
Let us first have a look on Days of the dead from a Hellenic Polytheist's point of view.
As a Hekatean, the obvious first days coming to my mind are the monthly Deipna, the suppers or food offerings for Hekate and the dead on the last day of each lunar month. The origin of these monthly offerings were most likely purification rites and fumigations, to clean the miasma from the house so the family could start the new month fresh and pure. The remains of the fumigations and other dirt, like sweepings, were brought to the crossroads outside the city, together with the mentioned food offerings. The reason was firstly, to keep the miasma from the cleaning as far away from the house as possible, and secondly, to keep the ghosts of the Lost Souls there as well, by appeasing (or better bribing) them to stay away.
Similar apotropaic rites were observed during the Anthesteria festival in the Attic month of Anthesterion (ca February/March of the modern calendar). This three-day festival was celebrated in Athens in honour of Dionysus and was generally concerned with the opening of the most recent wine jugs, drinking and general merry making. On the third day, however, a special offering was prepared for the dead: a meatless mix of different cooked grains (called panspermia, or All Seeds), together with libations, was poured into a chasm in the earth near the Temple of Olympian Zeus
During the festival it was believed that the souls of the dead would wander the streets of Athens, so all kinds of precautions were taken (like painting the door frames of the houses with tar and chewing hawthorn) to prevent them from entering the houses, temples or even the bodies of the people. To appease the spirits, various kinds of performances or athletic competitions (but no theater plays) were performed as well. All this had a strong connection to Hermes Chthonios, Hermes as Guide of Souls, who was asked to bring all the wandering spirits back to the underworld after the festival.
Lastly, the beginning of the month Boedromion (ca. September/October of the modern calendar) marked the end of the military campaigning season for the Athenians. On the fifth day of this month, they celebrated the Genesia, giving offerings to the ancestors.
All this being said, what do I feel about the celebration of Halloween, personally?
Living in the 21st century, the energy of Halloween in wider paganism and western societies in general is too strong for me to ignore, despite its uncertain historical origin. My work and dedication for Hekate does focus on Her role and epithet of Psychopompos, the Guide of Souls, after all.
Before settling on my current Hellenic inspired path, I had quite a journey through different pagan/polytheist traditions. One fix point during those last 20 years has always been Halloween, as I always found this day as the time to reconnect with my ancestors, taking a walk in my childhood village, visiting the old graveyard. This personal connection alone makes the celebration of Halloween worthwhile for me, no matter how I describe my religious practise on all other days of the year.
Sources:
Jon D. Mikaelson, The Sacred and Civil Calendar of the Athenian Year
Sorita D’Este & David Rankine, Hekate Liminal Rites
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Thank you so much on sharing your thoughts on this festival. <3
Very interesting, thank you so much for sharing! I also enjoyed having a look at the linked websites 🤗🧡 have a beautiful Halloween 🎃