VFTWT S01E08 | Spooktober E04 | Halloween Special: The Origins of Halloween – Vaetrnatr, Samhain, All Saints Day
Welcome to the public show notes for:
- VFTWT season 1, episode 8
- Spooktober episode 4
Air Date: 2021.10.31
Introduction:
Welcome to “Views From the World Tree.” On today’s episode… we discuss the merits of aromatherapy, have a mini book club, and find the true meaning of christmhalloween.
Personal News:
Steve:
The stress of the year finally caught up to me and forced me to the sidelines over the weekend as I caught a bit of a stomach bug. I think I needed it as it helped me slow down, turn off the electronics and read a book or two. I finished “Trophy Hunt” and “Out of Range” while I was down and out. I’m not sure how relaxing solving murders with game warden Joe Pickett really was but they got me through some of the hardest parts of being down with the crud. Despite the negative reviews from “Trophy Hunt” I actually enjoyed it. It follows a murder investigation surrounding some mutilations of livestock and people in the Wyoming wilderness. Ends up not being aliens but instead something a bit more sinister. I also recently started reading Rewilding as well as “In Plain Site” which is the next book in the Joe Pickett series.
Adam
Manual Photography
Current Events:
Adam:
Mystery of deadly US infections solved; aromatherapy spray at Walmart to blame
Steven:
Not much of a current event but more of a question for the community and my cohost. Every day I wake up and get ready for work I see on the news information about vandalism for entertainment, auto thefts, people shooting and killing each other over minor issues or perceived slights while on the road. It has really pushed me to a point where I dislike people and automatically think the worst instead of hoping for the best in people.
Main Topic: Pagan Origins of Halloween
Vetrnaetr (Norse/Scandinavian)
- Vetrnaetr translates literally to “winter nights”
- Marked the beginning of the Wild Hunt.
- The ancient people of the North believed this was when the power of the dark, mysterious and dead were at their strongest – and as humans would do well to keep them on our side. So, during this first dark winter month, we would do best to offer our friendship to the powers stirring. This was done in the best Norse way possible, by offering them beer and meat.
- Alfablot – sacrifice to the elves – the álfablót was a celebration held between the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. We know little of the celebration itself since it seems to have been surrounded by a lot of secrecy. Despite the normally strict code of hospitality during this day and age, strangers were not allowed to enter the farmsteads during the álfablót. However, most historians seem to agree that the elves were actually closely associated with ancestors. It is likely that during the álfablót the elves were probably honored as the spirits of dead ancestors and worship as part of the life force of the family.
Samhain (Celtic, specifically Gaelic)
- Celebrates end of harvest and beginning of the darker part of the year
- Seen as a time when the veil between this world and the next is thinnest, and spirits and faeries could cross over into our world. Spirits called “Aos Si” – offerings left to them so livestock would survive the winter.
- Ancestors were thought to return, and usually left an extra place of food for them at the table.
- In present day, Wiccans celebrate Samhain as the most important of the four yearly Sabbats on the wheel of the year.
Present-Day
- Pope Boniface IV moved the Christian holiday of All Saints Day to Nov 1 to offset the pagan traditions with a religious celebration, and over time the two merged to become Halloween.
- Believed to originally be a festival/vigil in the springtime.
- Earliest recorded feast was around 500 CE celebrating the martyrs of the early church.
- Records from the Irish Insular church say feast of the Hallowed was celebrated as early as 800 in Ireland and Scotland.
- All Saints on November 1st, All souls on November 2nd, and an all night vigil on the 31st of October.
- Both Celtic and Germanic tribes traditionally held feast where they commune with the deceased at the end of Harvest before the dark half of the year, or the winter.
Mindfulness Moment:
Samhain by Raven Willow Rune
“Beyond the velvet curtain,
Our loved ones wait unseen,
They know what we are thinking,
They know just where we’ve been.
Samhain is upon us,
The veil is thin and weak,
Our ancestors send messages,
Guides for the answers we seek.
Sit quiet now and listen,
The voices whisper loud,
Remember them with fondness,
Fallen comrades, of whom we’re proud.
The line of Ancestors is a long one,
Traditions are going strong,
They walked the path before me,
They show me where I belong.”
Next Episode Sneak Peek:
Join us next week as we honor our fallen soldiers in a salute to Veterans Day.
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