The Octave of Hallowmas

It’s fascinating to mark the history of traditions.  Folk traditions are rooted in what the Church terms “pagan” influences.  But by the very fact that it is a tradition, little can be done to eradicate the practices.  So the Church absorbs them and incorporates them into its own heritage.  Yet, even so, those same religious rituals revert back to the folk tradition recollection and the religious element fades into obscurity.  The traditions surrounding the Octave of All Hallows exemplifies this cycle.

note the octagonal font, Saints in the upper left, dearly departed to the right
and the devout living reading Mass and saying prayers for the hallowed

In liturgical terms, an “octave” refers to an eight-day period of religious obligation that includes the full day of the recurrence of the first day—for example, the octave of All Hallows 2012 begins on Thursday and ends on the last hour of the following Thursday.  Each day during the octave is marked by special masses and collects that the devout were obligated to pray.  The eighth day of an octave in the days of the early Church was said to represent the Resurrection of Christ or new creation.  It is not coincidental that many baptismal fonts, including ours at Trinity Church, are shaped in the form of an octagon as a symbol of the baptized being newly resurrected into the body of Christ.

While the Church no longer really celebrates festal octaves (with the possible exception of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost), folk traditions for the octave of Hallowmas persist.  In the Christian calendar, the octave of Hallowmas begins on November 1—we call it All Saints Day—and ends on November 8 with the Feast of Saints and Martyrs of England.  (In our Episcopal Church, no harm comes in feasting Saints and Martyrs of whatever country in which we happen to live.)  Rather early in the octave, on November 2, comes All Souls Day, better known in most parts of the folk-traditional world as “the Day of the Dead.”  

Some traditions are born out of survival rather than symbolism.  One such case is that of “souling.”  In medieval Europe, people of impoverished means were a blight on society and given no consideration in government which figure the poor were the Church’s obligation. On All Saints Day, the poor would travel from house to house, exchanging a “soul” for a “soul cake” or some other trinket or food.  Over the course of the next eight days, they were obligated to say a prayer for each soul that was named to them.  Curiously, this tradition of “souling” became wrapped up in the wassailing tradition that generally occurred during the Christmas octave. (The carol Here We Come A-Wassailing is actually from a “souling” carol.  You can hear a version of Souling Song performed by Lothlorien here.) 

a modern day meal to entice the dead to return for a day

Many cultures, from the ancient Celts  to modern day Latin Americans, Philippinos, and even certain Christian faiths believe the time of All Hallows is a time when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest.  The ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain (pronounced “saw-win”) was ostensibly to rejoice at bringing in the last of the harvest.  Bonfires would be lit for practical purposes of burning away the harvest waste, but also for the fantastic purpose of warding away the spirits of evil souls who might cross over in the dark night and thin air of late autumn.  Part of the celebration included dancing among the bonfires—dancing with the beloved dead and purifying one’s own soul as one passes between the fires.  Feasts were shared and places were set for those who died over that past year to nourish them on their journey into the afterlife.  Today, these traditions are still held in the Philippines, Mexico and a number of other countries around the world.  Often at these feasts, people would dress in masks and strange garb to hide themselves from malevolent spirits.  This was called “guising.”

As time alters all things, the traditions of “souling” and “guising” also modified.  As years sped by and people came to expect the poor to come begging each All Saints Day, they’d begin to leave out baskets of fruit, breads and other goodies.  When young children were not allowed to pilfer treats from the baskets, they were told stories  (borrowed from the samhain traditions)  about the dead who came to eat from these baskets.  Bad things might happen to naughty children if the dead discovered who stole treats intended for them!  Children donned hoods and made masks to resemble those who’d recently died and went from house to house threatening dire consequences if they did not receive a little treat.  Today’s trick-or-treat tradition may have evolved out of those old medieval traditions of “guising” and “souling” but the modern version is a fairly recent development in America.  In fact, trick-or-treating only became mainstream in the middle part of the 20^th century after a Canadian newspaper recalled the ancient traditions.

For some, the intuitive sense of closeness to the dead that occurs at this time of year is a feeling they are reluctant to let go.  It is for these people that the octave of All Hallows lingers for the full eight days. For the Church, All Saints Day glorifies the beatific and All Souls Day remembers the beloved departed.  In the Catholic tradition, All Souls Day is the time when human intercessions on behalf of those lingering in purgatory allow them access to Heaven. One would presume that the full eight days of the octave of All Hallows would be necessary to pray for all those who’ve departed this world! This Hallowmas, take a visit to a graveyard*—an old one—and read the names on the grave markers.  Remember the story of their life (make one up, since you might not know their real story) and remember that God created them and loves them still.

*A graveyard differs from a cemetery in that it is no longer an active burial ground while a cemetery still has plots for future graves.