Lifting the mask on Hallowe'en

Paul Willis looks at how Paganism is making a comeback.

LAST night was the annual commercial fright fest of Hallowe'en and, if you didn't dress up in ghoulish apparel or go to a party, there's a good chance you'll have had to repel some pint-sized monsters offering a 'trick or treat'. But whether you donned the false fangs with relish or found the whole thing mildly irritating, one thing you almost certainly didn't do was take any of the whole business seriously.

But while the rest of us were having fun scaring each other witless, there are a group of people who were treating last tonight's shenanigans with the utmost seriousness.

For the UK's population of Pagans, the evening of October 31 marks the most important date in their calendar and a chance to celebrate a set of beliefs that were being enacted on these islands over 1,000 years ago -a long, long time before fake blood and Freddie Kruger.

Hallowe'en is the Pagan festival of Samhain - pronounced sow-in - and is the most important religious occasion of the Pagan year. The origins of the festival date back to the ancient Celts, who celebrated at this time the end of the harvest and the beginning of the new agricultural year.

The holiday was also known as Ancestor Night, when the Celts honoured their dead ancestors. It was thought it was easier to communicate with the souls of the departed at this time, when the veil between the spirit world and our world was said to be lifted.

Matt McCabe, of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) and a practising druid for the last 12 years, says last night's celebrations were treated with great reverence by Pagans, for whom Samhain is a 'deeply personal event'.

Pagan is an umbrella term and includes all those who practice earth-based religions, amongst them druids and Wiccans - modern day witches. These faiths honour the earth and most are polytheistic, believing in multiple gods and goddesses.

Though the origins of the modern day ritual of Hallowe'en are not completely clear, they are unquestionably Pagan. And rather like the pleas of Christians around Christmas time that we do not forget the real meaning of the celebration amid the tinsel and the turkey roast, modern day Pagans are anxious that amongst all the rampant commercialism of Hallowe'en today, we remember its traditional meaning.

"The earliest references to Samhain are about remembering fallen heroes," Matt says. "During this festival, bards would read the roll call of fallen heroes. They would recount the great battle stories of the past. This is a long way from kids dressing up in masks."

But many of today's Hallowe'en customs have filtered down from the Pagan original. Dressing up in costumes was a way of projecting what you wanted from your life in the following year. Carving out pumpkins and placing candles in them is also thought to have its roots in Pagan tradition.

Trick-or-treating may also have its origins in Pagan practices. According to the OBOD: "People did crazy things, men dressed as women, and women as men. Farmers' gates were unhinged and left in ditches, peoples' horses were moved to different fields, and children would knock on neighbours' doors for food and treats."

But Matt says these few customs passed down through the ages are by no means the only reminder of the Celtic tradition to survive.

"If you look at all the modern festivals around this time of year you can see they are all linked to Samhain in one way or another. After Samhain came the dark times, so this was the last fire festival of the year. Next week people will be celebrating Guy Fawkes' Night by lighting bonfires. And, of course, the roll call of fallen heroes takes place even today with the Remembrance Sunday commemorations."

But we may soon have to start taking Paganism and all its associated branches more seriously. The evidence is that this ancient religion is finding a new audience. According to the Pagan Federation, the estimated number of Pagans in the UK is 100,000 and growing. By way of comparison, Church of England attendance was less than 800,000 in 2000 and is falling. Paganism, it seems, is becoming an increasingly popular alternative faith for those looking for salvation.

Geoff Boswell, a druid with over ten years experience, and the manager of the British Druid Order, says: "Paganism is a growing spiritual path in this country. I think more people are turning to it because it's a nature-based religion. A lot of people believe mankind has lost its way in relation to the natural world. Paganism reconnects people to nature."

But Geoff admits that amongst these new recruits are young people turned on to Paganism by a TV diet of the supernatural, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its offshoot Angel regularly scoring high in the ratings.

But while Pagans could not reasonably be accused of slaying the undead or throwing high chops to zombies, the religion has its share of doubters. Inevitably, perhaps, for a religion whose most sacred celebration falls on Hallowe'en, Paganism has, in the past, been associated with more dark and sinister rites. Tales of animal sacrifice and devil worshipping have been levelled against Pagans and, in the run up to this year's Hallowe'en, accusations of attacks on horses by Pagan groups appeared in the national press.

But Geoff dismisses these claims. "It is said sometimes that Pagans worship Satan. But Satan is a construct of Christianity. Pagans do not even believe in heaven and hell so how could we possibly be Satanists?" he says.

Matt agrees, saying many of the public's misconceptions about the Pagan faith come through a lack of awareness of the practices and rituals involved in Pagan worship. He says that although the ceremonies often take place outdoors, the principles of Pagan worship are close in essence to those of more orthodox religions.

He says: "The first thing you must do when you worship is to create a sacred space. For most religions, it is an actual structure but for Pagans it will be a stone circle." And once the place of worship has been created, according to Matt, whether it's Samhein or Summer Solstice, the main emphasis of the ceremony is on celebration.

"At the beginning we offer up a prayer. The ceremony takes anything from thirty minutes to two hours. Gifts are presented to the group as part of the celebration. For example, someone might bring along a hammer if they wanted to give praise to architects and builders. Poems are read out and songs are performed which people have composed themselves."

Ceremonial garments are often worn by worshippers, although there is no official garb. Matt's grove - the collective name for an order of druids - perform their rites dressed in long white robes. Geoff favours black robes, though he admits some of the choices of dress can be rather more bizarre.

He says: "One of the druids in my grove calls himself Greywolf - he has a strong affinities with wolves. A few years ago, whilst rooting through some old junk at a friend's house he came across a bag full of wolf skins. He stitched the skins together to make a cloak. Now he wears the cloak at our ceremonies."

But how can a religion that preaches love for all living things sanction its practitioners wearing bits of dead animal on their backs?

"It's not unusual for druids to wear animal skins," Geoff says, "but you must have come into possession of the skins ethically. It is certainly against Paganism to kill anything."

Although most of the Samhain celebrations are private, many other Pagan events take place in full public view, 'in the eye of the sun' as Geoff puts it. So how does the weekend rambler react to the obscure spectacle of Greywolf and friends standing in a circle, singing and passing round hammers?

Surprisingly perhaps, according to Geoff, most people respond favourably. He says: "People often stop for a look and some have even sat down and joined in. Up until now we'v e never had any adverse reactions. People are definitely intrigued."

But whatever they're doing, Pagans may be becoming an increasingly common sight - although one thing's for certain, they won't be wearing pointy hats and dangling Day-Glo spiders.