"All Hallows Eve" and "All Saints Day" is a Christian event that originated from the pagan festival of "Samhain", a Celtic tradition dating before Christianity arrived in Britannia. Samhain (pronounced as "sow-in") translates from Gaelic as "end of summer".
Pope Gregory I sent a letter to Bishop Mellitus in the 6th century suggested that non-Christian historical places and traditions be consecrated as Christian.
In his book Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, Nicholas Rogers states:
Festivals commemorating the saints as opposed to the original Christian martyrs appear to have been observed by 800. In England and Germany, this celebration took place on 1st November. In Ireland, it was commemorated on 20th April, a chronology that contradicts the widely held view that the November date was chosen to Christianize the festival of Samhain.
In Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain, Ronald Hutton says:
Heavy Irish immigration into the Scottish Highlands and Isles in the early Middle Ages carried the name Samhain there, in local variations, but to the Welsh the day was 'Calan Gaeaf', 'the first day of winter', and the night before was termed 'Nos Galan Gaea', winter's eve'. Perhaps significantly, the earliest Welsh literature attributes no arcane significance to these dates (in sharp contrast to May Eve) and describes no gatherings then (in sharp contrast to New Year). It must be concluded, therefore, that the medieval records furnish no evidence that 1st November was a major pan-Celtic festival, and none of religious ceremonies, even where it was observed. An Anglo-Saxon counterpart is difficult either to prove or to dismiss completely.
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