Festivals of October and November

The Origins of Halloween and Other Autumn Feast Days

Oct 29, 2009

Pumpkins are Eaten at Halloween and Thanksgiving, CKG Artworks

Autumn brings many festivals, including Halloween, Bonfire Night, and Thanksgiving. But where did they originate, and what other celebrations take place at this time?

As the year moves into winter, many of the festivals taking place involve fire and light, as well as honoring dead souls.

Different Aspects of Halloween

On October 31st, Halloween was originally celebrated as the Celtic fire festival of Samhain. Marking the Celtic New Year on November 1st, it is still practiced as Samhain today by modern pagans.

Christians celebrate it as All Hallow’s Eve, preceding All Saints’ Day on November 1st. Christian saints are commemorated, while All Souls’ Day on November 2nd honors all Christian dead who were not elevated to sainthood.

What are the Days of the Dead?

Days of the Dead honor deceased loved ones, including the Latin American celebration, Dias de Los Muertos. This mixes Catholic aspects of Halloween with ancient Aztec traditions. Falling on November 1st and 2nd, children are remembered on the first day (Little Day of the Dead) and adults on the second, through carnival celebrations, family shrines and feasts.

China also celebrates Days of the Dead, with three throughout the year. Chung Yeung, or Autumn Remembrance, falls around the first week of November, where people remember loved ones, visit graves, and pay respect to ancestors.

Celebrating Bonfire Night

Also known as Guy Fawkes’ Night or Fireworks Night, this festival falls on November 5th, celebrating the failure of the gunpowder plot in Britain, where Guy Fawkes planned to blow up the houses of parliament. To recreate the execution of Guy and his conspirators, an effigy or ‘guy’ is burnt on a bonfire, followed by fireworks displays. This bonfire tradition also has its origins in Samhain.

Celebrating Thanksgiving

On the fourth Thursday of November, American families gather for a long weekend of food, celebration and thanksgiving. This originates from 1621, when early pilgrims invited Native Americans to celebrate their first harvest, as thanks for assisting them in hunting and planting crops.

Originally it was celebrated according to the timing of the harvest, until President Roosevelt fixed the date in 1941. Canadians, meanwhile, celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October.

Celebrating Diwali

Diwali is known as the Festival of Lights, marking the Hindu, Jain and Sikh New Year. It falls on the new moon between the Hindu months of Asvina and Kartika, thus varying between late October and early November.

New beginnings are represented with cleaning, new clothes and a focus on goodwill. Different activities take place on each of the five days of the festival, with Diwali itself falling on the third day and the New Year on the fourth.

What are the Festivals of October?

October was originally the eighth month of the Roman calendar, sacred to the goddess Astraea. Anglo-Saxon times named it Winterfelleth, meaning “winter is coming’, and in Native American terms it is known as the Cherokee month of the Harvest Moon.

Significant Days in October include:

October 2nd – Goddess month of Mala ends
October 3rd – Goddess month of Hathor begins, Day of Dionysus (Greek)
October 7th – Day of Pallas Athena (Roman)
October 11th – Roman Bacchanalian Festival of Vinalia (harvest thanksgiving)
October 14th – Winter’s Day (old northern European)
October 15th – Ides of October (Roman Winter’s Day)
October 17th – St. Audrey’s Day
October 23rd-24th – Winter Saturday and Sunday (two-day Asatru festival)
October 30th – Goddess Month of Hathor ends
October 31st – Goddess Month of Samhain begins, Samhain Eve, Halloween, All Hallow’s Eve

What are the Festivals of November?

November marked the Celtic New Year and was originally the ninth month of the Roman calendar. In Anglo-Saxon times it was the month of sacrifice, Blotmonath, where livestock that could not be fed was slaughtered. November begins the winter quarter, falling under the Cailleach crone goddess, while her aspect, Samhain, takes precedence over November. Native Americans see the month of the Trading Moon commence.

Significant days in November include:

November 1st – Samhain, Day of the Little Dead (Mexico), All Saints’ Day
November 2nd – Day of the Dead (Mexico), All Souls’ Day
November 5th – Bonfire Night
November 6th – St. Leonard’s Day
November 8th – Mania (Roman festival of the Manes, or underworld spirits), Gwynn ap Nudd (Light, son of Darkness, opens the door to Faerie for one day)
November 10th – Old November Eve, Nincnevin (Scottish festival honoring Diana)
November 11th – Remembrance Day, Old November Day, Einherjar (Asatru)
November 13th – Feronia (Roman festival)
November 16th – Hecate Night
November 22nd – Ydalir (Northern Tradition)
November 27th – Goddess month of Samhain ends
November 28th – Goddess month of Astraea begins
November 30th – St. Andrew’s Day (Scottish)