If you have ever watched The Wicker Man film starring Nicholas Cage, or Halloween three
Season of the Witch where evil Irish people use shards of the Stone Hinge pillars to zap poor
innocent kids in their silver shamrock masks for no apparent reason, you may be able to relate
to these horrific facts to the origins of Halloween. Now, I love Halloween, its my favorite holiday
of the year. As the head of a horror film studio, I thrive on all things bizarre, ghoulish, and ghostly!
So, from September 1st to October 31st, I am your girl if you want to do an EVP session in a
graveyard, or go on a horror film marathon, but I especially love finding out the true origins
behind all the myths, legends, and festivals that we enjoy today. So let me take you back in time
to explore the creepy facts behind the Feast of Mabon, the Wicker Man, and the celebration of
Samhain which is now called Halloween…
Shrouded by the mists of time, the gruesome aspects of Halloween have mostly been forgotten,
but due to scientific research, and writings from Caesar Augustus and the excavation of
sacrificial sites such as Stonehenge, the truth has slowly been unearthed. One interesting relic
of the Druids was the Wicker man, mentioned in the writings of Caesar. The Wicker or Straw
man was a huge woven structure that was used to cage men, wild animals, and cattle to be set
on fire in sacrificial worship to their pagan Gods.
Here are some more juicy blood curdling facts to wet your appetite; The ancient druids loved to
preside over wiccan, Celtic and Gaelic ceremonies, which most if not all of them were harvest
festivals where human sacrifices and even cannibalism occurred. Back in the 4th century BC to
the second century AD, Celtic and Gaulish culture in Europe flourished. The Druids were a cult
of pagan priests and scholars of the tribes of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and France that chiefly
presided over any religious festival that occurred.
They believed that from September to January there was a lifting of the veil between the dead
and the living. They believed that spirits could be communed with and that their pagan Gods
must be sacrificed to in order to have a good harvest and a good life. The Feast of Mabon was
the autumn equinox which falls on or around the 21st of September. It is one of the eight wiccan
sabbaths.
Another ghoulish item was the Gundestrup cauldron thought to date from 200 BC and 300 AD. The sides of this silver cauldron was carved
with depictions of scenes of men and animals in processions of sacrifice. One image shows a
humanoid God placing a man into the cauldron to be drowned and later devoured. This cauldron
also was a ceremonial vessel that held the blood of animals and possibly other things to be
used in their pagan ceremonies.
Back in the day, Greek and Roman scholars wrote of Blood soaked alters where the human
sacrifices took place. Excavations of vast burial mounds that were dated at the seasons of druid
sacrifice festivals revealed human and animal bones mixed together. They were found to have
carnivorous teeth marks on them. It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out what actually
happened to these poor unfortunate souls…
So the next time Halloween comes around and you are munching down on your favorite treats,
you might take a moment to thank your lucky stars that you aren’t living in Ireland back in 4th
century BC, happy Halloween everyone!
