Is Halloween Pagan?

IS HALLOWEEN evil? Where does All Soul’s Day come from? How have the different pagan festivals of Europe influenced the way it is celebrated today? Many European pagans celebrated an annual feast of the dead, from the Celtic Samhain to the Slavic Dziady. This indicates a common Indo-European origin. In this video I look at all the pagan festivals that preceded the Christian Halloween, aka All Soul’s Day, and explain how they are connected.

From a comment on the video by Náisiúnaí na hÉireann:

Fantastic video as always. Thank you for talking about us Irish; makes me very proud. In Gaeilge, the Irish language, the name for many of the months are identical to the ancient Irish Celtic festivals that would’ve been (and still are to an extent) celebrated at those times. “Samhain” is November, “Bealtaine,” the Irish version of May Day, is May (of course) and “Lúnasa” is August. Many of the Pagan traditions also persist. For example, we light bonfires still and eat a type of fruit cake called “bairín breac” in which we hide objects of symbolic importance. I find it exceptionally interesting learning about the countless deep links between the European peoples, be it cultural, linguistic, or physical. We really are just one big family.

And another by Thomas Sheridan:

I loved this; well done. It’s clear that the human sacrifice angle of the ‘Crom Cruach’ in Ireland was Christian propaganda. Some interesting ideas have come to light in recent years that the Crom was a veneration of the period between the planting and harvesting season and some evidence does appear to support this. Also the Crom Cruach was venerated in Ireland in County Cavan until the 1500s which incidentally is also where his main ritual centre was located — and which Saint Patrick destroyed.

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Source: Survive the Jive