Haunted Cosmos - The Dusty Tome: The Hallow Tide

Episode Date: February 28, 2024

Enjoy this fifth installment of our inter-season sneak peeks at our Patreon-exclusive show: The Dusty Tome.Love Haunted Cosmos? Get access to our exclusive show, The Dusty Tome, early ad-free access to main episodes, monthly AMA's, and livestreams with Ben and Brian by becoming a patron of the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/HauntedCosmosBuy the Haunted Cosmos book: https://www.newchristendompress.com/cosmos PS: It's also available as an audiobook!In this episode, Ben concludes his discourse on the history of Halloween. This episode is sponsored by Joe Garrisi with Backwards Planning Financial. Content Joe today to talk about managing your wealth.Hey! Since you're still reading this, why don't you grab some special coffee here. And since you are still reading (why though?), pick up a ticket to this year's New Christendom Press Conference. It's happening in June in Ogden, UT and Brian and I will be doing a live haunted cosmos recording sesh. Support the show

and welcome to this episode of Haunted Cosmos, which marks our last episode of the off-season special. That's right. This is the sixth and final episode that we're releasing to the public of the dusty tome on this off-season. And it's one that I think people will find pretty interesting. I hope that you guys enjoyed the Salem series, and I hope that this serves as a nice cap to that whole thing. If you like what you hear, consider becoming a patron of Haunted Cosmos. The show is not possible without our patrons, and we're very grateful for all of them. And so we try to give them as much value as we're capable of to ensure that it is worth it for the patrons. To that end, we've actually released the first ad-free episode of season three to the top two tiers of our patronage today.

That's right. The day that this episode drops to the public, our top two tiers of patronage are getting the first episode of season three released to them. So if that interests you, definitely think about becoming a patron. With all that said, thank you for being patient as we have tried to. to get ahead in production for season three during this off-season, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. In Tolkien's magnum opus, the Silmarillion, which is to me the best work of fiction ever, the Angelic Einor sing with Arru Aluvatar, Tolkien's God character, in order to create the world in all of history. The divine group go through three different themes of holy song

before Arru Eluvatar stands in wrath and calls for all to cease. But why was he wrathful? One of the Einor, the mightiest among them, was named Melkor. Melkor was jealous and throughout the music had grown bitter at Aru for all of his sovereign power that he exercised over all things. Melkor had therefore sang from a heart full of the seeds of envy and malice and so had sown discord into the creation music. For three symphonies, Aru had suffered the defiance of one of his children, but when he concluded the third theme he had had enough.

The Most High God of Middle Earth looked down upon the lowly child of his thought and said, Quote, mighty are the Einor, and mightiest among them is Melkor. But that he may know, and all the Einor, that I am Aluvatar. Those things that ye have sung, I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played, that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite, for he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful which he himself hath not imagined." Thus begins the working out of Melkor's fall. Through countless ages of Middle Earth,

he seeks to undo the good creative works of the other Einor as they begin the infant history of the world. Where they place seas and lakes of crystal blue and aquamarine life, Melkor freezes it into an Arctic desert, where they raise up vast mountains that act as vanguard for their cherished meadows and fields. Melkor sends molten rock firing out of their peaks to burn the land around them. In his wanton and foolhardy attempt to usurp Aru and rule Middle Earth himself, he was only serving to destroy it before its real history even began. The I made war on Melkor and subdued him deep in the timeless void. And in that golden hour of Arda,

the elves were born beside the waters of Kui Vianen far in the east of Middle Earth. As more ages passed, the other Einor invited the elves to dwell with them in the undying lands to the far west, and most of the elves obliged. And after just as many ages had passed again, Melkor's internment had run its course and he was let free to walk in repentance. For a while he did. And here we begin our journey into the holiday known as Halloween's storied past. In that time of Middle Earth, there was no sun nor moon, no Helias nor Luna.

Instead, the world was lit by the lamp of two mighty trees that were planted in the gardens of the Einor. Over time, though Melkor's repentance seemed genuine from the exterior, malice flourished once more in the hateful soil of his heart. He lusted again for power and sovereignty over the world, and so he devised a plan. Deep in the annals of time, a creature had formed from Melkor's discord that was too terrible even for him to accept as a servant.

Her name was Angoliant. She was a consumer of all light and life who took the visible form of a great spider, which spun webs of tangible, thick and clinging darkness. Melkor, eager now to enact his plan, called upon his old child for help, and Angoliant came. One night, while the rest of the Aynor and elves celebrated a great festival on the mountain

Palace of Manway, king of the Aynor, and second only to Aru, Melkor and Angoliant cloaked themselves in shadow and swept unseen into the undying garden. With gluttonous fangs, Angoliant drank up the light from the two trees, plunging the world into deep and terrible darkness. And now, as much as I would love to go on with the story of the Silmarillion, I must refrain. because up until recently, I didn't understand Tolkien's inspiration for this particularly dark, but undeniably gripping story. But having researched today's topic, I think I might have a good guess.

In Ireland's rich mythology that was only written down by Christian monks as recently as the Middle Ages, there is a festival called Sawin. On every seventh Sawin, whose history will be addressed more in just a moment, the high king of Ireland was to host a particularly grand feast upon the high-king. high place of Tara, a great hill on the eastern side of the country. At this grand feast, new laws and civil duties were ordained by the king. The best food and drink were shared with all in celebration of a successful harvest season. Victories of war were lauded while losses were mourned and grieved over. It was a time of catharsis that marked the beginning of winter

for the Gauls in ancient Ireland, and it took place on the high mountain of the king. but it didn't come without its own perils. Legends say that when the feast was held upon the high and kingly hill of Tara, the fire-breathing keeper of the underworld named Aelin would walk through the veil of the other side, which of course was very thin around the time of Sallin, and lull everyone into a deep sleep by his enchanting song. Once all, even the High King himself were in a deep slumber,

Alyn would destroy the pillar and palace of, Tara, the metaphorical light of the people's society, and an act of petty bullying. Ailan would then descend back through the veil to the underworld to wallow and fire once more. His malice achieved as the will of the gods and the prosperity of man was thwarted again. The story goes on to say that, very long ago, during one of these Sawin celebrations, a hero of the people named Fion kept himself awake through the soothing song of Aelin, with the help of a magical spear gifted to him by another hero. Now able to defy the fire breather when the being thought everyone was asleep, Fion slew the divine monster with that same spear, winning peace

for Ireland and renown for himself and his lineage. All of this is very fascinating and worth looking into, but to be honest, it's just an intro. This episode is about the origins of that holiday we commonly call Halloween, and so it would be irresponsible not to begin addressing it directly now. Many people believe that our modern American version of Halloween is basically just a slightly more palatable version of Sawin, which we will soon see is not a great holiday. My goal is to show you that this is not the case. While modern Halloween certainly borrows some superficial components from the Sawin Festival mechanics, its actual origins in America are distinctly Christian. In order to do that, in order to build upon the lavish and mythical

foundation we just laid, we must ask the question, what is Salon? Place yourself in the mind of a very ancient Celtic person. As the air goes from warm to crisp to downright cold, the length of days wanes as well. Soon you find yourself with a slight shiver at night. The harvest has ended, the winter's fast approaching, but something else is afoot as well. The gods are walking through the doorways of their world and yours with much more freedom, frequency, and noticeability. You've entered into one of two times each year in which that veil grows very thin, almost imperceptible, allowing the living to commune liberally with the undead. Indeed, Sawin approaches.

To celebrate this changing of the guard from season to season, cattle were brought down from the summer pastures to be slaughtered as an appeasement to the gods. Other foods and drinks were left at the cave entrances to the underworld, so that the gods might enter their realm and have any, wrath they may hold toward them sated. Bonfires were lit all over the land and stones were thrown into them to signify some releasing of the harvest stressful burden. The druids, the Celtic class of sacred officers, would light the mightiest bonfire of them

all and would offer the sacrifices in the midst of it to atone for the people's wrongs. But that was not all the great fire was used for. As the bonfire raged on, a ring of stones was formed around its perimeter. stone for each person in attendance, upon a layer of the fire's ash. Everyone then ran around the ring, exulting the gods to share wisdom and favor with them for the coming trials of winter. The next morning the stones would be examined carefully. If any were out of place, it meant that whoever had placed that particular stone there would not live through the winter to the new spring, and for everyone else, it was a message of divine favor. Many scholars believe that this is merely a

reflection and remnant of the more ancient and original practice of simply burning human sacrifices each year, again, to satiate the bloodlust of the gods. Games and pranks were supposedly embarked upon by the townsfolk through Ireland. Households would hold apple bombing competitions. Children would dress in disguises before going to neighborhood houses to recite an incantation to adults in return for treats or food. items were hidden in food cakes before slices were served out to all at random. Whatever object you found in your slice of cake acted as a portent for how well or ill

the coming winter might go for you. Turnips would be hollowed out and carved to reflect grotesque faces on them. In many ways, it seems as though our modern practices of Halloween are clearly derived from this macabre display of pagan worship and ceremony. Only there's a problem. You see, by the time these alleged practices

were actually recorded by the Irish crew, Christians, no such festival had been celebrated for close to a thousand years. Sawin, with the rest of the pagan Celtic religion, had been long dead. In its stead rose Christendom with its good news and beatific vision. Whatever ugliness may have lingered on in the European lands from Sawin and other similar festivals from those ages so long past was, by the time of their recording, a distant memory. In its wake, arose a Christian holiday that is so rich, lovely, fun and meaningful.

What's more, it is this Christian holiday, not the pagan ancestor precursor to it, that actually serves as our origin for Halloween. Allow me to walk you through the medieval neighborhoods as those old Christians celebrated the halotide. Do you guys know that I'm going to be turning 40 this year? What? What?

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or call 615-767-25-255 to speak with Joe to prepare for the future. Upon the beheading of John the Baptist, his disciples are said to have reverently buried him in a tomb in Judea. When Joseph of Arimathea witnessed the dead body of our incarnate Lord hanging from the cross, he asked Pontius Pilate for leave to take his body, embalment, and bury it. As far back as Jacob's journey to stay in the land of Egypt, his son Joseph instructed his descendants to take special care to bury his bones in the halls of his forefathers upon the time of their leaving Goshen to journey to the promised land. For all time, Christians have held special reverence in their hearts for those who die in the faith, respecting the saints who have gone before

them in hope, who have joined the great cloud of witnesses with Christ, and who they will one day meet again in glory at the beginning of the Eternal Garden. Given this respect for our fathers who have fallen asleep, it only makes sense that we would formalize all of this in the form of one of Christianity's greatest gifts to the world, the holiday. Sometime during the office of Pope Gregory the 3rd in the 8th century, the church established the commemoration of All Hallows Day on November 1st, with a vigil held the night before on October 31st, All Hallows Eve. Sometime later, a Benedictine monk named Odelo of Clooney, popularized the third day of the All Hallow Tide, All Souls Day, where the living saints would spend November 2nd praying for the

souls of those loved ones of theirs who had passed on, pleading with the Lord to show them mercy. As all hallow tide began, Christians everywhere believed that the Lord sovereignly allowed the gateway between the visible and the invisible to open slightly. This, naturally, left people feeling a bit uneasy and unprepared. The cosmic battle to them was made far more immediate for everyone living in this corporeal plain, and the people felt the need to prepare themselves for it. A fulksie practice of dressing up as someone else, whether they dressed as a saint who had long since past or just a nobody by donning a soulless mask, the practice varied. And this practice would protect the living saints from being recognized and stalked by any evil forces that may

be lurking during the hallow vigil, seeking revenge on the souls of God's elect. In Poland, believers were taught to pray out loud as they walked through forests so that the lost souls might find comfort at the reverent words of praise and affection to God. In Spain, churches told their bells as the sun's light waned away, to remind parishioners to remember the dead who now dwell in the great cloud of witnesses. After a service at the church, saints everywhere would flock to one another's homes for a night of festivities and reverent visits to local cemeteries, or flowers and candles would be placed at the headstones of the dead. As Hallows Eve gave way to a hopefully radiant fall morning, all Saints Day celebrations would begin in earnest. From its inception by Gregory

the third, it has been a principal feast day in the church calendar that's still recognized today by Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and some Presbyterian churches. It was a day to remember and honor those victorious members of Christ's triumphant church who are already in his presence, but who also don't have their own feast day dedicated to them throughout the year. It was the day for the layman, like all of us. On this day, much like the night before, people, would spend a lot of time in graveyards. The next day concluded the holotide. All Souls Day was a day of pure solemn remembrance.

The reason it's worth bringing up here, apart from its intrinsic value as Christian heritage, is that one of the most popular practices to arrive from All Souls Day was that of Soling. During a Soling expedition, kids and the poor of the town would run around to other homes that were more well off in order to beg for alms, food, and other treats.

other treats. These wealthy homes would oblige, handing out all sorts of things to these people. Many homes, anticipating the opportunity for charity in All Souls Day, would make a number of sweet cakes called Soul cakes to give away to the children. As time progressed, another idiosyncratic practice was added on to the normal soling, which of course is the origin for trick-or-treating. The Christian children would carry around a hollowed-out turnip with candles placed inside of it, a half-living and half-dead lantern, if you will, which allowed them to ward off any evil spirits that may seek to subvert the great Christian celebration. These were the common practices for the All-Hallow Tide throughout all of Christendom.

But as one moved about between the different countries, one was confronted with a celebration of the tide, and especially of All-Hallow's Eve, that was distinct for that region, for their history, for their customs, and for their particular affections. It is to some of these more particular practices that we now turn. But before we do, a brief word. In the main show of Haunted Cosmos, we've discussed many instances of what's called Christian syncretism. It is that wicked practice of compromising clear Christian doctrine for the sake of making the full gospel more palatable to a specific people who, for whatever reason,

have formerly pagan practices that are especially stubborn and slow to die. A clear example would be the Roman Catholic's syncretistic tendencies with the islands in the Gulf of Mexico. At some point in the history of the Gulf's conversion, the Christians encountered the island of Haiti. Haiti's religion, as far as anyone knows, has always been based in voodoo practices, but they still have a sort of pantheon of divine beings. One of these beings, the emissary of the gods to man, is named Papa Legba. As the Catholics sought to give the Haitians the living waters of Christ, they quickly discover that the people's belief in the real existence and goodness of Papa Legba would not easily go away. To satisfy the people, as opposed to

spending more time working with them to teach them differently, they simply wrote Papa Legba into Christian tradition, saying that he could just be another version of St. Peter for them. This is syncretism, and its fruit is not good. However, this syncretism I just described must be distinguished from another common practice among Christians, conquering and redeeming. Deep in the fjord country of Norway, near the town of Nodden in the telemark, there stands a very large and very old wooden church. The head-all stave church, built sometime in the 1200s, is the largest freestanding wooden church still in existence from that time period. As the Viking Age came to a close, Christendom reached her fingers into the Norse regions and found many souls hungry.

for the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As entire townships converted to the worship of the true living God, these wooden churches were erected with alarming speed. Head-all church is special, though, not just because it's so old, but of course that's amazing, but also because it gives us a glimpse into the mind of a people who were seeking to reconcile the mythical history of their own country with the true myth that they had just learned of the God man.

All throughout the church, both on the interior and exterior, intricate wood carvings can be seen that clearly reflect the Norse style. There was no architecture forced upon these people. Their art was still their own art, but now it was redeemed and more lovely version of it. What's more, if you study these carvings closely, you'll begin to see characters that may not be familiar to you. Sigurd, the Dragon Slayer, Gunner, Brunhild, the Fair Valkyrie, and Shields. the shield maiden of the heroes, and many other characters from Norse and Viking lore. And if you see them, you may be tempted to wave your finger and discuss and wonder, what are those pagan characters doing in a Christian church?

But the answer is simple. It's not syncretism to force the entire history of your people to bend the knee, utterly and completely without compromise, to Christ. It's not syncretism to take the mythical heritage of your forefathers and honor them by doing what they should have done, rework it to harmonize it with the true myth, make it glorify God. This isn't syncretism, it's redemption. It's Christ's lordship over all things, even the stories of the Nordic heroes. And given this brief excursus that I hope proves the beauty and potency of what I'm about to say,

let us return to All Hallows Eve in Ireland during the Middle Ages. The similarities between Sawin and All Hallotide are already clearly evident. But remember the time gap. It seems as if the last Sawin was celebrated almost a millennia before All Hallotide ever began, and yet the Irish apparently had some lingering memory given to them an oral tradition of that older time. And so they repackaged Sawin and sought, albeit imperfectly, as we'll see, to redeem it to the glory of the living God. Upon the All Hallows Eve vigil conclusion, games would be played at the house of Irish parishioners everywhere. These games reflected a Gaelic heritage and included bobbing for apples and nut roasting and dream interpretation.

Sometimes it went too far, sometimes the people engaged in open necromancy. And when this occurred, the parish elders would step in to redirect their energy back onto the straight and narrow. The Irish and the Scottish would sometimes dress up and colorful and unsettling costumes. They wouldn't just hollow out turnips to use as lanterns. They would also carve weird, funny, and sometimes scary. sometimes scary faces into them. It wasn't because they wanted to summon the devil, it's just because that's what they did.

And I'm reminded of a quote from C.S. Lewis, as he answers the question of whether or not the medievals thought that the earth was flat. He says, quote, The learned knew that the earth was spherical, but the layman didn't. Mind you, it's not because the layman thought the earth was flat, it's because they didn't think about the shape of the earth at all.

End quote. Perhaps this is a bit controversial. But I think those people in high and late medieval Ireland were actually what they claimed to be, Christians. Given this, I'm quick to chalk up a proclivity to take some of these things too far to ignorance at best and overzealousness at worst. And how does all of this affect our view of Halloween today? Well, it's first worth noting that what people generally understand by the term Halloween is a distinctly modern and mostly American holiday. It borrows from the Christian Holotide, sure, but it turned into more of a national celebration. As much as it pains me to say that, in our modern day, mainstream evangelical Christianity has lost the rich heritage of Holotide, it is unfortunately the truth. We have lost it.

Now, I believe that we can take it back. Many Protestants and Catholics and Lutherans and Anglicans still celebrate it after all. But that's not really what today's show is about. Instead, I want to leave you with a quick opinion. on whether or not the modern notion of Halloween is permissible for Christians. And I'll start off by saying that nothing of what I'm about to say is definitive. I've already been wrong before today and it's only 11 a.m. There's plenty of wiggle room here and I don't want to bind anyone's conscience. If you hate Halloween and your conscience won't allow you to be convinced otherwise, that's completely fine. But ultimately, given that it is basically an American holiday,

I do believe Christians are free to celebrate it. And now for the caveats. Seeking evil is sinful. Seeking encounters with evil is sinful. Celebrating evil is sinful. Gloring in evil and gore in the macabre is sinful. There is a difference between enjoying a scary story and trying as hard as you can to place yourself within that story, gawking at all of the ugliness around you. When you do that, you start to like the ugliness, and before you know it, you become a part of it yourself. The reason that saying this is necessary is because our modern American Halloween has gone from a relatively innocent and mostly Christian excuse to cut loose, have fun, dress up in costumes, and give out candy

to a grotesque display of America's now depraved and evil heart that glories in death and says in foolishness that there is no God. An American holiday will be as wholesome as the country, and an apostate America, which is what we have, will engage in apostate holidays. The mood and outcomes of those holidays will reflect the state of the heart. And thus, we have the horrendous, commercialized body horror film that is modern Halloween. But there is hope to reclaim and redeem. Church Halloween parties, trick-or-treating and safe neighborhoods with family friends while avoiding the overtly evil houses. Watching your kids run through a corn maze and a knight's costume before bobbing for apples, dipping them in caramel and eating them while carving a pumpkin with a funny face. These are

wonderful things that could be a wonderful and even Christian heritage for our children's children. Preserve what is jovial and righteous. Seek to return to a meaningful celebration of hollow tide if you can and if your conscience allows and leave the rest to the destruction it inevitably has coming for it but that feels like kind of a lame place to end a dusty tome episode so why don't we give a little bonus how about we talk about the legend of the jackal anard right okay well let's go and remember this is just a story don't take it too seriously in very distant memory there lived a man named jack he was an irishman and he was very stingy not only was he the infamous and wicked town drunk who engaged in much debauchery, but he was also a manipulator,

a con man, a silver tongue. As it happened, the devil himself eventually became acquainted with this stingy Jack. Jack's reputation for deception and malice had spread even to the pit of hell, and lo and behold, the devil was jealous of this man's apparent skill in all things sinful. With envy in his heart, the devil went to find this heinous man and see if he really lived up to all of the hype. On a cold autumn night, as a full moon shone her bright rays down upon a quiet Ireland, stingy Jack aimlessly stumbled, predictably drunk, down the cobblestone countryside path. Not another soul was around for Jack to terrorize, and so, in an unusually contemplative state of mind, he watched his feet hit the ground while his hands found sanctuary inside his warm wool

pockets. But all at once, something caught his eye. A body lay in the ditch next to the ditch next to the path, stone still and prostrate, as of going to its own funeral service. Jack crept closer to examine this unfortunate person. But as his eyes adjusted to the light, he started back in fright. Wide eyes met his, and a grimacing smile was painted onto this uncanny visage. As the devil stood up, Jack resigned himself to the truth. The arch enemy had finally come to collect his wretched soul for eternal torment. Unwilling to go so soon, though, Stingy Jack asked the devil for one final favor. The devil, unimpressed with Jack's apparent resignation to the whole thing, heard his plea. Let me go for one last drink, Jack said, and the devil agreed. The devil walked with Jack back

to the pub where the man indulged himself in many more drinks before the time finally came. The shrewd Jack told the devil to pay the tab and his soul would be his. The devil was taken aback though. He hadn't thought of this. He carried no money. But no matter, Jack had a plan. He told the devil to turn himself into a silver coin that Jack could pay the tab with. Then, once the tab was paid, the devil could transform back into himself and make his escape.

The devil was impressed by the cunning, and he obliged. But Jack had played him. He now held the devil in his hand in the form of a coin, and he shoved the coin into his pocket, which also contained a crucifix. This crucifix kept the devil from transforming back, and so Jack told him to agree to grant his soul freedom for ten more years before taking him to hell, and the devil was forced to agree. Well, ten years passed and once again, the devil found himself on the path of Stingy Jack, this time with a personal vendetta.

Jack, accepting his fate, agreed to go to hell after satisfying his belly with just one more apple, Once again, the devil foolishly agreed. As the devil climbed the tree to pick a high apple for Jack, Jack ran around the tree, sticking crucifixes into the ground every few feet. The devil, trapped now once again, agreed to Jack's second ridiculous command, that he would never take his soul to hell. The decades wore on and Jack grew old quickly. The heavy drinking and licentious living took a heavy toll on the man.

He died with no friends or family to care. His soul journeyed to the gates of heaven but was of course turned away, and so he sullenly journeyed to the gates of hell. But the devil, now with a smug look on his face, turned him away in keeping with the deal they'd made. In a last moment of rare generosity, the devil gave Jack an ember to light his soul upon its endlessly wandering way. Stingy Jack placed the ember into a hollowed-out turnip

and began his perpetual sojourn on the earth, invisible and insatiable, always hungry and always thirsty, but unable to eat or drink. Want more Haunted Cosmos? Then make your way over to Patreon, where you can get early access to our content as well as exclusive content in regular dusty tomes and monthly live streams with Brian and myself. So go to patreon.com slash haunted cosmos and sign up now.