festivals: Europe EUROPE BY AMY HACKNEY BLACKWELL The people of Europe celebrated festivals that marked the seasons dividing the year There were eight main points of celebration The summer and winter solstices (the longest and shortest days of the year, respectively) and the spring and autumn equinoxes (the days in the spring and fall when night and day are the same length) marked the year’s turning points and were occasions for feasts and parties The other four were festivals that did not fall on solstices or equinoxes and thus were usually scheduled for the full moon between these events The Celtic calendar used both solar and lunar cycles, so dates for such festivals varied from year to year Ancient Europeans divided the year into two halves, the dark winter half and the bright summer half The festivals known as Samhain and Beltane in Ireland (but celebrated under other names throughout ancient Europe) marked the dividing lines between these two halves of the year The Celtic year began at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, around October 31, when Celts celebrated the final harvest This festival was known as Samhain in Ireland On this date the spirits of the dead were said to walk the earth to visit their old homes Gods were also believed to roam about the dwellings of the living, intent on doing harm People lit large bonfires to honor the dead and protect themselves from evil spirits wandering the land Young men lit torches and ran around the boundaries of their farms to protect their families and property from evil spirits Families put out the fires in their homes and used flames from the communal bonfires to rekindle their hearths; they tried to keep these same fires lit for the entire year Because the line between the living and the dead was blurred at this time, Druids believed that Samhain was the best possible time to predict the future Tribes gathered at this festival to hold political discussions, horse races, and markets, and to exchange spouses Animal sacrifices were common, as people killed and ate animals fattened during the summer In some areas of Gaul (modern-day France) and Germany people dressed in animal costumes and paraded about In Roman Gaul this harvest festival blended with the Roman festival Feralia People celebrated Feralia by leaving food on the graves of their ancestors and decorating their homes with apples This autumn festival gradually transformed into the modern festival Halloween Ancient Germanic and Norse peoples celebrated a winter solstice festival called Jól, or Yule Historians believe this name may have come from the Anglo-Saxon word for “yellow,” possibly derived from sun shining off the snow or perhaps from the festival’s purpose of bringing back the sun from the depths of the cold, dark northern winter The festival occurred on or around December 21, the shortest day of the year The significance of the winter solstice has considerable antiquity, as seen in the construction of the megalithic tomb at Newgrange around 3000 b.c.e., where the sunrise 467 on December 21 shines directly down the entrance passage into the burial chamber People celebrated with feasts, especially with roast pig, which may have been a sacrifice to the god Freyr They decorated their homes with branches of holly and mistletoe and burned special oak logs in the fires; they kept these traditions after converting to Christianity in the medieval period The ancient Germans also honored sacred trees at this time by sacrificing and killing male animals and slaves and hanging them from the tree branches This practice may have influenced the custom of decorating trees for Christmas Imbolc was the ancient festival marking the end of winter It was traditionally celebrated on the full moon halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, which fell around February This was the date on which people began to milk their ewes (female sheep), which gave birth around this time Days began to grow visibly longer at this time, and people marked the coming of spring by lighting large numbers of candles and lamps The Mound of the Hostages in Tara, Ireland, appears to have been constructed to identify the date of Imbolc; it is aligned to catch the rising sun that morning Irish people continued to observe Imbolc after converting to Christianity, transforming the festival into Saint Bridget’s Day The first day of spring fell on the spring equinox, around March 21 Celtic people traditionally sowed their crops on this date Ancient Germans believed that their fertility goddess Ostara mated with the sun god on the spring equinox; her son Jól, or Yule, was born on the winter solstice Ancient Europeans celebrated the return of spring around May 1, on the full moon between the spring equinox and the summer solstice In Ireland this festival was called Beltane At this point people celebrated the return of life to the soil and the beginning of the planting season People lit enormous bonfires out of sacred wood and drove their animals past them to protect them through the summer They decorated their houses with branches of hawthorn, the tree of hope and protection This festival was particularly popular with young lovers, who gathered flowers, danced around maypoles, and spent the night in the forest cavorting with one another Leaping over fires was believed to bring luck to all who did it, from pregnant women hoping for smooth deliveries to travelers embarking on journeys This tradition was preserved in Germany as the May Day festival The summer solstice, or midsummer, fell around June 21 This was the longest day of the year, with a very short night; in the far north the sky hardly darkened at all on midsummer Stonehenge in England is aligned precisely to catch the light of the rising sun on Midsummer’s Day This was an occasion for giant bonfires, dancing, games, and outdoor feasts In some areas people walked their domestic animals around the bonfires to bless them The harvest festival, called Lughnasa in Ireland, fell on the full moon between the summer solstice and autumn equinox, usually around August It was named after the