Category Archives: Mythology

Samhain 2015

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Samhain pronunciation

“Winter is coming!” Samhain, the Celtic festival more commonly known as “Hallowe’en,” was considered the first day of winter in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Marking the day halfway between the autumnal equinox and the Winter Solstice, Samhain marked the beginning of the sun’s descent into darkness and the world’s embrace by the growing cold. Both these trends would be reversed at the Winter Solstice, marking the “midpoint” of the Winter season.

Like Beltane, on April 30-May 1, Samhain was seen as a time when the ‘door’ to the Otherworld opened enough for the souls of the dead, and other beings such as fairies, to come into our world. The souls of the dead were said to revisit their homes on Samhain. Lewis Spence described it as a “feast of the dead” and “festival of the fairies”. However, harmful spirits and fairies were also thought to be active at Samhain. People took steps to allay or ward-off these harmful spirits/fairies, which is thought to have influenced today’s Halloween customs. The practice of lighting bonfires during Hallowmas may have been a Christianized one, as the Celts lit bonfires during Samhain as well.

Big stores of Hallowe’en costumes and decorations have opened all over Manhattan. I will get out my hooded cape that I usually wear during the last week of October. I think that November 1 is also the day that we give up Daylight Savings Time this year and “fall back” an hour. The huge NYC Marathon will also be run on November 1 this year. How will YOU be marking this year’s descent into darkness at the end of October?

Lunar Eclipses and Wolves — O, my!

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A photo of the blood moon last week.

A photo of the blood moon last week.

Last week was the “blood moon” eclipse, when the super moon (it looked larger due to its proximity to the earth, as it was at the point in its orbit that brings it closest to the earth and the earth’s shadow gives the full moon a red glow). It was difficult to see from many parts of New York because of the cloudy weather that night but many other areas had clear views. Such an event (the last one was in 1982 and it will not be repeated again until the year 2033) caused a lot of excitement and moon-watching parties but in older days it would have been a cause of alarm.

In the Norse eddas, a monster named Managarmr, the Moon Hound, swallows up the moon and stains the skies with blood during Ragnarok, the end of the world. According to the Gylfaginning (the opening portion of the poetic eddas), Managarmr is also known as Hati Hróðvitnisson, and is the son of Fenrir, the grey wolf, and a giantess.

In the Old Testament, the prophets warned that the moon would be dyed with blood at the end of the world and in the Book of Revelation the moon is also predicted to shine as red as blood: “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood” (Revelation 6:12). This sixth seal that was broken open to release earthquakes and eclipses is followed by the opening of the famous “seventh seal,” the subject of Ingmar Bergman’s movie.

One of the Brothers Grimm reported that “In a lighted candle, if a piece of the wick gets half detached and makes it burn away too fast, [common folk] say ‘a wolf (as well as a thief) is in the candle’; this too is like the wolf devouring the sun or moon.” It seems that the wolf eating the candlelight was related to the wolf eating the moonlight and that one could certainly be linked to the other.

Maybe we can do an experiment to see if we can cause an eclipse with a candle like that? I can see a story developing here; can’t you?

Speaking of “bad moons,” you should see the BAD MOON ON THE RISE series here! There is a new fantasy-horror-thriller review posted each day of October. Some great new ideas for your reading thrills-and-chills!

Drip, drip…Blood Relics

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The blood relic of St. Januarius (San Gennaro) in the cathedral of Naples.

The blood relic of St. Januarius (San Gennaro) in the cathedral of Naples.

This year’s festival of San Gennaro in New York’s Little Italy will be held on September 10-20, 2015. The festival marks one of the three days each year when the relic of St. Januarius’ blood in Naples liquefies during its display for public veneration. It turns out that there are other saintly blood relics in that part of Italy (surrounding Naples) that liquefy on the feast day of each particular saint, the most important being those of John the Baptist and Saint Panteleimon (a popular 4th century doctor-martyr).

The blood of the saint in question (usually an early martyr) is often sopped up with a cloth at the time of the saint’s execution and then placed in a glass ampule (small vial) which is then placed in a reliquary or monstrance for display [see the photo above]. On the feast day, the reliquary is brought out and the presiding cleric tilts the reliquary to demonstrate that the relic is dry and solid. He places the reliquary on the altar and the faithful celebrate the Eucharist or offer other prayers. At the conclusion, the presiding cleric again lifts the reliquary and tilts it, demonstrating that the relic has liquefied.

The first certain date of the liquefaction of St. Januarius’ blood is 1389. Over the following two and a half centuries official reports began to appear declaring that the blood spontaneously melted, at first once a year, then twice and finally three times a year. During times of distress, the relic would be carried in procession around Naples and has been credited with saving the city from explosions and eruptions from Mount Vesuvius.

Blood has always been considered an especially potent connection to the person whose blood it is. Blood was also considered the “life” of the person or animal and so to offer a few drops of blood in a rite was to offer the whole person or beast. Blood offerings were among the most valuable gifts to be offered to a god or goddess and the more blood offered, the more the god “owed” the worshipper. The more blood offered also usually meant the more horrific the request being made of the god or the more horrible the god who was being worshipped.

Blood was also said to give a temporary sort of life back to the dead. Among the ancient Greeks, ghosts were said to be whispering, gibbering shadows but if they licked up blood they could speak and think clearly again for at least some time.

A fascinating discussion of the blood relics in and around Naples can be read here.