A workshop on the history and practices of Allhallowtide.

A part lecture, part meditation exploring the evolution of the history and ancestral traditions associated with the Halloween season. This offering explores Allhallowtide, or the three holy days (known as a Triduum) of ancestral and historical remembrance spanning from October 31st to November 2nd. In the Early Middle Ages Pope Gregory appointed the days of All Hallow’s Eve, All Hallow’s Day and All Soul’s Day as a time to honor the blood shed and spirits of Christian martyrs. As Catholic Christendom’s long shadow extended over Pagan traditions, this season became syncretized throughout the West and the Global South. Children came to bob for apples and dress as monsters and fairytale characters. Cemeteries became adorned with flowers and candles, devotion grew to include grandparents and neighbors, friends and lovers, pop stars and actors. How the living engaged with the dead also shifted. No longer is Allhallowtide solely a time of sanctified remembrance limited to the canonized and faultless, nor is it approached as a somber interaction between a humbled worshipper and a holy martyr. It’s a time to reopen one’s home and heart to those who left the path of humanity for a brief return seeped in warmth, familiarity and kinship. In our time together we will glimpse the evolution of a hallowed season and learn to participate in traditions that build a bridge from this world to our allies in the beyond.