Bibliography by W.J. Bethancourt IIIEditor's Note: Starting about 1994, W.J. Bethancourt III began keeping detailed records of sources and purported sources of information about Halloween, including the spurious "sources" that are often quoted as proof that Halloween has satanic origins. We are keeping that list available because other sources frequently refer to it. That said, many of the documents mentioned are either out of print or more or less impossible to find Sadly, this works to the benefit of folks who want to make outrageous claims about Halloween, because they can cite a book or magazine article that no one can ever cross-check. On the other hand, I DID cross-check Jacob Grimm's "Teutonic Mythology" to see what it says about Halloween, Samdhain (in any spelling) or Beltane (in any spelling), and it says nothing at all about any of those "key words." This is significant, because it's the only thing approaching a scholarly work that the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica cites as a reference for the whole "Celtic holiday stolen by the Church" myth. (The others are collections of fairy stories and myths.) Yet hundreds, if not thousands of articles, tracts, books, and web articles have cited the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica (or other works that cited the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica) as "proof" of those claims. In other words, the so-called Celtic holiday called Samdhain (by any number of spellings) was apparently invented in the 18th (or perhaps even the 19th) century, which would have made it pretty hard for the Catholic church to usurp it in the 6th. The remainder of this page links to documents of all kinds, including New Age groups, so I'm not recommending that you turn this into a "reading list," but if you doubt Bethancourt did his "homework," this should help fill in any blanks. Except for other "editor's note" sections, and some formatting corrections, the following text is from Bethancourt - Paul |
Mrs. Phillips, and the anonymous author of Tract 2, attach bibliographies to their articles. Unfortunately, many of the sources must be regarded as suspect (as in "biased") because of their author's occasional (or not so occasional) extreme Fundamentalist Christian agendas ( marked with
).
I have done the same with the neo-pagan references ( marked with
) in my own bibliography, using those so marked as references for modern Pagan and Wiccan beliefs only, and have checked any historical information taken from them against other references.
Many of these tracts seem to use each other as references ....... I find the same mis-information repeated over and over again, sometimes almost word for word. You will notice this in many of the anti-Halloween references listed further down on this page.
I must also point out that bibliographies such as Phillips' and that of Tract 2 (Margadonna and Tract 1 had none) would be laughed out of a freshman High School English class. They just give names of publications, with no publishers and few dates, making it difficult to check the references for oneself. I have been able to check most of the magazine references, and the results of that check are noted below.
BIBLIOGRAPHY (PHILLIPS):
- Encyclopedia Americana
- Encyclopedia Brittanica
- The World Book Encyclopedia
(note: Ms. Moonstone's comments on these references are most interesting indeed:)
When these books and pamphlets cite sources at all, they usually list the Encyclopaedia Brittannica, Encyclopedia Americana, and the World Book Encyclopedia. The Brittannica and the Americana ..... do, indeed list Samhain as the Lord of Death, contrary to Celtic scholars, and list no references. The World Book ..... lists as its sources several children's books (hardly what one could consider scholarly texts, and, of course, themselves citing no references).
The 1911 Britannica (done before the excavations and serious research) DOES list its references for Halloween, with the same "Samhain = god of the dead" mistake.
- Brand's "Antiquities of Britain"
- Chambers' "Book of Days"
- Grimm's "Deutche Mythologie, ch XX
- and Frazer's "Golden Bough"
But no page numbers or footnote marks. and they don't mention sacrifices or going from house to house.
Editor's Note: The current online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica adds more of the urban legends about Halloween, including the spurious "history" of many customs, but has no references at all, though it does have many advertisements for unrelated products you can buy online. Since the scholastic value of the EB has gone downhill since ceasing paper publication, this is hardly surprising. But, hey, it's on the Internet, so it has to be true, right? - Paul
- Christian Life, October 1980
- The Standard Dictionary of Folklore
- Babylon Mystery Religion
(note: this buzz-phrase has always fascinated me. It seems to stem from a Texxe Marrs, who has outlined quite an elaborate Sumerian/Babylonian religion that does not seem to be supported by archaeology.) He's heavy into the Conspiracy Theory of History.
- The Satan Seller, Mike Warnke
(note: Mr. Warnke has been recently exposed as something of a fraud in "Cornerstone" magazine, (Vol. 21, No. 98) showing his stories of his involvement with Satanism as being quite impossible.) - Freed From Witchcraft, Dareen Irvine
- Time Magazine, June 19, 1972
(note: This is actually Vol. 99 No. 25, and has a good article on the occult revival, but no reference to Halloween whatsoever.) - The Supernatural, Grolier Enter., Inc.
- Christianity Today, Oct. 21, 1977
(note: This is really the issue for Oct. 22 (Vol. XXI No. 2) and has nothing on the occult or Halloween that I could find.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY (TRACT 2):- Encyclopedia Britannica
- World Book Encyclopedia
(note: see Ms. Moonstone's comments above)
- "Halloween Through 20 Centuries", Ralph Linton
- The Book of Festive Holidays
- Newsweek (Feb., 1974)
(note: There is an article on exorcism in Vol. 83 #5/6 Feb. 4/11 1974, but nothing on Halloween.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY (BETHANCOURT):- Adler, Margot, "Drawing Down The Moon" (Boston: Beacon Press, 1986)
- Baskin, Wade, "Dictionary of Satanism" (New York, Philosophical Library, 1976)
- Blamires, Steve, "Glamory" (St. Paul: Llewellyn)
- Bostwick, James, "Irish Druids And Old Irish Religions" (Boston, Dorset
Press, 1986; orig. published in 1894)
- Briggs, Katherine, "An Encyclopaedia of Fairies" (New York: Pantheon 1976)
- Cavendish, Richard, "Man, Myth and Magic" (Vol. 1 et. al.) (New York:
Marshall Cavendish Corp. 1970)
- Chadwick, Nora, "The Celts", (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books,
1982)
- Child, Francis James, "The English And Scottish Popular Ballads" (Vol 1-5)
(New York: Dover, 1965)
- Coglan, Ronan, "A Dictionary of Irish Myth and Legend," (Dublin: 1979)
- Cooper, J.C., "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia Of Traditional Symbols," (New
York: Thames And Hudson, 1979)
- Delaney, John J., "A Dictionary of Saints" (New York: Doubleday, 1980)
- DeLys, Claudia, "A Treasury Of American Superstitions" (New York:
Philosophical Library, MCMXLVIII)
- Durant, Will, "The Age of Faith" (New York; Simon & Schuster, 1950)
- Elder, Isabel Hill, "Celt, Druid and Culdee" (London: Covenant Publishing
1962)
- Graves, Robert, "The White Goddess" (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giboux,
1966)
- Heichelheim, F. et al. A History of the Roman People. 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, 1984.
- Herity, Michael and Eogan, George, "Ireland In Prehistory" (Southampton:
Camelot Press 1978)
- Herm, Gerhard, "The Celts" (New York: St. Martin's Press 1976)
- Higgins, Godfrey, "The Celtic Druids" (Los Angeles: Philosophical Research
Society Inc. 1977; orig. published in 1827)
- Keightley, Thomas, "The World Guide To Gnomes, Faeries, Elves and Other
Little People" (New York: Avenel Books 1978) (nb: this is a reprint of
"The Fairy Mythology" of 1880)
- Lane, C. Arthur (Rev.), "llustrated Notes On English Church History" (Vols.
1 and 2) (London: Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge 1886, 1888)
- Lucaire, Ed, "The Cat-Lover's Book of Fascinating Facts" (New York: Wings Books 1997)
- MacCana, Proinsias, "Celtic Mythology" (London: Hamlyn House 1970)
- MacCrossan, Tadhg, "The Sacred Cauldron: Secrets Of The Druids" (St. Paul:
Llewellyn Pub. 1991)
- Maclennan, Malcolm, "A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic
Language" (Aberdeen: University Press 1979; orig. published in 1925)
- MacManus, Seumas, "the Story Of The Irish Race" (New York: Devin-Adair 1921)
- Moonstone, Rowan (pseud.), "The Origins of Halloween" (tract) (Colorado
Springs: Cult Watch Response 1989)
- Oman, Charles, (Ed.) "A History Of England" (7 Vols.) (London: Methuen & Co.
Ltd. 1910)
- Powell, T.G.E., "The Celts," (New York: Thames & Hudson, 1980)
- Piggot, Stuart, "The Druids" (New York: Praeger Pub. 1968)
- Ramage, N. and A. Ramage. Roman Art: From Romulus to Constantine. Prentice-Hall, 1991
- Rees, Alwyn and Brinley, "Celtic Heritage" (New York: Thames and Hudson 1961)
- Rolleston, T.W., "Celtic Myths and Legends" (London: Bracken 1976)
- Ross, Anne and Robins, Don, "The Life And Death Of A Druid Prince" (New York: Summit Books, 1989)
- Starhawk (pseud.), "The Spiral Dance" (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1979)
- Starkey, Marion L., "The Devil In Massachusetts" (Garden City: Anchor Books, (1969)
- Squire, Charles, "Celtic Myth and Legend, Poetry and Romance," (New York:
Newcastle Publishing Co., Inc., 1975)
- Wedeck, H.E. and Baskin, Wade, "A Dictionary Of Pagan Religions" (New York:
Philosophical Library, 1971)
- Wright, Michael and Walters, Sally, "The Book Of The Cat" (New York: Summit
Books 1980)
 Net Resources |
link to: http://illusions.com/halloween/
