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The History of Halloween
- Sep 7, 2008 at 8:55 AM
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- Comments (48) Total Views (1015) Everyone can see this journal post.
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.
So, for those of you believe that Halloween is an evil, non-Christian holiday, you're wrong!
Comments:
It is SO evil. People kill black cats and, and offer sacrifies to the devil and and drink blood from chickens and and...thats all I have.
So there. You're WRONG, LIZ!
Oh, I almost forgot...you know a few years back Halloween fell on a Sunday, right? There was a huge debate in my town...on tv, in the newspapers, everywhere...that the city should offically for that year roll back Halloween a day and ask everyone to do their celebrating on Saturday, Oct. 30, instead of on Oct. 31st which fell on a Sunday. Why? Because the Christians were up in arms about such a day of evil being celebrated on what they thought of as 'their' day. Hello?? Nobody 'owns' Sunday...get your panties out of your buttcrack already, jeez! I think we did end up doing our thing on both days...we're greedy like that!
Well I have add something here.
I am a christian, and at my church we have 'Trick R Trunk"
All the members park their cars on the parking lot. Open their trunks filled with candy, toys, and Yes,even childrens little Bibles. There is a Parade and even a costume contest. Free Hot Dogs & Soda!!
We do this every year because we want the kids to have a safe fun Halloween. They are not out knocking on doors, walking around in the dark, and we had over 200 kids last year.
I love it. So many try to mix the truth and claim it evil. um..do they know the history behind our so called Christmas?????
It is SO evil. People kill black cats and, and offer sacrifies to the devil and and drink blood from chickens and and...thats all I have.
So there. You're WRONG, LIZ!
Well I have add something here.
I am a christian, and at my church we have 'Trick R Trunk"
All the members park their cars on the parking lot. Open their trunks filled with candy, toys, and Yes,even childrens little Bibles. There is a Parade and even a costume contest. Free Hot Dogs & Soda!!
We do this every year because we want the kids to have a safe fun Halloween. They are not out knocking on doors, walking around in the dark, and we had over 200 kids last year.
I'm a Christian and we have NOTHING to do with Halloween. It doesn't honor or glorify God in any way. It is a day that we treat as any other.
My children have never and will never wear a costume on that day. We don't participate in and trick or treating, any candy buying, or any trunk or treating. We do not even participate in "Fall Festivals" if it's on the 31st.
That's not to say all Christians should do as we do... that's just what we feel convicted about.
Most the things in the OP post have to do with contacting the dead, etc., which the Bible clearly states should not happen. So, yes, it's origins are evil, and it's current day status is just stupid.
I'm a Christian and we have NOTHING to do with Halloween. It doesn't honor or glorify God in any way. It is a day that we treat as any other.
My children have never and will never wear a costume on that day. We don't participate in and trick or treating, any candy buying, or any trunk or treating. We do not even participate in "Fall Festivals" if it's on the 31st.
That's not to say all Christians should do as we do... that's just what we feel convicted about.
Most the things in the OP post have to do with contacting the dead, etc., which the Bible clearly states should not happen. So, yes, it's origins are evil, and it's current day status is just stupid.
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My two cents : As far as where it originated, very glad to know that. What it is today for the kids does not really bother me. I used to be unsure when the kiddos were little tiny if we would partake in the whole event. At first I was a little nervous because our first Halloween outing with my then three year old did not go so good. There was many scary things that freaked her out. A kid walking near us most of the way had like some skeleton mask or something that lit up red and that really freaked her out. I do not like to take them into a Halloween shop even now because there is usually flying decapitated heads-lol- and that I know would freak them out. I let them dress up, I might dress up this year too, but not as anything really scary. And we also go out really early to neighborhoods we know are safe, you know just common sense stuff like that. If you want a Christian's perspective on the matter, mine is that a lot of Christians really grapple with the issue for two reasons. 1. Would God be against us celebrating such a holiday? ( that I don't feel we know for sure) -I also want to say that I don't think letting our kids dress up in cute costumes and taking them around to the neighbors or taking them to a church festival bothers Him at all. Okay, and 2. If we expose our children directly to this holiday will it desensitize them to such things as witchcraft or evil things that we don't agree with. Will they forget and come to accept things like horror films and such as okay? I would say those are two of the main concerns, both of which I feel I have dealt with the best way I know how. Please don't give Christians a hard time if they are afraid to let their kids celebrate. I can tell you that most struggle and put so much thought into whether to let them, and then wonder if they made the right choice or not. If they don't let them, I can tell you that most are doing so because they feel they are doing the best for their kids, and are often eaten up with guilt for doing the best they know how. We all feel differently about how to raise our kids and if any of us is doing something we believe is protecting our kids I don't think we should judge. We should also not judge those who do decide to celebrate. Now, time to have fun with it the way we see best : )