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The History of Halloween
- Sep 7, 2008 at 8:55 AM
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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:
Oh I was being sarcastic as well. Sorry if it didn't come off that way. OOPs :(
Thats ok, I should have put a smiley. But I do believe most of us are not picking it up today. Must be the weather. :)
awwww and I was so looking forward to casting some spells, biting off some bat heads, and sacrificing some chickens... you ruined all my fun.
lol... have a great Halloween SINNERS!
(this is sarcasm.. in case some of you are too... special.. to get that.)
We are not special it's the weather darnit!
What underlies holidays in memory of the "spirits of the dead"?
The 1910 edition of The Encyclopedia Britannica states: "All souls' Day...the day set apart in the Roman Catholic Church for the commemoration of the faithful departed. The celebration is based on the doctrine that the souls of the faithful which at death have not been cleansed from venial sins, or have not atoned for past transgressions, cannot attain the Beatific Vision, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the mass... Certain popular beliefs connected with All Souls' Day are of pagan origin and immemorial antiquity.Thus the dead are believed by the peasantry of many Catholic countries to return to their former homes on ALL Souls' night and partake of the food of the living Vol. 1 pg. 709
The Encylapedia Americana says: "Elements of the customs connected with Halloween can be traced to a Druid ceremony in pre-Christian times. The Celts had festivals for two major gods-a sun god and a god of the dead (called Samhain), whose festival was held on November 1, the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The festival of the dead was gradually incorporated into Christian ritual."-(1977),Vol.13, p. 725
The book The Worship of the Dead points to this origin: "The mythologies of all the ancient nations are interwoven with the events of the Deluge...The force of this argument is illistrated by the fact of the observance of a great festival of the dead in commemoration of the event, not only by nations more or less in communication with eachother, bbut by others widely seperated, both by the ocean and by centuries of time. This festival is, moreover, held by all on or about the very day on which, according to the Mosaic account, the Deluge took place, viz., the seventh day of the second month-the month nearly corresponding with our November.")London,1904,Colonel J Garnier,p. 4) Thus these celebrations actually began with an honoring of people whom God had destroyed because of their badness in Noah;s day.-Gen. 6:5-7;7:11.
Such holidays honoring "spirits of the dead" as if they were alive in another realm are contrary to the Bible's description of death as a state of unconsciousness.-Eccl. 9:5,10:Ps.146:4Reguarding the origin of the belief of immorality of the human souls look up "DEATH" & SOULS in your Bible.
thank you for sharing the information on Halloween.
I have to say, I am a believer BUT just can not stand the celebration of Halloween! Since I was a kid, I hated the idea of dressing up in a costume, going door to door trick or treating. I could not stand the invites to Halloween parties.
And I am still grinning and bearing the trick or treating with my own kids. Of course, they love it, and have not asked the "real meaning behind it". Not that it really matters to me one way or another. I just think its this over rated celebration, personally.
Cool. Thanks. :)
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Oh I was being sarcastic as well. Sorry if it didn't come off that way. OOPs :(