Halloween, Harmless Children's Holiday or Sinister Witch's Sabbath?
But what is the real history and origin of this holiday? Is it really some type of a witches sabbath, or is it in fact, a harmless custom with lots of entertaining folklore behind it?
(picture courtesy of flickr)
Halloween - Secular Celebration or Religious Holiday
Halloween History - The Celtic Festival of Samhain (sow-in)
flickr2,000 years ago, the Celts inhabited the region comprising modern day Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. These people were mainly farmers and hunters living in small villages, throughout this region.
The beginning of the new year was on November 1st, which they believed was the beginning of winter, a time of death and hardship. To celebrate the harvest and the end of summer, the Celts observed October 31st as a holiday, the Festival of Samhain. They believed that on this day, the spirits of the dead could roam free among them, causing mischief and mayhem.
In order to appease the forces of nature and the spirits of the dead, the Drouids (Celtic Priests)would offer sacrifices, by burning huge wicker cages, shaped like a "standing man" and filled with agricultural products, livestock and human captives. These bonfires on October 31st were attended by all the people, dressed-up in costumes of animal skins. The Drouids would further mark the occasion by offering much sought after predictions for the coming year.
It was believed that October 31st was a transition period between life (represented by summer)and death (as represented by winter) and that this date had magical qualities, as a result.
flickr All Souls - Night Music from Loreena McKennitt
OLD & MAGIC ENGLAND
curated content from YouTube
Halloween History, the Roman Contributions
flickrBy around 43 AD, most of the Celtic lands and people had been conquered by the Romans. The Romans celebrated two holdays in October, "Feralia" which was a traditional day of commemeration for the dead and the second was a holiday in honor of Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees - thus the harvest. Eventually, these two Roman festivals were combined with Samhain and celebrated at the end of October.
flickr800 AD, most of the Celtic lands had become heavily influenced by Christianity. Pope Boniface IV declared November 1st as All-Saints-Day, a Christian Holiday to celebrate the Saints and Martyrs of the Christian Church. It is believed that this was done in large part to replace the Celtic celebration of Samhain with a church sanctioned holiday. This holiday was also called All-hallomas and the day before, Oct 31st, the date of Samhain, came to be known as All-hallows Eve.
flickr Halloween Comes to the American Colonies
flickrImmigrants from various parts of Europe brought their Halloween traditions with them when arriving in America. Because of the strict religious views and beliefs of the Puritans and other Protestant sects in New England, Halloween was not widely celebrated there initially. The Halloween holiday was more frequently celebrated in Maryland and some of the southern states in early American history and was integrated with some of the Native American harvest festivities.
By the mid 19th century Halloween had caught-on and was made popular throughout the country, especially following the huge influx of millions of Irish immigrants during the Irish potato famine of 1846.
The celebration of Halloween in North America took on its own character with autumn events focused on community ghost story telling, costume parties, games such as bobbing for apples and "trick or treating" for candy. By the turn of the 20th century, Halloween had become a secular holiday in North America and most of the religious and superstitious overtones were gone.
Halloween History Facts
flickrHalloween was a traditional Celtic holiday to mark the end of summer and the beginning of winter and was seen as a transitional time when spirits were free to walk about and cause mischief. Offerings and sacrifices were made to appease these spirits and to solicit the help of the pagan gods in surviving the impending winter and for a natural rebirth in the Spring.
This pagan holiday of Samhain had nothing to do with witches, satan or the "black arts"! The pagan religion did not worship "satan," as the concept of satan, was a much later Christian belief. The deities worshiped by the Celts represented the natural environment they lived in and depended on for their existence.
Halloween has become a secular, community holiday with vestiges of past traditions and folklore, such as the wearing of costumes, telling of ghost stories and "trick or treating." Even today, mankind dreads the coming of the harsh winter months, lack of sunlight and bleak winter days ahead. A celebration of community with parties, candy, costumes and creative jack-o-lanterns helps us transition and cope with upcoming winter deprivations.
flickr Halloween Art
Halloween Treats
Halloween on Twitter
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- pytMISSt
- Lol that's just wrong to do that RT @BelieveThe_Hype: why is this nigga on the corner sellin left ova halloween candy....wish i was lyin
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- jordcannon
- Wants all the Halloween movies on Blu-Ray, I already have the 1st :)
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- maliciousmandy1
- @nucksgrl @vancityrockgirl oh link me I missed it-i always discuss it at halloween but its fitting on nye-or topic-overdrinking in pblic lol
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- audreyy26
- just voted "Ryan Newman" on "The HALLOWEEN's best disguise is:" vote too ➔ http://bit.ly/8RXbey
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- aleglezd
- just voted "Emily Grace" on "The HALLOWEEN's best disguise is:" vote too ➔ http://bit.ly/8RXbey
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Trick or Treat - Please leave a comment or two!
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Reply
- Stormweaver Stormweaver Nov 5, 2009 @ 9:57 pm
- I am impressed again! great job!
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Reply
- ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen Oct 16, 2008 @ 1:26 pm
- Halloween as with any holiday, is what you make it. I'm sure some turn it to a day of demonic worship but in our house it is a day for fun and laughter.
Great lens
Lizzy
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- rms rms Oct 12, 2008 @ 9:26 am
- Greetings from Gothic Temptations!
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- tdove tdove Oct 6, 2008 @ 8:10 pm
- Thanks for joining G Rated Lense Factory!
Halloween History links
- Halloween - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Halloween From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Hidden Spirtis - History of Halloween
- Investigate Paranormal activites in the Hotel
- The History of Halloween (Part 1)
- Halloween History
- Halloween Costume Masks
- Discount Halloween costume masks for sale. Buy scary and funny costume masks for kids, teens, and adults.
Halloween Tricks
More Halloween Treats!
Scary Halloween Movies
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Working together to expose the truth about their bloodlines, vampire warrior Selene (Kate Beckinsale...- 002- Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

A prequel to the first two Underworld films, this fantasy explains the origins of the feud between t...- 003- Saw

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In this chilling sequel to 28 Days Later, the inhabitants of the British Isles appear to have lost t...- 005- Underworld

Vampires and werewolves have waged a nocturnal war against each other for centuries. But all bets ar...- Try Netflix free for 14 days
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