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Hallowe'en!
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A good question, just where did Halloween come from. I have gathered some information so you do not have too. I thought it would be good to know what is being 'celebrated' |
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"Halloween also called ALL HALLOWS' EVE or ALL HALLOWS' EVENING a holy or hallowed evening observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day. In modern times, it is the occasion for pranks and for children requesting treats or threatening tricks In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic festival of Samhain eve was observed on October 31, at the end of summer. This date was also the eve of the new year in both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon times and was the occasion for one of the ancient fire festivals when huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits. The date was connected with the return of herds from pasture, and laws and land tenures were renewed. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the most favourable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes. The pagan observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows' Eve, celebrated on the same date. Gradually, Halloween became a secular observance, and many customs and practices developed. In Scotland young people assembled for games to ascertain which of them would marry during the year and in what order the marriages would occur. Many Halloween customs have become games played by children. Immigrants to the U.S., particularly the Irish, introduced secular Halloween customs that became popular in the late 19th century. Mischief-making on this occasion by boys and young men included overturning sheds and outhouses and breaking windows, and damage to property was sometimes severe. In later years, the occasion has come to be observed mainly by small children, who go from house to house, often in costume, demanding "trick or treat" (the treat, often candy, is generally given and the trick rarely played). A common symbol of Halloween is the jack-o'-lantern (the name possibly was derived from that for a night watchman). It is a hollowed-out pumpkin carved in the appearance of a demonic face and with a lighted candle fixed inside. In Scotland a turnip was used, but the native pumpkin was substituted in the United States. Samhain also spelled SAMAIN (Celtic: "End of Summer"), one of the most important and sinister calendar festivals of the Celtic year. At Samhain, held on November 1, the world of the gods was believed to be made visible to mankind, and the gods played many tricks on their mortal worshipers; it was a time fraught with danger, charged with fear, and full of supernatural episodes. Sacrifices and propitiations of every kind were thought to be vital, for without them the Celts believed they could not prevail over the perils of the season or counteract the activities of the deities. Samhain was an important precursor to Halloween. |
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All Saints' Day in the Christian church, a day commemorating all the saints of the church, both known and unknown, celebrated on November 1 in the Western churches and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Eastern churches. Its origin cannot be traced with certainty, and it has been observed on various days in different places. A feast of all martyrs was kept on May 13 in the Eastern church according to Ephraem Syrus (d. c. 373), which may have determined the choice of May 13 by PopeBoniface IV when he dedicated the Pantheon in Rome as a church in honour of the Blessed Virgin and all martyrs in 609. The first evidence for the November 1 date of celebration and of the broadening of the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs occurred during the reign of Pope Gregory III (731-741), who dedicated a chapel in St. Peter's, Rome, on November 1 in honour of all saints. In 800, All Saints' Day was kept by Alcuin on November 1, and it also appeared in a 9th-century English calendar on that day. In 837 Pope Gregory IV ordered its general observance. In medieval England, the festival was known as All Hallows, and its eve is still known as Halloween. |
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Celtic religion Festivals Insular sources provide important information about Celtic religious festivals. In Ireland the year was divided into two periods of six months by the feasts of Beltine (May 1) and Samhain (Samain; November 1), and each of these periods was equally divided by the feasts of Imbolc (February 1), and Lughnasadh (August 1). Samhain seems originally to have meant "summer," but by the early Irish period it had come to mark summer's end. Beltine is also called Cetsamain ("First Samhain"). Imbolc has been compared by the French scholar Joseph Vendryes to the Roman lustrations and apparently was a feast of purification for the farmers. It was sometimes called oímelc ("sheep milk") with reference to the lambing season. Beltine ("Fire of Bel") was the summer festival, and there is a tradition that on that day the druids drove cattle between two fires as a protection against disease. Lughnasadh was the feast of the god Lugh." |
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My, so this is what has been passed down to us. Are we sure we want to accept it? Now that we know that this was a holiday authorized by the POPE, it's surely Christian. |
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Addition: Well, it's Halloween again and soon our neighborhoods will be full of all kinds of little ghosts, goblins and creatures of the night. This has always been a big celebration for my family because my grandmother's birthday was on Halloween. She had a wonderful sense of humor and would dress up like a witch and chase us around the house stirring us up into a frenzy before we ricocheted out the door for a night of trick or treating. As a child, I thought that the holiday was created in honor of my grandmother's birthday. Of course, later I learn that it actually is a very ancient tradition. The holiday was initially celebrated on November 1st as Samhain, a Celtic New Year's festival. But in the 8th century the Catholic Church changed it to All Hallows Day, a feast for departed saints. October 31st, the night before All Hallows Day, was referred to as Hallow's Eve or Hallow's E'en, which over the years has morphed into Halloween. I suppose the most popular symbol of Halloween these days is the Jack-o-lantern. Its history is also Irish. The original Jack-o-lantern was a carved turnip or potato with a candle inside. Irish immigrants settling in America were quick to see the possibilities of our native pumpkin and it soon became the icon of the holiday.
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