Posted on 10/30/2005 2:34:24 PM PST by Kitten Festival
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez urged Venezuelan parents not to dress their children in costumes for Halloween, calling it a U.S. custom that has no place in the South American country's cultural traditions.
Speaking during his weekly radio and television show Sunday, Chavez called Halloween a "gringa," or North American, custom.
"Families go and begin to disguise their children as witches," Chavez said. "That is contrary to our ways."
Chavez said he was urging Venezuelans to reflect on the subject. In recent years it has become common to see Venezuelan parents holding parties for children dressed as ghouls, animals and witches.
In one odd incident a week ago, authorities found more than a dozen jack-o'-lanterns left in spots around Caracas bearing anti-government messages and what appeared to be bomb-like fuses. Police and firefighters removed the pumpkins with caution, though the jack-o'-lanterns reportedly bore messages saying they were not explosives.
Paper skeletons bearing anti-Chavez messages also have appeared in spots across Caracas recently, and government officials have blamed sectors of the opposition with aiming to create chaos.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
Maybe taking this guy out is easier than it looks.
And here I always thought it was part of the American culture of greed!
I go we go Hugo droppen zee dead BUMP!
Hugo Chavez.... trying to piss of the rest of the world anyway he can...
There are so many clowns in this world.
Hugo is one of them.
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.
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/halloween/index.jsp?page=origins
The sharpest skewer is ridicule, and mocking laughter
whose sources cannot be seen is it's scabard.
That boy ain't right I tellya.
All Hallows Evening.
Maybe he needs to check up on the Catholic roots of most of his nation.
Nothiing terrorist oriented about it.
Or is the lamestream media spinning again?
Chavez now on CNN. Says he's changing country's official language to Swedish.
Actually, the last time I went trick-or-treating (in 1975) I dressed as Gene Simmons.
I guess Crybaby Hugo never heard of Day of the Dead...
I bet a lot of Venezuelan kids go dressed up as Hugo Chavez this year.
I believe that El Dio de los Muertos is a common tradition in both Central and South America.
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago...
Typical of the RCC--instead of spurning this macabre paganfest, they rename it and embrace it.
One would think that Hugo would have a few bigger fish to fry then to have to spend the time to worry about Halloween.
Reminds me of a young Castro..but stupider.
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