Posted on 10/30/2009 10:34:37 AM PDT by markomalley
This is the only time of year when I become seriously anti-American. Our national media, retailers and brainwashed children have all been sucked in to the American cult of Halloween, which demands that shops deck out their windows with feeble pumpkin displays – and your doorbell is rung every five minutes by infants dressed as vampires, demanding presents.
I can live with with “the commercialisation of Christmas”, because at least the cult of Xmas wasn’t foisted on us by another country, and as I recall it was even tackier 30 years ago than it is now. But the modern Halloween, although it marks a perfectly respectable (and depressing) event in the Christian calendar, was created by Americans. Over in the States, an entire nation throws itself into a fancy dress party with a naive enthusiasm that comes naturally to Yanks. We, on the other hand, have only recently adopted Halloween, and we do it self-consciously, like embarrassed guests forced to play charades by a tyrannically cheerful host.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.telegraph.co.uk ...
I have a suggestion. My brother says the worst decision he ever made was ordering an English breakfast. The second worst was eating it. So, get back at us by sending one over now and then.
Alternatively, as two negatives make a positive, try another American custom: If you don't like Halloween, don't participate.
Shuddup and gimme yer candy or I’ll draw a giant phallic symbol on yer car hood with shaving cream. What’s not to like about that?
Halloween is NOT FROM AMERICA, IT CAME OVER WITH THE IRISH WHO WERE AWASH IN THE OCCULT. The irish were very dark and very involved in the occult, true.
It’s a Druid/Celt thing that the Brits wouldn’t understand.
It’s fun and it lasts for about 2 hours. Less if you are out in the country like me.
Halloween has origins in the ancient festival known as Samhain (pronounced sow-in or sau-an),[4][5] which is derived from Old Irish and means roughly “summer’s end”.[5] This was a Gaelic festival celebrated mainly in Ireland and Scotland. However, similar festivals were held by other Celts – for example the festival of Calan Gaeaf (pronounced kalan-geyf) which was held by the ancient Britons.
Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise showing a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The young children on the right bob for apples. A couple in the center play a variant, which involves retrieving an apple hanging from a string. The couples at left play divination games.The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the “lighter half” of the year and beginning of the “darker half”, and is sometimes[6] regarded as the “Celtic New Year”.[7]
The celebration has some elements of a festival of the dead. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family’s ancestors were honoured and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.[8][9] Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.[10] Sometimes two bonfires would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.
Another common practise was divination, which often involved the use of food and drink.
The name ‘Halloween’ and many of its present-day traditions derive from the Old English era
I am recalling from recollection here that Alexander the Great when he made it up to where there celtics are watched them (the celtics) cut open human beings and spill their entrials open and from their twisting and writhing try to devine the future. Sickened by the whole spectacle Alexander order them all slaughtered ...
“People dress up in silly outfits and then demand to be paid off (treat) with an implied threat if not paid off (trick).”
Yeah, but it’s not really “people.” It’s kids. They live off older people in every society on earth, not just the socialistic ones.
Aw, lighten up. I can think of a host of particular complaints about Halloween (the slutiness of women’s costumes, overly morbid obsessions, etc.), but overall, it’s fun. And as for being bothered every five minutes, try turning the lights off in the house. Or go out, for that matter, though not to malls or bars, lest you see someone dressed up and having fun.
“awash in the occult ...”
You are correct. October 31st is the biggest day of the year for people in witchcraft/occult. That’s why more and more Christians are not celebrating Halloween once they find out the true source of it.
Many churches will have parties for the youth that night, so the kids can have a gathering — just a harvest time fest or something similar.
I would suspect Brits celebrated author JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame may have a little bit to do with the hyping of Halloween as well.
BTW, I am a huge HP fan, so this is not a rant against HP.
“I am recalling from recollection here that Alexander the Great when he made it up to where there celtics are watched them (the celtics) cut open human beings and spill their entrials open and from their twisting and writhing try to devine the future”
That sort of thing has happened all over the place, at different times. Not always does it involve humans, though. more often animals. We call it “augury”.
Let’s make a deal with the Brits: We take back the cult of Halloween. They take back the cult of Marx and Engles. I realize Karl Marx was a German, but the Brits harbored him, didn’t they?
But the CULT of RAP & HIP HOP they embrace with fervor.
Think the lad needs to lighten up a tad.
Article written by a limey named Damian. Perfect.
Almost. Alexander never made it into Celtic territory. Julius Caesar crossed the channel into Britain and wrote in disgust of the barbarity he saw the Britons and especially their druids perform. Of course, Julius Caesar killed probably a million people when the world was far less populated than it is now, so how much stock you put in his judgement is questionable.
Not really. Our Halloween has very little to do with Samhain, the celtic celebration it’s based on. The author is referring to the American reinvention of the holiday as candy day. Candy day is all American.
I’m worried that if they do take back the cult of Marx and Engles; that would leave the cult founded by Mohammed.
England - as you know - is harboring millions of his followers.
I notice that little summary there didn’t mention anything about All Hallows’ Eve, the vigil of All Saints day.
Whatever pagan antecedent the vigil may have supplanted, All Saints has since at least the 8th century been celebrated on November 1st as a Christian feast day. That’s 1200 years of solid history that people like to conveniently ignore in favor of some much less clear connection to Samhain.
Frankly, I think in America this mostly harmless holiday has taken a bad turn toward an idiotically cult-like worship of not just death but psychotic violence.
At my church we have the kids dress up as saints. We stole the day from the pagans once, made it take a shower and washed the stink of death off it. Let’s do it again.
Are they ready to give up wigs on judges? Calling Santa, Father Christmas? And warm beer?
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