Posted on 11/01/2003 12:12:30 PM PST by Willie Green
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:35:23 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Halloween is over, but I can still see beaming ghosts and goblins, witches and sorcerers, monsters and hip-hop stars parading around outside my local elementary school yesterday. They were the lucky kids; many schools offered only "harvest celebrations" yesterday.
The harvest celebrators saw Halloween as someone else's holiday. When my children were in preschool, both Jewish and Christian schools objected to Halloween. The Jewish preschool teachers explained to me, a Christian, that Halloween celebrated a Christian holiday, All Saint's Day. Though I grew up Catholic, this was news to me, but OK, no Halloween party in Jewish preschool. One year later, in a Christian preschool: no Halloween party because Halloween was a devil-worshipping, Satanic holiday.
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The Isaly's lived 5~6 streets over from my neighborhood.
(I think they must've been either 2nd or 3rd generation from the founders.)
Anyway, Klondike bars would melt if you dropped 'em in your bag with the rest of the goodies...
So you had to eat 'em as you went around to extort goodies from the other neighbors.
It was often too cold to be eating ice cream, and it got awful sticky on the inside of our plastic masks. But we sure didn't care, life was GOOD!
;^)
Bugga bugga bugga!
In 2000 we had 97 kids call...
In 2001, 30 kids; fallout and fear from 911, I suspect.
2002 we had 45.
This year, 67.
And there seem to be more kids than ever in the neighborhod, which is quiet and relatively trouble free.
Most did. Those that didn't got a single piece of candy. Those that did it with vigor rcv'd Tootsie Pops or Blow Pops in addition to other candy.
No, the custom came to THIS country with the Irish.
It is NOT a Roman Catholic custom.
If it were, it would have come with Catholic immigrants of other nationalities as well. It did not. I suggest that YOU become more familiar with history.
This reply is to katana and other confused hecklers of why we do not celebrate Halloween. There is nothing to celebrate unless you are born that day - i.e. katana.
I repeat it is a Catholic import to the U.S.. I'm surprised that people don't know that.
Many Christians celebrate holidays, such as Halloween, without thinking about their origins or true meaning. It is impossible to separate Halloween from the Druids because they originated the "holiday."
For several hundred years before Christ, the Celts inhabited what is now France, Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland. Celtic priests were called Druids. These people were eventually conquered by the Romans.
Information about the Celts and Druids comes from Caesar and the Roman historians, Greek writings from about 200 B.C., and very early records found in Ireland. Greek and Roman writings about the Druids dwell heavily on their frequent and barbaric human sacrifices. The ancient Irish texts say little about human sacrifices, but detail the Druids' use of magic to raise storms, lay curses on places, kill by the use of spells, and create magical obstacles.
Davies, however, a 16th century writer who traced his family lineage directly back to Druid priests who fought against Caesar, clearly describes the human sacrifices of his ancestors and the secret sacrifices still performed regularly by the Druids of his time.
By 47 A.D., Rome finally defeated the Druids in England and outlawed human sacrifices. The few remaining Druids went underground.
Today a growing group of people claiming to be of direct Druid descent, still practice their religion, including human sacrifice. Those in England still perform ceremonies at Stonehenge.
October 31st was celebrated by the Druids with many human sacrifices and a festival honoring their sun god and Samhain, the lord of the dead. They believed that the sinful souls of those who died during the year were in a place of torment, and would be released only if Samhain was pleased with their sacrifices.
Irish records tell of the fascination the Catholic monks had with the powerful Druids, and Druids soon became important members of their monasteries. Pope Gregory the Great decided to incorporate the Druids' holiday into the church. He made the proclamation, "They are no longer to sacrifice beasts to the devil, but they may kill them for food to the praise of God, and give thanks to the giver of all gifts for His bounty." Pope Gregory III moved the church festival of October 31st to November 1st and called it All Hallows or All Saints' Day. Pope Gregory IV decreed that the day was to be a universal church observance. The term Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve.
The founding fathers of America REFUSED to permit the holiday to be observed because they knew it was a pagan holiday. Halloween was NOT widely celebrated in the U.S. until about 1900. In the 1840's there was a terrible potato famine in Ireland which sent thousands of Catholic Irish to America. They brought Halloween with them.
The modern custom of going from door to door asking for food and candy goes back to the time of the Druids. They believed that sinful, lost souls were released upon the earth by Samhain for one night on October 31st while they awaited their judgment. They were thought to throng about the houses of the living and were greeted with banquet-laden tables. People greatly feared these spirits and thought that the spirits would harm and even kill them if the sacrifices they gave did not appease Samhain. They carved demonic faces into pumpkins or large turnips, placing a candle in them to keep the evil spirits away from their homes.
The tradition of bobbing for apples and giving out nuts came from a Roman addition to the Druidic New Year’s eve. The Romans worshiped Pomona who was the goddess of the harvest. They combined their harvest festival to Pomona with Halloween.
Very little archeological evidence of the Druids has been found, but there is excellent agreement between the Roman and Irish documents. Both clearly state that the knowledge of the Druids was never committed to writing but passed from generation to generation by oral teaching. This was to protect their secrets. In his writings, Davies indicates that he came under much persecution by his family for putting in writing his information about Druids. The same is true today. Nothing is put into writing. The Druids continue on secretly with much the same traditions.
The widespread problem of harmful substances such as razor blades, drugs, poisons, needles, etc. being placed in the Halloween treats here in America is no accident. Testimonies of several ex-Satanists show that these children killed and injured by the "treats" are sacrifices to Satan (or Samhain). Satanists throughout the world continue to perform human sacrifices on Halloween.
References: Celebrations - The Complete Book of American Holidays, Robt. J. Myers, (Doubleday & Co., 1972). The Famous Druids, A. L. Owen, (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1962). The American Book of Days, George William Douglas, (H.W. Wilson Co., 1948).
This is WHY we DO NOT celebrate Halloween. Hey if you want to - knock yourself out - celebrate whatever makes you happy.
The older ones did.
The younger ones were still "in training" and needed a little parental guidance and coaching. (I didn't penalize any of 'em for failing to make the grade. In fact, the more timid little ones got a little extra bonus to help them figure out it wasn't really all that terrible of an ordeal.)
You are so right.
Spiderman costumes were very popular with the toddlers.
One little Spidey had his eyes set on the whole bowl and actually grabbed a hold of it.
His dad and I got a good laugh out of that. Another Spidey tyke saw of our dogs and was ready to abandon Trick or Treating in hopes of befriending the dog.
Thankfully!!
Kids need to experiance independance, It teaches them more than any Do Gooder ever could.
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