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First, Christmas and Halloween are holidays with both Christian and pagan origins that that have undergone a variety of transformations over the years. The word Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass” derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse. The earliest that the birth of Christ was attributed to the date December 25th appears in a Roman calendar in A.D. 360. Historians believe that early Catholic religious leaders set Christmas on December 25th. They did so in an attempt to incorporate the idea of Christ’s birth into Roman and European pagan celebrations of the winter solstice that occurred around that time of year. Some of the pagan rituals associated with solstice included special meals, gift giving, and decorating with evergreen, holly, and mistletoe. The Christmas holiday developed further with the legend of St. Nicholas who lived in the 4th century and is believed to have been a bishop in Asia Minor. The feast of St. Nicholas was originally celebrated on December 6th, and gifts were given the night before. Because the feast of St. Nicholas Day and Christmas were so close, the celebrations were eventually combined.

Similarly, Halloween is a “blended” holiday, with both Christian and pagan origins. All Hallows Day is a Catholic Holiday that occurs on November 1st. In the 5th century B.C., the Celtic Ireland summer officially ended on October 31st, and the Celtic New Year on November 1st was called Samhain. Celtics’ believed that the spirits who had died during the year gathered that night either to possess the souls of the living, or to seek their relatives to help them cross over to the land of the dead. Celtics would hollow out turnips and gourds, and use them to carry the spirits to their proper location. They would paint faces on the gourds in order to ward evil spirits away from their relatives’ spirits. Celtics would extinguish all fires in their homes, and dress up in ghoul-like costumes to frighten away evil spirits. The Celtics also believed that on this night faeries would disguise themselves as beggars, and go door to door asking for handouts. If the faeries were turned away they would visit some type of unpleasantness upon the home. Pope Boniface the 4th replaced the old festival of Samhain with the festival of All Saints Day in order to eliminate the pagan ceremony. People, however, continued to celebrate both ceremonies. Finally, Pope Gregory the 3rd decided to change All Saints day so that it always fell on the exact same day as Samhain. By the 1500’s, the two celebrations had merged, and become All Hallows Day, and the evening before had become all Hallows Eve or simply Halloween.

In the 5th century B.C., the Celtic Ireland summer officially ended on October 31st, and the Celtic New Year on November 1st was called Samhain. Celtics’ believed that the spirits who had died during the year gathered that night either to possess the souls of the living, or to seek their relatives to help them cross over to the land of the dead. Celtics would hollow out turnips and gourds, and use them to carry the spirits to their proper location. They would paint faces on the gourds in order to ward evil spirits away from their relatives’ spirits. Celtics would extinguish all fires in their homes, and dress up in ghoul-like costumes to frighten away evil spirits. The Celtics also believed that on this night faeries would disguise themselves as beggars, and go door to door asking for handouts. If the faeries were turned away they would visit some type of unpleasantness upon the home.

Originally, All Hallows' Eve was one of the great fire festivals of Britain at the time of the Druids. In Scotland it was associated with the time when the spirits of the dead, the demons, witches, and sorcerers were usually active and propitious.
Paradoxically, All Hallows' Eve was also a night when young people performed magical rituals to determine their future marriage partners. The youth of the villages carried on with much merry-making and sensual revelry, but the older people took great care to safeguard their homes from the evil spirits, witches, and demons who had exceptional power that night...

Can you guess my source here???

Question the Practice of Halloween... Or the Christian Practice of Satanism

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!

Oh My GOD, someone that has actually READ a book and knows the proper histories of these two holidays. I thought I was all alone in the world regarding these issues. You are to be commended my friend! Thank you for your words...I sometimes get so wound up about this very subject that my ire (and occasionally my mouth) override my common sense and I utterly fail to get my point across. This happens the closer it gets to Oct. 1st. Other times of the year I am better able to convey my point of view.

Bless you my well versed friend, carry on, never stop learning, and remember to always stay young in your mind and heart.

It is not the issue of reality vs. fantasy...it is that we have the greatest ability of all, and that is the power to combine the two into what makes our hearts soar!