Celts gave Halloween its spooky start more than 2,000 years ago

Las Vegas Review Journal ^ | 10/28/03 | Carolina Chacon

[Semper Paratus]

The customs described mirror Mexico's "Day of the Dead" celebrated almost on the same day.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"The customs described mirror Mexico's "Day of the Dead" celebrated almost on the same day."

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I believe the Mexican Day of the Dead is November 2, All Souls Day. And I don't think children go out seeking candy on the Day of the Dead, do they?

[FeliciaCat]

Interesting...growing up in so.Cal I remember that.

[kallisti]

Wicca World????????

[tsomer]

The Celts thanked the gods for their good crops and prayed for prosperity in the coming year.

And for good measure, they strangled some unlucky schnook and threw him in a bog.

Wonder why the story left that part out?

[FeliciaCat]

Go on any search engine and look for Witchcraft/pagan stores...you will be AMAZED at the the hundreds of shops around the country (and MANY in the UK) that specialize in Wicca/witchcraft/pagan supplies along with the generic "new age/angel" stuff.

[FeliciaCat]

I thought the story was they put him in a hallowed out tree and set fire to it...or was it sacraficing a virgin under a full-moon within a circle of rocks?...who can keep them straight?

[oyez]

I thought Celts played basketball in New England.

[Rummyfan]

But all Soul's Day (or All Saints Day as it is known here in the STates) is an essentially Catholic holy day, which native peoples in Central and South America have combined with their older cultural celebrations.

[Rummyfan]

Weren't there also burnings? The Celtic druids were a bloody bunch (as were a lot of the ancient religions, the Mayans e.g.).

[kallisti]

i'm sure that's true. my amazement was from the commercial aspects. do they advertise specials on crystals for their holy days?
i'm also amazed at the people that shop there. something about a (blank) and their (blank) are soon (blank).

[Jim Cane]

The Celtic druids were a bloody bunch

Yeah, but not the Romans. "Peace through sharing and caring" was the Imperial Motto.

[FeliciaCat]

"do they advertise specials on crystals for their holy days?"


As a matter of fact.....;)

[kallisti]

i gotta get out more...

[general_re]

"Peace through sharing and caring" was the Imperial Motto.

Wow, I always wondered what that "SPQR" thingy meant! Thanks!

:^)

[tsomer]

Weren't there also burnings?

Oh, I really don't know how they did it, but they did. Another quaint practice was collecting heads, which they proudly displayed from their houses.

The Celts ranged all over Europe before the Romans subdued them on the continent; the Gauls were Celts. They were bloody. You always hear how bloody Christian Europe was, but none recall how much worse pre-Christian society was.

[blam]

Tollund Man (Found in the bog, naked with a rope around his neck)

[blam]

The Han Chinese emperors were know for employing red-headed men as their 'magic men.'

[Jim Cane]

I always wondered what that "SPQR" thingy meant!

Well, you know what they say when in Rome "Vinny, Vito, Vino." (Let the Buyer Beware.)