Posted on 10/31/2004 11:27:20 AM PST by freedom44
Halloween dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts' new year began Nov. 1, a day that marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter a time often associated with human death. Celts believed the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. Oct. 31, Samhain, they believed ghosts returned to earth. The Druids, or Celtic priests, built huge sacred bonfires, where crops and animals were burned as sacrifices. The Celts wore costumes, typically 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.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory, and two Roman festivals began to be combined with the Celtic celebration:
• Feralia, a day in late October when Romans commemorated the passing of the dead.
• A day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. Her symbol was the apple, which may explain the tradition of bobbing for apples.
By the 800s, Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated Nov. 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 also was called All-hallows or All-hallowmas, and the night before it all-Hallows eve, and eventually, Halloween.
The trick-or-treat tradition probably dates back to the early All Souls' Day parades in England, when the poor would beg for food. Families would give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the family's dead relatives. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits.
The practice, which was referred to as "going a-souling," was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food and money.
Then the Americans took it, corrupted it and turned into another fake commercial "holiday."
Ahh. The good old days when a kid could get booze, a hot meal and some spending money on the Devils day.
OK, here's the annual thread about evil Halloween. Hey, it's fun, it's psychologically useful... set up evil and knock it down... if we didn't have it, we would have to invent it.
...and then spread it to modern Germans and Japanese.
Naaaah. A time-traveler saw a picture of Therza Heinz-Kerry and when he returned to his own time, well, that was the real start of Haloween.
Just like MTV and fast food.
Not bashing it, i love Halloween just posting the origin.
The nations oldest Halloween Parade is in the little town of Hiawatha, Kansas. People attend from all over the world.
I love our "fake commercial Holiday" best, thank you very much!
What? Beer AND money?!?!? I missed out on ALL the fun!
LOL! Best line of the day!
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