Origin of HalloweenOrigin of Halloween: The name Halloween is condensed from All Hallows' Even (even is short for evening) which came from the Old English term meaning "all saints' evening", being the eve of All Hallows' Day or All Saints' Day. Origin of Halloween: The history The ancient Celtics (Druids from Britain, Scotland, France, Germany, and other Celtic countries) had a festival called Samhain (pronounced: sah-wen). Samhain was the lord of death and evil spirits. This festival was observed at the end of the harvest season by offering sacrifices to Samhain. Sometimes the end of this season is referred to as the Celtic New Year. November 1 has also been called the Witches' New Year. It was a tradition for the Celtics during this time to prepare for winter by making sure they had the supplies and food needed to last until spring. The ancient Celts held the belief that October 31 was the day that the "curtain" separating the living and the dead was removed. This was when the spirits or devils were supposed to have been at their peak ability and power to revisit earth.The dead were believed to have been the cause of curses to the living such as sickness and damaged crops. The Celts also considered November 1 to be the day of death as leaves died and fell from trees, it was getting darker sooner, and it was getting colder. Their fear intensified as they believed that their sun god, Muck Olla, was losing strength and that Samhain was gaining power and the "upper hand." Additionally, they believed that on October 31, Samhain assembled the spirits of all who had died that year so they could have the privilege of returning to their former home to visit the living on the eve (31st) of the feast of Samhain. Those spirits were believed to have been confined to the bodies of animals to receive punishment for their evil deeds. Origin of Halloween: The ceremonies, symbols, and sacrifices It was for these reasons that they did certain activities at this festival each year. They had bon fires, burning the bones of their livestock that they slaughtered for the winter and donned masks and costumes to copy and thereby calm or appease the evil spirits. Druid priests led ceremonies involving the sacrificing of animals and humans by way of being burned to death. It is clearly evident that Halloween has always been a celebration of death. "Trick or treat" is a reenactment of the Druidic practices. Today, our candy (acceptable sacrifice) serves to appease the children costumed as ghouls and other creatures/characters (copying evil spirits). Obviously, some kids only want to (or are only allowed to) wear nice, cute costumes, but scary costumes are typically and originally were the theme. The whole point behind Halloween costumes is not to play dress-up, but to copy something in particular (evil spirits/spirits of the dead). The response towards someone refusing to give a treat is to have a trick played on them. In essence, celebrating Halloween and trick or treating is like play-acting the actual traditional practices built around idolatry, superstition, and fear. Though most families see it as fun and far removed from the origin of Halloween, they are still supporting the idea that it is acceptable and good to pretend and fantasize about being evil, dark, frightening-whatever you want to call it. The Halloween many people celebrate today may not contain all of the meaning of the origin of Halloween, but it is still very much focused on the dark, evil, deceiving, and Satanic authorities in this world. It is still a very clear picture of old practices. Maybe some people don't see it as a big deal because they don't realize the affect and effect of evil powers that are at work in the world. Of course, that results from the art of desensitization and deception, a craft honed by the father of lies himself... Return to Holidays and Celebrations from Origin of Halloween |
