Question by Sid: Halloween History?
Can someone to the best of their knowledge explain to me the origins of Halloween, and then discuss its relevance in modern society.
Best answer:
Answer by starrwoode
halloween is an ancient celtic celebration to honor their dead reletives by setting a dinner for the dead, offering their spirits a chance to be with the living and pass on any messages they may have. today the dinner has become handing out candy to children who originally dressed like ghosts and skeletons, to represent the dead. I know it isnt really a great representation of it now, but christmas doesnt really reflect its real meaning either.
What do you think? Answer below!
2 responses to Halloween History?
Halloween is a scrunch up of two words, “Hallows Eve” The day before Hollowmas. This is the day before All Saints Day. Hence the eve part of it. The actual celebration sprouted from a Celtic pagan New Years day which is called Samhain.
This is the pagan new year day and marks the beginning of the Wiccan new year and winter. The celebration is several thousand years old. Traditionally, this was the time that all the harvest was in and all the family celebrated the harvest with a great feast.
Later, with the coming of Christianity, the day of celebration was for those who died and had passed into sainthood. Thus, the reason for citing the saints names on All Saints Day.
Halloween History?
Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of 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 to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 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 was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints’, All Saints’, and All Souls’, were called Hallowmas.
I really enjoy halloween and researched all of this while I was sitting on my couch yesterday waiting for trick or treaters
Halloween History?
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