history of Halloween - long and essentially OT

[Schlobin at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 5062

Halloween and its origin.

Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, is a festival celebrated on 31 October, 
the evening prior to the Christian Feast of All Saints (All Saints' 
Day). Halloween is the name for the eve of Samhain, (pronounced sow-in) a 
celebration 
marking the beginning of winter as well as the first day of the New Year
within the ancient Celtic culture of the British Isles. (beginning around 
2000 B.C.)The time of  Samhain consisted of the eve of the feast and the day 
itself (31 October
and 1 November ).

This event was a crucial seam in the social and religious fabric of the 
Celtic year, and the eve of Samhain set the tone for the annual 
celebration as a threatening, fantastic, mysterious rite of passage to a
new year.

The religious belief of the Celts emphasized pastoral deities, and 
Celtic festivals stressed seasonal transitions.

Beltane, the beginning of summer, was celebrated at the end of April and
the beginning of May. Samhain signaled the commencement of winter and, 
together with Beltane, divided the year into cold and hot seasons.

Samhain marked the end of preparations for winter, when flocks and herds
had been secured and harvested crops had been stored.

The eve of this festival brought with it another kind of harvest. On 
this occasion, it was believed that a gathering of supernatural forces 
occurred as during no other period of the year. The eve and day of 
Samhain were characterized as a time when the barriers between the human
and supernatural worlds were broken.

Otherworldly entities, such as the souls of the dead, were able to visit
earthly inhabitants, and humans could take the opportunity to penetrate 
the domains of the gods and supernatural creatures. Fiery tributes and 
sacrifices of animals, crops, and possibly human beings were made to 
appease supernatural powers that controlled the fertility of the land. 
Not a festival honoring any particular Celtic deity, Samhain 
acknowledged the entire spectrum of nonhuman forces that roamed the 
earth during that period.

Given the upheaval of normal human activities and expectations on the 
eve and day of Samhain, it was also thought to be an especially 
propitious time for ascertaining information about the future course of 
one's life. Individuals used various methods of divination 
attempting to discover their fortunes, good or ill, and to foretell 
events such as marriage, sickness, or death.

Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops as 
sacrifices. During the celebration, people wore costumes, often consisting of 
animal heads and skins to emphasize the connection between humans and animals.
When the celebrations were over, the people re-lit their hearth fires (which 
they had extinguished earlier in the evening) from the sacred bonfire. This 
emphasized the cycle of life and the seasons.

By A.D. 43, the 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 may explain 
the tradition of bobbing for apples.

Samhain remained a popular festival among the Celtic people throughout 
the christianization of Great Britain.

The British church attempted to divert this interest in pagan customs by
adding a Christian celebration to the calendar on the same date as 
Samhain.  Pope Boniface IV designated November 1st  as All Saints Day. 
The Christian festival, the Feast of All Saints, commemorates 
the known and unknown saints and martyrs of the Christian religion just as 
Samhain 
had acknowledged and paid tribute to the Celtic deities. The eve of the 
Celtic festival was also christianized, becoming the Vigil of All Saints
or All Hallows Eve (with special offices existing in both the Anglican 
and Roman churches). The medieval British commemoration of All Saints' 
Day may have prompted the universal celebration of this feast throughout
the Christian church.

The customs of Samhain survived independently of the Christian holy day.

Gradually, the eve of All Hallows (Halloween) lost much of its Celtic 
religious significance for the masses, and it became a secular 
observance, although many traditionally Celtic ideas continued to be 
associated with the evening. Divination activities remained a popular 
practice. Adults, dressed in fantastic disguises and masks, imitated 
supernatural beings and visited homes where occupants would offer 
tributes of food and drink to them. A fear of nocturnal creatures, such 
as bats and owls, persisted, since these animals were believed to 
communicate with the spirits of the dead.

Halloween was celebrated only in the Celtic areas of Great Britain: 
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and northern rural England. In non-Celtic 
England, many of the customs of Halloween were assimilated into a 
commemorative festival that arose in the seventeenth century as the 
celebration of Guy Fawkes Day (5 November). English Protestant settlers 
in the New World did not bring the custom of Halloween with them in any 
organized way.
 Irish  and Scottish immigrants introduced scattered All Hallows Eve 
observances 
to America, but it was only in the years after the massive immigration 
of the Irish to the United States during the potato famine (1845-1846) 
that Halloween became a national event. Americans began to dress up in 
costume, and go house to house asking for food or money. Young women believed 
that, on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future 
husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors.

The American tradition of "trick or treating" probably dates back to the 
early All Souls' Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor 
citizens would beg for food and 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 children who would visit the 
houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money eventually 
took up "going-a-souling".

The tradition of dressing in costume has both European and Celtic roots (see 
above Druids) Some thought that they might encounter ghosts if they left 
their home in the dark. To avoid being recognized, people would wear masks. 

 Americans began to dress up in costume, and go house to house asking for 
food or money. Young women believed that, on Halloween they could divine the 
name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple 
parings or mirrors.

In the late 1800s, there we a move in American to mold Halloween into a 
holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers, than about ghosts, 
pranks, and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for 
both children and adults became the most common method to celebrate the day. 
Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything 
frightening or grotesque out of Halloween celebrations. Thus, Halloween lost 
most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the 
20th century.

By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular holiday. Vandalism 
began to plague celebrations and in the 1950s had to be strenuously 
addressed. Only in the last five years, for example, has the city of Detroit 
stemmed the tide of setting fires on "Devil's night".

Modern Halloween activities have centered on mischief making and 
masquerading in costumes, often resembling otherworldly characters. Folk
customs, now treated as games have continued from the various divination 
practices of the ancient 
celebrants of this occasion. Supernatural figures (such as the ghost, 
the witch, the vampire, the devil) lay a key role in supplying an aura 
of the mysterious to the evening, whether or not they originally had an 
association with the festival. Children are particularly susceptible to 
the imagery of Halloween, as can be seen in their fascination with the 
demonic likeness of a carved and illuminated pumpkin, known as the 
jack-o'-lantern. In recent times, children have taken up the practice of
dressing in Halloween costumes and visiting homes in search of edible and
monetary treats, lightly threatening to play a trick on the owner if a 
treat is not produced. Some kids would collect money for UNESCO, thus 
giving the holiday a unique benevolent flavor. There also has been 
renewed interest in Halloween as a time when adults can also cross 
cultural boundaries and shed their identities by indulging in an 
uninhibited evening of frivolity.  There is a strong tradition within the gay 
community
of Halloween as a time for drag queens to come out of the woodwork.
Thus, the basic Celtic quality of the 
festival as an evening of annual escape from normal realities and 
expectations has remained into the twentieth century.

Halloween is therefore a secular holiday.

Modern day witches, wiccans and pagans celebrate their (some say) most 
important
holiday on Samhain/October 31st. It is often called the Witches New Year. 
Samhain
derives some elements from its ancient forebearers. The veil between the 
worlds is considered thin. Some perform divination. Many honor their 
ancestors.  Many remember the witches burned in Europe. It's a harvest 
holiday, honoring the turn of the season. Some invoke the dying god who will 
be reborn in the spring.
More information is available at http://www.witchvox.com. Witches emphasize 
that they do not worship the devil, sacrifice animals or people, and are a 
nature based non-violent spiritual practice.

Some Christians currently criticize the celebration of Halloween stating that 
it is a religious holiday about Satan worship, and black magic.