Happy Halloween
Yes, it is the spookiest time of the year. When little children dress up in costumes and go door to door asking total strangers for candy.
Now, how many children know the true origins of this holiday? Do they really know why they dress in costume and disguise themselves as something they are not? Do they know the reason why we carve up pumkins with faces and stick lights in them? What is the origin of handing out candy?
Okay for those of you that don't know the reasons behind Halloween here it is in a nutshell...
Way back when, our ancestors believe that the dead rose at this time of year (specifically this night). The dead would haunt the living and would try to posses their living relatives or anyone that they could find. So to stop these spirits, people would dress in disguises and mask so that the spirits would not recognize them as their relatives or even human beings. Pumpkins were carved in scary faces to also scare away the spirits. The people would go door to door with their carved pumpkins (candles were placed in them because there was no flashlights back then) scaring away the evil spirits. Candy, breads, and other sweets were placed out to appease spirits so that they would not remain in the house.
Most children are not interested in the true reason for many holidays. All they know is that on Halloween they get candy. If you happen to have a child, let them know the real reason we dress up. We are scaring away evil spirits.
Leave a Comment
lisakaye on
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I'm sure most people have no idea the origins of Halloween, I think it's pretty amazing how it's gone from that to what it is today |
TheJoeD on
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I actually knew that, that's why I think Mexico's 'Day of the Dead' is better, as it is more traditional. |
lisakaye on
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I agree, but at the same time I kind of like our halloween now! They get into some weird stuff with the "day of the dead"...not that it isn't interesting but still kind of odd |
LadyGrace on
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Actually, Halloween comes from the ancient Celtic pagan holiday Samhain. It was basically a celebration of the harvest and the ending of summer. They also believed that the barrier to the other side was as thin as it would ever be, so they could tell the future on this day too. Also, they'd take food to the dead spirits in order to appease them and help them cross over (this is where candy comes from). Their celebration was very solemn and dark. Across the continent in Rome, they celebrated a similar holiday by worshiping Pomona. They had a debaucherous time thanking her for a great harvest. (Bobbing for apples comes from the celebrations in this tradition.) Well, when the Roman's invaded Britain, these two holidays collided and developed a primitive form of Halloween. Not exactly the same as we have it today, but pretty similar. It morphed a bit when the Catholics started to rise to power. Instead of saying the pagans couldn't worship, the Catholics incorporated Catholic traditions with the pagans. About a thousand years later, Halloween was brought to America by the Irish and flourished here. Halloween is an ancient pagan holiday. To say that it's not "traditional" is basically a slap in the face to all pagans. Sure, America has commercialized it, but it's not as if the basic themes and feelings are there. |
