HOW THE CHRISTIANS STOLE CHRISTMAS (PART 3)

AND OTHER PAGAN HOLIDAYS. PART 3

HALLOWEEN

When Halloween comes around, your biggest concern is usually to find the most original, scariest, funniest or sexiest costume to party in, right? Unless you're one of those people that thinks Halloween is for the devil! These Harry Potter fearing fools are wrong, Halloween has less to do with the Devil and more to do with celebrating a new year sharing time with departed loved ones.

Halloween is a Celtic holiday that originated in Ireland. It falls on Samhain,
(wrongly known as the Lord of the Dead-this is just a myth,) and it represent the "end of summer." As the third and final harvest it brings on the dark winter half of the year which can be on October 31st or November 1st. To the Celts this was their New Year. It is also a "Spirit Night," a magical interval when the laws of time and space are temporarily suspended, and the thin veil between the worlds is lifted. This is a time that they could communicate with their ancestors and departed loved ones. At this time the departed souls would revisit their old homes in order to warm themselves by a fire and comfort themselves.
Good cheer and food was provided for them, and this was known as the "Feast of the Dead." Sometimes food offerings would be left at altars and on doorsteps for these "wandering dead." Candles would be lit and left in windows to help guide the spirits of loved ones home. Turnips were hollowed out and carved to look like protective spirits because this was a night of magic and chaos. If spirits were not offered food and comfort or had no homes to return to they would cause harm or mischief. Because of this, some people would disguise themselves as spirits, sometimes by just wearing all white,
so that the real spirits would not recognize them. Others would just wear disguises or even dressed up as the opposite sex, so that they could fool the spirits.

Halloween was brought to Americans during the Great Famine in the 1840's, that caused the mass immigration of the Irish and their traditions. By this time Halloween had evolved to an evening of fun for children who dressed in costumes, then went from house to house collecting candy. It was believed that the tradition of Trick-or-Treating began when Celts would go door to door asking for food to donate for a great feast that they had in the town. Their crude Jack-O-Lanterns carved out of turnips or large potatoes changed to pumpkins when the Irish realized that our pumpkins were perfect for carving and keeping a lit candle inside of.

The story behind the Jack-O-Lanter varies but is quite interesting.
The story involves a man (sometimes a boy) named jack who has been portrayed as a mischievous or greedy trickster. The Devil wanted Jacks soul but Jack tricked the Devil into climbing up a tree and then placed a cross on the trunk, trapping him. Jack agreed to let him down only if the Devil promised to never ask for Jacks soul again. When jack died he was denied access into heaven because of his troublesome ways. Jack went down to Hell, but the Devil remembered the promise and told Jack he could not take his soul. Jack was doomed to wander elsewhere in the darkness, but the Devil felt sorry for him and tossed him a burning coal that jack placed inside of a turnip and carried with him to light his way. There are many versions of this story.

Other traditions we participate in, like bobbing for apples, are also
pagan traditions. This was a for of marriage divination. The first person to
bite an apple would be the first to be married in the new year. There were many other ways to predict fortunes such as apple peeling that foretold how many years longer you would live or who your future spouse would be.

Everyone knows the colors orange and black to be Halloween colors and
the reason why is because of orange bonfires that were known to be lit on the
night of Halloween in contrast with the black sky. The word bonfire actually
came from "bonefires" because of the fact that after feasting the bones of
the animals eaten would be thrown in the fire as an offering for healthy
livestock in the new year.

I hope this article helps you appreciate this holiday as something
more than just a commercialized candy day, even though there is nothing wrong with a bit (a lot!) of candy.

If you enjoyed this article please check out the other parts to learn about Valentines day, Easter and Christmas