Well, it's just about time I just tell you what the deal is with this halloween
Well, it is the day of H a l l o w e e n, and a best friend blogger, Aswin, who is from a country that is India, but now has joined the US of A to work and reside for now, wondered what the situation was with this day of Halloween. And so I answered his question and now will allow others to also see the answer to the question in case it has been perplexing anyone else of this world. And so I shall tell you how the theory of Halloween came to be according to my sources of good knowledge:
Halloween was created for everyone to remember the saints that died before us, on All Saints Day. But then people started getting scared that the deceased saints would come back and haunt them like ghosts the night after All Saint's Day. So then they started wearing sheets over their heads to pretend they were ghosts in the hopes of making the deceased feel there was no need for them to bother anyone since there were already ghosts around.
Well, soon, it became the case that the saints were catching on to this trick and so the people then had to resort to dressing up like other things, such as tigers and pickled eggs and such. When this, as well, had no effect on the possible deceased, they began leaving candy by the doorsteps to sweeten up the deceased's mouths.
Well, this worked so well that the deceased supposedly loved the candy, and when there was no candy (a "treat"), they would get upset and put toilet paper on the house or treet (a "trick).
Somewhere after that, so the legend goes, things got mixed up and then the people in costumes started going to doorsteps to ask for candy and that really is how a lot of things wind up being changed from the original, when really the original might not have had merit in the first place anyhow.
So that is why, up until this very day, little children all the world over, those who still believe in the Tooth Fairy and such, dress upin their costumed finest in search of a treat.
love, orch
posted by Orchard P Dirk @ 9:48 PM
9 Comments:
That is the best tooth fairy I have ever seen :D
I think that original mistake on Halloween is actually the result of a dental conspiracy...they started it all!! Well, that's my conspiracy theory and I'm sticking to it :)
Now that you have put in a blog, i think i will add something i found about this celebration
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Each year, on the last night of October, millions of children across the United States dress-up in Halloween costumes and take to the streets for a spooky dose of Trick or Treat fun. What follows is a brief history of today’s Halloween holiday.
The Celts and Samhain
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in what 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 and the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
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.
All Saints Day
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. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.
Halloween in the New World
As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. Because of the rigid Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition.
wow, i still don't understand the whole halloween thing, i'll have to get used to it with time. anyway, just saying hi and that i'm still here reading.
We thought we'd add this, to make sure that the Devil knows he's NOT WELCOME in Halloween at our house:
By Father Kevin Shanley, O’Carm.
Most of the young trick-or-treaters, prowling the dusky gloom on Halloween, don’t really care much about the background of the holiday/holy day they are celebrating. Dressed in various costumes as goblins and ghosts, heroes or old-time villains, these children unwittingly act out ancient traditions that began with a Celtic pagan festival some 20 centuries ago in Europe, and gradually evolved into the Catholic celebration on the eve of the Feast of All Saints. Much of the tradition, however, is obscured by the relentless passage of time and fading memories.
One thing is certain about the celebration: the devil had no part in it. He was later added to the celebration gradually after St. Patrick bought Christianity to Ireland in 432 A.D. Up to that time, the Irish and other Celtic peoples such as the Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Bretons and others had no notion of a devil in their worship. But they did have a strong sense of an afterlife which was called simply “otherworld.” The Irish Celts called it “Tir na Nog” (land of eternal youth). It was a joyous place.
Wow, what a fascinating account by Jenny and Jason and Aswin and Deleted. I do appreciate your thoughts, and must say, "Can we agree to disagree?" But then that is not quite appropriate, as we do not tend to disagree, but moreover, just give accounts to help each other out. So I will just say instead, "Can we agree that Halloween is quite something else?" And then see how that line develops. And I'm really wondering if anyone else dressed up for Halloween?
love, orchy p dirk
"Can we agree that Halloween is quite something else?"
Absolutely!! I didn't dress up as it isn't celebrated in a big way over here...we have Guy Fawkes(5 Nov.). This is a really weird holiday celebrating a man who tried to blow up the British parliament four hundred years ago this year (the Gunpowder Plot). It is celebrated by people letting of fireworks...to simulate the explosion that never happened? I find that rather strange.
On the execution of the traitors a contemporary of his wrote:
"Last of all came the great devil of all, Guy Fawkes, alias Johnson, who should have put fire to the powder. His body being weak with the torture and sickness he was scarce able to go up the ladder, yet with much ado, by the help of the hangman, went high enough to break his neck by the fall. He made no speech, but with his crosses and idle ceremonies made his end upon the gallows and the block, to the great joy of all the beholders that the land was ended of so wicked a villainy".
Some places used to actually burn a firework packed effigy to celebrate the day. I think this has been stopped practically everywhere, I hope so. Gruesome.
Popping over to say "Hi"
I think you are traveliing far and wide...? Hope the journey is still well :)
22/11/05...2:25 on my (home)clock which is 15 minutes fast anyway.
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving :D
I must be short, but will respond more soon, I do hope, but I must just say thank you to you all for your lovely comments and ideas, and a special thank you to Dreamwalker who is a darling and remembers me on Thanksgiving.
love, orch
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