Where does Halloween come from? How did it became a holiday? Does anybody know the history behind Halloween?
Halloween is a celebration honoring the death of the sun god in ancient pagan religions. This is when the final harvests are taken and stored and it was and still is by some believed to be the day when the barrier between our world and the hereafter blurs, and the dead's spirits would come back to visit their families. Some would leave out extra food at the table for their guests, for it was considered rude to not welcome your ancestors' visit. This was seen as good luck.
Nowadays, neo-paganism celebrates it under many of its old names from a variety of ancient pagan traditions, most commonly it is called Samhain (pronounced "SAM-wen"). It is called the witches' new year and is a day for honoring the end of the growing season and nature's bounty as well as a day to honor one's ancestors. It is, in a sense, a death festival, but with the promise of rebirth on the horizon. The death is temporary and the sun god is reborn on the winter solstice (Yule) but that's a completely seperate holiday. Life is seen as a cycle and treated as such, so death, while sad, is not some terrifying thing to be feared. It is honored, like birth, on Halloween/All Hallow's Eve/ Samhain/etc.
Granted there has been lots of modern era influence, such as Christian superstitions fed into it, as well as other urban myths that have evolved into the mainstream Halloween we see marketed today. It is not to worship Satan, but to honor the end of the growing season and to reflect on the reality of death and await the coming of new life. The costumes come from the Central American holiday Day of the Dead. The revelers would dress up in elaborate costumes in the fashion of their ancestors to honor them and still practice it to this day.
Personally, as a pagan, I view it in its revamped form which was salvaged from the remnants of what it once was. BUT, that certainly doesn't stop me from dressing up and giving little kids candy =D
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Filed under: History of Halloween
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Halloween should actually be called HELLoween. That is not the devils birthday like how most people say. That is the day when satan basically has free time for a day. But he does have an limit.
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it a sabbat the pagan new year
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It is an excuse for a party but has never been a holiday.
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Actually Halloween was a pagan holiday that celebrated the dead and the pagan god of the dead.
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History
Halloween is based on All Hallows Eve, the day before all saints day in the catholic church. Only in the US and to a lesser degree in Canada is it considered a holiday. Everywhere else its just another day.
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Ireland, 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. The church amalgamated all hallows eve with the old celtic tradition and halloween was born.
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Here sweetie, check this site out.
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=713&display_order=1&mini_id=1076
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Halloween was originally a Catholic celebration. Nov. 1 is the feast of All Saints. At one time Catholics used to dress up as their patron saint the night before All Saints Day. That celebration was done in a pagan culture and soon became secular. People began dressing as ghosts and scary things and the name was changed to Halloween. When I taught Sunday School I explained to my students where the true meaning of Halloween came from.
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Judy is right. The original name of the holiday was All Hallows Eve.
Halloween is a celebration honoring the death of the sun god in ancient pagan religions. This is when the final harvests are taken and stored and it was and still is by some believed to be the day when the barrier between our world and the hereafter blurs, and the dead’s spirits would come back to visit their families. Some would leave out extra food at the table for their guests, for it was considered rude to not welcome your ancestors’ visit. This was seen as good luck.
Nowadays, neo-paganism celebrates it under many of its old names from a variety of ancient pagan traditions, most commonly it is called Samhain (pronounced "SAM-wen"). It is called the witches’ new year and is a day for honoring the end of the growing season and nature’s bounty as well as a day to honor one’s ancestors. It is, in a sense, a death festival, but with the promise of rebirth on the horizon. The death is temporary and the sun god is reborn on the winter solstice (Yule) but that’s a completely seperate holiday. Life is seen as a cycle and treated as such, so death, while sad, is not some terrifying thing to be feared. It is honored, like birth, on Halloween/All Hallow’s Eve/ Samhain/etc.
Granted there has been lots of modern era influence, such as Christian superstitions fed into it, as well as other urban myths that have evolved into the mainstream Halloween we see marketed today. It is not to worship Satan, but to honor the end of the growing season and to reflect on the reality of death and await the coming of new life. The costumes come from the Central American holiday Day of the Dead. The revelers would dress up in elaborate costumes in the fashion of their ancestors to honor them and still practice it to this day.
Personally, as a pagan, I view it in its revamped form which was salvaged from the remnants of what it once was. BUT, that certainly doesn’t stop me from dressing up and giving little kids candy =D
References :