The History of Halloween (Post 4 of 4) Myths

A myth is an usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon.  (Thank you, Webster's dictionary!)

Here are some myths for the wonderful holiday of Halloween!!!!!!!!!

• According to livescience.com, vampires cannot logically exist.  GASP!  I know!  So, while you may not be a die hard fan of vamps and believe whole heartedly that vamps do exist, I still want to outline their logic.  
• First, let's say the vampire originated in 1600 (That's their example) and bit someone.  That person became a vampire and the process continues, so that, now there isn't enough human population to feed the vampire one, even if the population doubled.  Phew!  
• Now, this only works if to become a vampire you only need to be bitten by one.  There are various twists on the vampire, so, maybe -just maybe- vampires do exist! :)!
• It is bad luck to see a white cat on Halloween! But, if you dream about a white cat, it's good luck!  
• Razor blades in candies or apples!  Sickos!  However, there are no documented cases of this ever happening?  I've read different things about this, one being that no serious harm or injury has resulted from a child and contaminated Halloween candy to the myth evolving from a dad poisoning his own child with cyanide in the seventies.  He put it in the "pixie stick!"
• If a bird flies into your house, then someone has died.

Well, those were just a few and you wouldn't believe the mass amounts of them! 

For more information:

Click here, here, or here!

Happy Halloween!!!!

The History of Halloween: Religion (Post 3 of 4)

Religion!!! Some people love talking religion, and others cringe at its mere mention - not that they're not religious, but no one wants to be Non-P.C.  (Politically Correct).  This has to do with the religious aspects of Halloween...

This article has various interviews about religious views on Halloween: http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_re.htm

So, we remember that in the past, the Celtics celebrated Samhain which was the last day of their calendar and one that they believed was the time when the veil between living and spirit world was thinnest.  They celebrated the harvest and held various festivals.  The Romans held two festivals around the same time, and when they took over the Celts these festivals seemed to have combined.

Now, it's reported (if my reading is correct) that the Catholic Church started All Saint's day on November 1st as a way to bring the Pagans (Celts, Romans, etc) more aligned with the Church.

As the holiday evolved it became less and less about religious celebrations, than a commercial holiday where children got candy from going house to house.

There are still groups today that celebrate it as a religious holiday, for example, the neo-pagans and/or Wiccans celebrate Samhain as a religious holiday.

Each religion seems to have a stand on the celebration of Halloween (If you followed the link, then you should have a better idea).

For more information about Samhain:
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/samhainoctober31/p/Samhain_History.htm

The History of Halloween: Customs (Post 2 of 4)

Customs are a traditional and widely accepted way of behaving or doing something that is specific to a particular society, place, or time. (dictionary.com)

Halloween, like most holidays, have specific customs that are preformed on that day.  

We're all familiar with trick-or-treating.  Going door-to-door and receiving a treat.  Most (I would say all, but some children didn't dress up in my neighborhood) children and adults will dress in a costume.  Let's take a look at some ancient customs.

Originally, Halloween was celebrated as Samhain by the Celts and believed to be the night when the divide between the world of the living and that of the dead was easily crossed.  (But you remember that from last Tuesday's post!)

Today's customs, which now spread almost worldwide (especially since television has become so popular), include:

• Trick-or-treating
• Wearing costumes
• Parties
• Bobbing for Apples
• Telling scary stories
• Watching scary movies
• Haunted houses
• Hayrides 

Now, in ancient times these were popular:

• Bonfires (Ireland)
• Fortune telling (Ireland, England, Colonial America, Europe)
• Masks were worn by Christians to confuse evil spirits (That caught on, didn't it!)
• Feasts honoring Pomona (Roman), Dead (Ireland, Scotland), Fairies (Ireland) and Harvest (Ireland, Scotland)

Find out more here: Wikipedia

Also, worth mentioning is the Day of the Dead, which is a whole new set of customs for Mexican or Mexican-Americans who celebrate it.  Find out more here:  Dia de los muertos

The History of Halloween: Origins (Post 1 of 4)

So where did this delightful holiday start?

According to my reading, a very, very long time ago (around 2000 years) the Celts (we'll talk about them more later) celebrated Samhain as the end of their calendar. They believed that the dead walked again on this night as ghosts.  They also believed that the presence of ghosts enhanced their fortune telling abilities.  

Around 43 A.D. the Roman's overtook the Celts and under their rule, cultures mixed.  The Romans were already celebrating a festival for their dead called Feralia   There was also one where the goddess of fruit and trees was celebrated called Pomona and her symbol was the apple...See a theme coming together here?

So, the colonists of America never really celebrated Halloween, at least not in the beginning.  When other immigrants came over from Europe and all those cultures meshed with the Native Americans, we got a precursor to our Halloween of today.  They told ghost stories, celebrated the harvest, and predicted the future...so on and so forth.

Fast forward to the late 1800s and you see the trend of Halloween becoming more about community and neighborhood.  By the 20s and 30s, we have what is generally accepted for Halloween today.  Candy, costumes and cool stuff!

Wow, that was fast!  

Anyways...You can check out more at the following websites!

Halloween Web (A whole site dedicated to Halloween!)

History.com (It's actually my source)

Happy October!!!!