Origins of Halloween

In my quest to find out more about the history of Halloween, I came across this article. This is helps answer my question about Halloween as to where it came from. I also found that trick or treating started in the 19th century. It is believed to have started when the poor would go door to door after harvest asking for food in exchange for a prayer for the souls in each house. They called it souling. Now days it is just another holiday the corporate giants are taking advantage of for a quick buck. What would it be like if we still went door to door and started praying for the souls in each house? Hmmm I wonder if the political races would have a different kind of tone?
I got the article below from History.com

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that 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. 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. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
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.
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 as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

Halloween is not just for kids anymore

One of my favorite holidays is Halloween. Growing up it was a time that I could dress up as something that I wasn’t. Some years I was a serious super hero, Batman, Spiderman, or Superman. I remember how much fun it was to dress up as a Superhero or Villain with a cape…man was I cool. Then I started getting a little bit older, the superhero thing just wasn’t as cool anymore, I had to be something grotesque. Thanks to horror movies, there were plenty of inspirations out there. I was a soldier that looked like death warmed over, a pumpkin head, a vampire; a farmer that looked like the mower ran over and lost an arm, and an evil scarecrow. As I continued to get older the costumes got more intense as makeup was introduced into the lineup. O what fun a teenage boy could have with makeup and not get made fun of. Of course it had to be grotesque and all, but still makeup. I did try one year to be a boy taking a shower in a shower; it wasn’t the easiest costume to wear. (I think the idea came from the Karate Kid).


And then one year…It wasn’t cool to dress up anymore…for a few years at least, then began the adult Halloween parties. It’s the one night of the year that grown-ups can dress up as any fantasy they want and have their persona excepted.


Go shopping in a Halloween store. You will see just as many adult costumes as kids. It is a perfect escape from the adult humdrum. Is it really ok for a grown adult to dress up in a costume and stay at home for kids coming by for trick or treating? I think that is a little extreme and a bit scary itself.


Many businesses hold Halloween office parties and allow, if not encourage, their employees to wear costumes to work as part of the Halloween spirit, at times they even reward this type of behavior. Two or three times I took part of this, even though it felt weird, work is suppose to be a professional place, especially when it is a corporate office. None the less, my team decide they were going to dress up together and as a team. So the first year we dressed up we went as the Adam’s Family, yours truly dressed as Gomez, and yes we had cousin it and Fester too. The guy who did Fester actually shaved his head for the costume, now that is extreme. I know that there were pictures taken, lucky for me I can not find any. We did make a great family, even the judges thought so, we placed first in our division


But most of all, it has also become a social event for donning their costumes and heading to Halloween parties. Whether at someone's home, local night clubs or the office, just about everyone enjoys the Halloween festivities. The most popular years are when Halloween falls on either a Friday or Saturday for obvious reasons.


While traditionally filled with ghouls, goblins, ghost and other scary characters, Halloween night is also a very sexy holiday. Costumes portraying enchanting Witches and seductive Vampires are always a great choice, and let us not forget the Mistress of the Dark herself, Elvira. Its also a perfect time for couples to dress up together as anything they want to be from a Mad Scientist and Nurse to a Playboy and his Bunny, the possibilities seem endless! Every year you'll find new versions of Halloween costumes, from very sexy witch costumes to nurses, firewomen, pirates, you name it! Just as anything else we do, we go to the extreme. Each year has to top the previous year, the sicker the better, the sexier the better, the more risky the better.
And why not, Halloween is the one time of the year that almost anything goes, allowing people to live out fantasies, if only for this one night.


The social freedom of Halloween gives people who are normally stressed out and/or emotionally restrained a chance to "let loose", get spooky, scary, naughty and even sexy without being judged. It's simply an assumed persona for a night of celebration.


Every year more adults are dressing in costumes for their Halloween festivities. According to a 2005 Halloween Online survey, more than seventy-five percent of adults who participate in Halloween are going to wear a costume as part of their Halloween merrymaking.


So what I want to know is where is the Christian costumes, Christians dress up in their religious t-shirts throughout the year. Why do you not see religious themed costumes, maybe they are out there and I have just missed them. After all isn’t Halloween really a Christian Holliday?


I do not remember what the percentage of people in the United States say they are Christians, if they truly were, and truly followed the Laws set forth by Papa and confirmed by Jesus. I do not think that they would partake in Halloween. I am pretty sure they would not dress up as witches, demons and evil angels. Here is what the saddest part is, I am sure that very few of these festive goers will repent, or even think about Papa, no Instead they will let their alter-ego take charge and have fun. And then go to church on Sunday as if nothing happened. I know that I am one of those hypocrites.

So this is where I am led to, Halloween traditionally has been one of my favorite holidays. However I really do not understand what is really behind the whole holiday, the good verses bad. So I am setting out to research and find out more about it. Until the truth is unturned be safe and enjoy the fall festivities.