Halloween
"Trick or treat," scream children on October 31. Trick or treat, what is does that mean? Halloween has not always been about handing out candy and playing jokes on people. In fact, Halloween has changed in numerous ways over the years.Halloween first originated from a Celtic fire festival called Samhain, or summer's end, that represented the New Year beginning on November 1. The Celts believed that when a person died they went to Tirnan Og, the land of eternal youth and happiness. The Celts believed that turning points, such as the turning of one year into the next, were magical events. The Celts believed that time and space came to a halt, during Samhain, thus allowing the dead to mix with the living. With this belief, the still-living, not wanting to be possessed, put out fires in their homes. This would make their house undesirable to the spirit. The extinguishing of the hearth fires symbolized the "dark half" of the year. The re-kindling from the Druidic fire was symbolic of the returning life that was hoped for in the spring. (Rupert, 2004) There are many inaccurate Christian teachings about Halloween and the Celts. For instance, Christian literature teaches us that Samhain was the Celtic God of th
e dead that was worshipped by the Druids with dreadful bloody sacrifices at Halloween. Even though the Romans took control of Celtic lands, the Samhain tradition lived on. After Satan was up the tree, Jack carved a cross into the tree. When in fact, Samhain was not a god and is defined in McBain's Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language says that "Samhain" means "summer's end. When the people continued Samhain practices, the church outlawed the practices. The eve before All Saints' Day became known as All Hallowe'en or the evening of all the holy ones. The church then demonstrated Druids to be "evil worshipers of devilish or demonic gods and spirits. The holiday gives everybody a chance to unwind and let go of the demands of the real world, allowing everybody to dress up and be whoever they want. The deal was that if Satan promised never to tempt Jack again, Jack would let him down the tree. The cross trapped Satan in the tree until a deal was made. As a result, the followers of Samhain, mainly the Celts and Druids, were prosecuted and branded as witches that worshiped Satan. It wasn't until the 1920's did the tradition of trick-or-treat come about. By 1999, approximately 92% of children went trick-or-treating.
Common topics in this essay:
America Halloween,
Sabbath Hallowe'en,
Tirnan Og,
Halloween Trick,
Day Hallowe'en,
Jack Jack,
Language Samhain,
Halloween Romans,
Saints' Day,
Celtic God,
fire festival,
halloween changed,
practices church,
celts believed,
samhain practices church,
trick treat,
samhain practices,
halloween originated,
saints' day,
middle ages,
november 1,
|
Acceptance Essays
