Halloween
Today is my favorite holiday of the year. Not just for the trick or treat but because i love the paranormal and love the horror movies the day brings. (Horror is my favorite genre after War) After having watched a list of the 100 greatest horror films on saturday, i learned that i had only seen 23 of them. I'm up to 26 now. For anyone interested I will now divulge the history of such a great day.
3000 years ago, the Celts celebrated Nov. 1 as Samhain, a new year's day of sorts. Their calender was split between the summer months and winter months. Because winter killed the crops and caused famine, it became synoymous with death, as summer with life. The Celts believed that on Samhain, the day between life and death, the spirtual world merged with the human world. The spirits of those that died would rise and if they chose not to return, the woud haunt the living forever. To ensure that the dead would return to the spirit realm, the Celts would leave sweets in the graveyards and shrines. On that very same day across Europe, the Roman empire celebrated Nov. 1 for the goddess of fruits. There would be many fun and games, including bobbing for apples. Eventually the Empire would adopt Christianity and all roman holidays became adopted. The Fruit Goddess' Holiday was turned into All Saints' Day to celebrate well, the saints. As the Empire took over the Celtic empire and forced Samhain traditions into the Catholic Holiday, including its celebration of the dead. This is why the catholic Mexico celebrates Dia de los Muertos on Nov.1. The Celts and their Druid priests wanted their own holiday and made their new Samhain on the day before. The mass on All Saints' Day in Latin was called Allhallowmas. The night before sudh a mass was called Allhallow'een. That's where the name Halloween came from. The Church was understandably upset at this. They retaliated with their witch-hunts and crushing of the Druids. Black cats were said to be witches hiding in animal form. These stories by the Catholics were the root for witches' and black cats' role in Halloween. But the holiday endured, even as the Celts became Catholic. When the Irish immigrated to America during the early 1800's they brought this tradition with them and was embraced by a protestant nation already very fond of the paranormal.(Notice the date, the Witch-hunts were well over by this time.) Children in the 1800's would celebrate the holiday as an excuse to commit crimes. Children would go rampant, resulting in many injuries and even deaths. As a way to reign these children in, an institution of "Trick or Treat" based off of the Celtic traditon of leaving sweets to avoid the bothers of ghosts. Though many customs had already been established, Halloween became what we know it as today during the 1950's and the Baby Boom. Children in suburbia would "trick or Treat" in droves and everyone gave treats. Today, Halloween is the second most commercial holiday in the United States.
3000 years ago, the Celts celebrated Nov. 1 as Samhain, a new year's day of sorts. Their calender was split between the summer months and winter months. Because winter killed the crops and caused famine, it became synoymous with death, as summer with life. The Celts believed that on Samhain, the day between life and death, the spirtual world merged with the human world. The spirits of those that died would rise and if they chose not to return, the woud haunt the living forever. To ensure that the dead would return to the spirit realm, the Celts would leave sweets in the graveyards and shrines. On that very same day across Europe, the Roman empire celebrated Nov. 1 for the goddess of fruits. There would be many fun and games, including bobbing for apples. Eventually the Empire would adopt Christianity and all roman holidays became adopted. The Fruit Goddess' Holiday was turned into All Saints' Day to celebrate well, the saints. As the Empire took over the Celtic empire and forced Samhain traditions into the Catholic Holiday, including its celebration of the dead. This is why the catholic Mexico celebrates Dia de los Muertos on Nov.1. The Celts and their Druid priests wanted their own holiday and made their new Samhain on the day before. The mass on All Saints' Day in Latin was called Allhallowmas. The night before sudh a mass was called Allhallow'een. That's where the name Halloween came from. The Church was understandably upset at this. They retaliated with their witch-hunts and crushing of the Druids. Black cats were said to be witches hiding in animal form. These stories by the Catholics were the root for witches' and black cats' role in Halloween. But the holiday endured, even as the Celts became Catholic. When the Irish immigrated to America during the early 1800's they brought this tradition with them and was embraced by a protestant nation already very fond of the paranormal.(Notice the date, the Witch-hunts were well over by this time.) Children in the 1800's would celebrate the holiday as an excuse to commit crimes. Children would go rampant, resulting in many injuries and even deaths. As a way to reign these children in, an institution of "Trick or Treat" based off of the Celtic traditon of leaving sweets to avoid the bothers of ghosts. Though many customs had already been established, Halloween became what we know it as today during the 1950's and the Baby Boom. Children in suburbia would "trick or Treat" in droves and everyone gave treats. Today, Halloween is the second most commercial holiday in the United States.