Okay, so here's the story... I'm a good time girl, always enjoyed a good dance to some good tunes, always loved any excuse to celebrate and am partial to a glass of chilled white wine (or two). I'm also one of those super-eager, totally cheesy people who actually likes fancy dress parties. No sarcasm here. I'm being dead serious.
Anyways, that being said, I'm a Christian and at this time of the year an event takes place that offers the perfect excuse to have a party and don a funny costume – Halloween. As a 'holiday' (for lack of a better term) it's never quite sat right with me. Just like wearing devil horns at a bachelorette party has never been my cup of tea... I'm far happier with a pair of fairy wings and a plastic tiara that lights up.
I think that there are some traditions that have become so traditional that we as a society don't ask questions anymore. We just mark it in our diaries and start googling costume hire places. Just like the retail industry enthusiastically embraces Christmas, or rather 'x-mas' – as they like to put it – without necessarily having any belief in its origin. The fact that we only have trees and prezzies and mince pies because we're supposed to be celebrating Jesus' birthday, gets swept under the rug from about mid-October when shopping malls start putting up mistletoe and red, green and gold tinsel. The same thing happens with Easter.
But I digress, the point of this post was about Halloween, an event I've preferred not to get involved in but never quite took the time to find out about it. Where did it originate? What was it in celebration of? What exactly are we as a society honouring by carving pumpkins and chanting 'trick or treat?'
This may help to answer some of those questions: (Received this via email from a friend)
The History of Halloween
Halloween developed from ancient new year festivals and festivals of the dead. In the 800's A.C., the church established All Saints' Day on November 1st so that people could continue to celebrate a festival they had before becoming Christians.
The Mass that was said on All Saints' Day was called Allhallowmas, which is how the evening before All Saints' Day became known as All Hallow e'en, or Halloween.
The Celtic festival of Samhain is believed to be the source of present-day Halloween celebration. The Celts lived well over 2,000 years ago and their new year began on November 1st. They usually celebrated a festival the previous evening which honored Samhain, the Celtic lord of death. It marked the beginning of a new season of cold, darkness, and death.
On the evening of the festival, the Druids, who were the priests and teachers of the Celts, created bonfires and burned animals, crops, and possibly even humans as sacrifices. During this celebration, people sometimes wore costumes made of animal heads and skins and sometimes told fortunes about the coming year by examining the remnants of the animals that had been sacrificed. Then in about 43 A.C., the Romans conquered the Celts and combined two of their autumn festivals with the Celts festival of Samhain. One of the festivals, Feralia, was held in late October to honor the dead.
Even after the Celts became Christians, many of their festivals survived. Around this time the church established All Saints' Day on November 1st and made the old pagan customs part of this Christian holy day.
Holy Scripture -
3 John 1:11
11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
Deuteronomy 18:9-14
9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in [a] the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,
11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.
Hosea 4:6
6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
"Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
1 Peter 2:11
11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
1 Timothy 4
1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Ephesians 5:11-12
11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
Philippians 4:8 (New International Version)
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
I think that even if you aren't a Christian, ie. you aren't coming at Halloween from the same place as I am, you have to agree that it's a bit odd for society to internationally embrace an occasion that originated to celebrate death and evolved to include sacrifices and other dark, icky practises.
Luther puts a nail in the heart of bad religion – and three other holidays
Luther puts a nail in the heart of bad religion – and three other holidays
I know this is a hot topic so let me know your thoughts?
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