Halloween
Posted on October 31st, 2004by Site Admin in SEO
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Read my top posts or learn more about Michael Gray. Want more frequent updates follow me on Twitter. Thanks for visiting!
Halloween is an old holiday with it’s traditions based in Pagan religions. According to most historians it originated in Celtic culture in the 5th century BC. In ancient agricultural based societies the end of summer was October 31st and was celebrated with the holiday of Samhain. This was a time to honor the dead and culminated with the feast of the dead or Feile na Marbh. According to legends the veil that separated the world of the living from the dead was separated and the spirits of the departed were allowed walk living. Over time it was believed that these spirits were searching for bodies to inhabit so they could stay amongst the living permanently. To protect themselves people began dress in costumes to frighten off the spirits.
As time progressed Christian missionaries spread and attempted to eradicate many pagan holidays. They were unable to remove all of them and chose to incorporate those that remained, for example the Winter solstice became Christmas. The Samhain festival became All Saints Day, and the feast of the dead became Halloween.
During the middle ages people would bake special bread with spices and saffron called soul cakes. Children would then go from door to door collecting them. When they were given one, they would sing a small song and offer a prayer for a departed relative.
In Mexico this holiday is celebrated as the Day of the Dead, and is happy and joyous festival. There is food and dancing and in many cities the celebrations are held near or in the cemetery so that departed can enjoy the festivities.
Jack-O-Lanterns also trace their origins back to Celtic culture. According to legends a prankster in town named Jack managed to trick the devil into chasing him up a tree. The devil was unable to leave the tree as Jack had carved the image of cross into it’s bark. Jack then made a deal with the devil, if he would never again tempt Jack he would let him go. The devil reluctantly agreed. At the time of Jack’s death his deeds weren’t good enough for him to be admitted entrance to Heaven, so he was forced to go to Hell. The devil however still held a grudge against Jack and refused him admittance. Instead he turned him away. To guide him through the darkness the devil hollowed out a gourd and placed a single candle inside to light his way.
Over the years as the custom moved to America people began to use pumpkins instead of gourds. The usage of the pumpkin became cemented in Washington Irving’s story of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. As the story goes Ichabod Crane was courting Katrina Van Tassel until he was scared off and chased by the headless horseman. Ichabod’s body was never found however the next day the town’s people found a smashed pumpkin on the far riverbank where Ichabod was chased.
Today people carve pumpkins out of tradition and fun, and have gotten extremely creative.
ExtremePumkin.com
Spookmaster
My buddy TJoe’s pumpkins
November 5th, 2004 at 6:24 pm
He he - Thanks for the plug m8.