Happy Halloween and October! All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween) is my favorite time of year because of the trees
changing colors, the weather cools down, the festivities of the holidays begin and
children get to dress up as their favorite characters and collect candy! But do
any of you know where Halloween came from and why we celebrate it?
“Halloween can be
traced directly back to SAMHAIN, the ancient Celtic harvest festival honoring
the Lord of the Dead. Observed on November 1 in the British Isles and parts of
what is now France, Samhain also marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year,
while Samhain Eve marked the end of the old year. The night was a time of
transition between the old and the new, a time when the separation between the
world of the living and the world of the dead was very thin. On Samhain Eve the
boundary between this world and the netherworld of fairies, gods, spirits, and
magic was at its thinnest. As a result, passage between the two dimensions was
easier than at any other time. Visitations from the spirits of one's own
departed ancestor, divine beings, or demons were believed to be possible-
though not desirable.
The Celts believed
that the souls of those who had died during the previous year gathered to
travel together to the land of the dead. They lit BONFIRES and sacrificed
fruits and vegetables, hoping to win the favor of the spirits of the deceased
and to avoid their punishments. Sometimes the living disguised themselves in
masks and COSTUMES so that the spirits of the dead wouldn't recognize them.
Charms, spells, and predictions about the future seemed to carry special weight
on the eve of Samhain.
By the fourth
century, the Christian church was doing everything it could to stamp out pagan
festivals like Samhain, but the Celts wouldn't give up their ancient rituals
and symbols. So the Christian church gave them new names and meanings. November
1 became All Saints' Day (All Hallows' Day in England), a celebration of all
the Christian saints. The night of October 31 became All Hallows' Eve (later
Halloween). But its association with the supernatural persisted.
Halloween came to
America with the Irish immigrants of the 1840s. Their folk customs and beliefs
merged with existing agricultural traditions. The early American Halloween,
therefore, was not only a time to foretell the future and dabble in the occult
but to complete certain seasonal tasks associated with the fall harvest. Over
the years the holiday's agricultural significance faded, and it became
primarily a children's holiday-a time to dress up as the ghosts and GOBLINS
their ancestors at one time feared."
There is so much more
to learn about Halloween and you can read the full history at the Article.
If you need help reigning in the harvest by hiring additional employees, ProRecruiters
is here. Contact our office at (918) 551-7767 and one of our associates can
assist you. Enjoy your Halloween!
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