Thieves Mart

Dark World Een

YugiOH Card Collection - Elemental Energy (EEN) Set (All 1st Edition)

The history of Halloween - or - What is Samhain?

Samhain, pronounced sow-wen is a Celtic word for "Summer's End". It is also the Irish Gaelic word for the month November. Samhain is the last of three harvest festivals in the Celtic year, and it is the Celtic New Year. The Celts recognized only two Seasons: summer and winter. So, with the last harvest, end of summer and the cold, dark, dangerous days of winter begin. All foods that are not brought was from the fields to the end of the day on 31 October Samhain was left in the fields and not eaten. Consideration has been given to the fairies heard at this time, and would someone ill, who tried to eat them.

The food in the warehouse at that time was all the food you're between the first day of winter and the coming spring were to receive. It was through the cold, dark winter months is sufficient. Hunger was always a possibility. Livestock was slaughtered at the time, both for meat for For the winter months and cull the herd. With fewer animals to feed, those who left would have a better chance of survival, were to spring. This is one reason why the death and the deaths are linked to this day.

Looking at the long, deadly winters, your insecure food supply, without Central heating, you would have to brave the elements and the dangers of the forest to all the wood you need to collect would be warm. With time getting shorter, you would start To wonder if the sun will always come back. The wild animals would be hungrier and more aggressive than the winters were harder for everyone. All of them made this day marks the Beginning of the winter season, from fear and danger. But it was also a day of celebration, just thank the American Thanksgiving - the gods for the blessings of a bountiful harvest.

To the Celts, were between "very important times and places. At these points, the veil between worlds is at its thinnest, and communication between the fairy kingdom, the land of the dead, and the human world much easier. "Between" places are passages between one region and another or between inside and outside, or the sea, marking the meeting of earth and sea. "Between" times are dawn, marking the transition from night to day, and day and night, and in more recent centuries, at midnight, what the transition from one calendar day and the next.

The transitions between the seasons are more important, "between" times. The transition from winter to summer, Beltaine (May 1), and the transition from summer to winter Samhain were the two most important days of the Celtic year, but Samhain was the most important, for it marks the transition from year to year. Ergo, it is this Time that the veil is thinnest between the worlds, and the communication between the world of the living and the world of our ancestors, the fairies and other spirits is the easiest. This is also a good night for divination for this reason.

At this harvest celebration, when the veil between the world of the living and the dead at its thinnest, be the ancestors worshiped and revered so. Hospitality was very important to the ancient Celts. They would leave food on their stove, or on their front step as a Offering to the spirits of their ancestors, which they thought they were going to visit that night. Offerings were from food or milk for the fairies left, and some Wiccans now invite fairy creatures in their homes, their hospitality to share with them for the winter. The Celts also extended this hospitality to travelers and wandering beggar, because Celts thought it was very unlucky to refuse hospitality from someone in need.

But the thinness of the veil between the worlds also allows more dangerous spirits hiking in the human field, so Samhain was also a time of fear and foreboding. These two ideas influenced our modern custom of trick or treat, " Halloween (Our modern name for Samhain). Today gown wandering beggar in the form of children, as terrible spirits that go from house to house begging for food, pranks and threatening, if they are not appeased. This is a very young tradition, but invented in America [1].

The carved pumpkin jack-o'-we call lamps have their Roots in the ancient hospitality. The Celts did not have pumpkins in the old world, as we have here in America, pumpkin is a fruit of the New World. So instead of carving pumpkins, The Celts used turnips and pumpkins. They hollowed out the inside, and put them to create candles in the lantern. Then they would leave a light on every night from every know that migratory foreign hospitality was available that particular home. However, to frighten the evil spirits that may wander out too, this would homeowners to take precautionary carve faces in the lanterns to scare away something bad.

Many ancient pagan holidays, including those Celtic have been adjusted to convert from the Christian church in an attempt to pagans to Christianity. Many of the traditions of Yule, as the evergreen tree was decorated in the tradition of Christmas. Many of the traditions of the vernal equinox, as was decorated eggs, Easter traditions. And many practices of Samhain, the tradition of Halloween. [2]

"Hallow" means "holy." For example, "holy ground" is a place that has blessed and appropriate for the funeral. The Suffix "-een" is short for "evening", the night before a holiday. Halloween, as our New Year's Eve, so the ceremony before the actual holiday, in which case the first November called "All Saints Day" by the Catholic Church. Halloween is also called "All Souls Day", the tradition following that this is a time to remember the dead and to celebrate them is known.

There are some misunderstandings and open lies that of religious fundamentalists Samhain on each year are distributed in a bid to get Halloween banned. The first is that the holiday is the Druid's origin, the Druids were a priestly class of the Celts, but they were a very late manifestation of the Celtic religion. The Celts were practicing their religion for thousands of years prior to the priestly class of Druids developed.

Another misconception is that the Romans adopted and Samhain has its traditions, but the tradition of Halloween, as we know it, we are come from Ireland. Ireland was never conquered by the Romans. Samhain was celebrated by the Picts in Scotland, but the Picts were never conquered by the Romans, either. The only Area in the British Isles, the Romans conquered England successfully.

Another mistake is that Samhain is pronounced and Sam Hane is the name of a Celtic god of the dead. The Celts were not the god of death [3]. Samhain is not so pronounced, it is pronounced "Sow-tion," because of the peculiar nature and Irish end manner as spelled, when written in English. It is a very minor character in Celtic mythology, which has a name with a similar spelling, but he has nothing do with death or with the particular holiday.

Some people argue that this holiday should be made on the souls of the dead move in the bodies of animals when they been sinful ", and the human sacrifice was practiced. The Celts believe in sin, nor in reincarnation or the transmigration of souls. The Celts not the common practice of human sacrifice, with the exception of the execution of criminals, which we still practice in America today.

Halloween in America is now a completely secular holidays. Although it's still a part of its harvest roots, there are not more religious or spiritual significance for the practice of bobbing for apples, Trick or treating and cleaning are in costume.

Samhain is still of Wiccans and other pagans for its spiritual significance in the Wheel of the Year, the cycle observe holidays that mark the transition points in the natural solar cycle.

[1] Since Samhain represented the transition between the years, they could not belong to one year or the next. Since time does not technically exist during that time, and create other social rules, have been exposed to the necessary Atmosphere so that people to vent frustrations, often by practical jokes on each other. This may be the precursor of the pranks are practiced today on Halloween.

[2] Most of the associations of Halloween to dress up in costumes of black cats, witches are more concerned with Germanic tradition and Walpurgis Night, with the May Day instead associated with the Celtic tradition of Samhain or connected.

[3] Some sources list by Gwynn ap Nudd as a British god of the dead and Arawn as a Welsh god of the dead, but there is no Irish equivalent.

***

For Part II of this article "A Subtle Samhain Celebration-or-What to do if you do not own Live visit "www.careandfeedingofspirits.com. Part II contains instructions on how to use this season deceased loved ones on the other side of the veil of death contact, as well other subtle ways to highlight the holidays. But hurry! It is only on 31st October 2008 are available. After that they returned to the vaults.

Have You a blessed Samhain and a Happy Halloween!

BB,

Vivienne

Bibliography

Isaac Bonewitz, "the real Origins of Halloween ", Version 4.5, © 1997 and 2002, http://www.neopagan.net/halloween-origins-text.html, downloaded 9/19/2003.

Halloween Mistakes and lies, or What Fundamentalist Christians Do not Want You to Know ", Version 4.4, © 1997, 2002; http://www.neopagan.net/halloween-lies.html, 19/09/2003.

BA Robinson, "The myth of Samhain, the Celtic god of the dead," © 1998-2001 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, as last updated 10/19/01, http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallow_sa.htm, 09/19/2003.

WJ Bethancourt, III, "Halloween: Myths, monsters and devils," © 1994, updated 10/07/2001; http://www.illusions.com/halloween/hallows.htm, 09/19/2003.

Rowan Moonstone, "The origin of Halloween." http://www.geocities.com/athens/forum/5452/hallorig.html, 19/09/2003.

About the Author

Vivienne D'Avalon is the owner of Persephone’s Haven (www.persephoneshaven.com) and a regular contributor to CroneSeraphim.com. She is an Eclectic gothic Wiccan, a chaos mage, and a kabbalist; and she is the author of "The Patriot’s Spellbook" (available through 11/4/08 with the purchase of "On the Care and Feeding of Spirits") and "On the Care and Feeding of Spirits" (available for purchase as an ebook at www.careandfeedingofpsirits.com).

Dark Magician Chaos

Related posts:

1. Yugioh Dark World
2. Dark World Dealings
3. World Warcraft Dark