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Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween
Last edited by hope on 01 Nov 2017 11:17, edited 1 time in total.
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Redbeck
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Re: Happy Halloween
Almost forgot, my compliments to on All Hallows' Eve. Redbeck
The origins of Halloween stretch back over 1900 years to England, Ireland, and Northern France, when the Celtic celebration of the new year, known as Samhain took place on November the 1st. The Celtic druids revered it as the most important holiday festival of the spiritual calendar and emphasised this specific day as the time when the souls of the dead could supposedly mingle freely with the living. Bonfires were a significant component of the holiday celebrations.
Samhain remained popular until St. Patrick and other Christian missionaries arrived in druidic areas. As the population began to convert to Christianity the pagan holiday began to lose its popularity. However, instead of eradicating pagan practices such as 'Halloween' or Samhain, the church decided to take advantage of public familiarity with these ancient holidays by givng them a Christian twist, thus bringing paganism and Christianity closer together, which in turn helped to ease the conversion process of local populations to the state sponsored religion.
Another tradition carried forward from druidic beliefs was one that said during the night of November the 1st, demons, witches, and evil spirits all freely roamed the earth in joyful mood to greet the arrival of 'their season' which involved long nights coupled with the early fall of darkness in the winter months. The demons were reported to have their fun with poor mortals on this night, frightening, even physically harming, but generally playing uncharitable tricks on them. The only way, so it was said, for scared humans to escape the persecution of the demons was to offer them items they enjoyed, especially fancy rich foods and sweet cakes or confections. Also, there was another druid promoted option which enabled ordinary flesh and blood to escape the fury of such grisly creatures. This demanded that mere humankind dress up so they could disguise themselves as one of these unpleasant beings and join in their roaming. The disguise would ensure recognition as a fellow demon or witch and the human would not be troubled that night.
As a the bearer of significant Celtic heritage, I find this an enthralling pagan influence on a church and one which tends to be rubbing itself back into christianity in terms of cultural heritage, perhaps reinforcing a faith that has proved of waning interest to modern society. Certainly, I would continue to maintain that all branches of government must remain secular and perhaps the pagan twist helps keep this open. If you continue to embrace any kind of faith in Northern Europe these days, you tend to have personalised it by sifting the appropriate positives from several religions into a best fit amalgamation, this often includes paganism as a bonafide belief system. Especially as paganism has a strong connection to the natural world about us of course, which if we fail to care for it properly will finish us as a race anyway.
The origins of Halloween stretch back over 1900 years to England, Ireland, and Northern France, when the Celtic celebration of the new year, known as Samhain took place on November the 1st. The Celtic druids revered it as the most important holiday festival of the spiritual calendar and emphasised this specific day as the time when the souls of the dead could supposedly mingle freely with the living. Bonfires were a significant component of the holiday celebrations.
Samhain remained popular until St. Patrick and other Christian missionaries arrived in druidic areas. As the population began to convert to Christianity the pagan holiday began to lose its popularity. However, instead of eradicating pagan practices such as 'Halloween' or Samhain, the church decided to take advantage of public familiarity with these ancient holidays by givng them a Christian twist, thus bringing paganism and Christianity closer together, which in turn helped to ease the conversion process of local populations to the state sponsored religion.
Another tradition carried forward from druidic beliefs was one that said during the night of November the 1st, demons, witches, and evil spirits all freely roamed the earth in joyful mood to greet the arrival of 'their season' which involved long nights coupled with the early fall of darkness in the winter months. The demons were reported to have their fun with poor mortals on this night, frightening, even physically harming, but generally playing uncharitable tricks on them. The only way, so it was said, for scared humans to escape the persecution of the demons was to offer them items they enjoyed, especially fancy rich foods and sweet cakes or confections. Also, there was another druid promoted option which enabled ordinary flesh and blood to escape the fury of such grisly creatures. This demanded that mere humankind dress up so they could disguise themselves as one of these unpleasant beings and join in their roaming. The disguise would ensure recognition as a fellow demon or witch and the human would not be troubled that night.
As a the bearer of significant Celtic heritage, I find this an enthralling pagan influence on a church and one which tends to be rubbing itself back into christianity in terms of cultural heritage, perhaps reinforcing a faith that has proved of waning interest to modern society. Certainly, I would continue to maintain that all branches of government must remain secular and perhaps the pagan twist helps keep this open. If you continue to embrace any kind of faith in Northern Europe these days, you tend to have personalised it by sifting the appropriate positives from several religions into a best fit amalgamation, this often includes paganism as a bonafide belief system. Especially as paganism has a strong connection to the natural world about us of course, which if we fail to care for it properly will finish us as a race anyway.
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