Transcript Document
When is Halloween? Why do people celebrate Halloween? Date: October 31 The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of ceremony in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year. The Wheel of the Year—Druidic calendar Celts Celts in Europe Celtic Monastery Celtic Christian Church Celtic Cross Celtic Shrine Earlier Celts in Europe Re-Roman Celts Dwellings One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. Ready for Ceremony Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess. Druidic Order Druidic Ceremony Celtic Festival at Stonehenge Summer Druidic Festival Probably a better explanation of why the Celts extinguished their fires was not to discourage spirit possession, but so that all the Celtic tribes could relight their fires from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning in the Middle of Ireland. A bonefire would drive the spirits away. Make A Bonfire to Drive Away the Spirits Ghosts in the Graveyard A Deserted Graveyard A Creepy Graveyard Girl Zombie Zombie Frankenstein Headless Horseman Ghost, Bat & Wind Reaper scythe Giblins Gargoyle Lost Lady Ghost Ghost in the Mirror Haunted Mansion A Haunted House in the Full Moon Ghosts Around the Graveyard A Haunted House in the Forest Haunted House in the Fog Mausoleum Haunted Castle Spirits Everywhere Witch & Skeleton on the Window Hanging Skeleton Crisp Master Cob Web A Cauldron for Making Poison Bloody Boom Bloody Bones Beware Scare Sign Dement or –drain peace, hope, happiness around them A Spooky Room R.I.P. Gravestone & Bats Big Ghost—15 feet tall Girl Skeleton Costume As belief in spirit possession waned, the practice of dressing up like hobgoblins, ghosts, and witches took on a more ceremonial role. Fairy Witch Costume Although some cults may have adopted Halloween as their favorite "holiday," the day itself did not grow out of evil practices. Girl Witch Costume It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new year, and out of Medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. Witch & stick broom Costume And today, even many churches have Halloween parties or pumpkin carving events for the kids. Ghost Costume After all, the day itself is only as evil as one cares to make it. Devil Costume Light-up Skeleton Coffin Skeleton Evil Jester Costume Friday the 13th Jason Costume Gauze Reaper Costume Mummy Costume Vampire Costume Halloween Decoration Halloween Ogre Decoration Halloween Decoration Jack-o-lantern A man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. After Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer. The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember. Bob the Apples The Romans adopted the Celtic practices as their own, such as their day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which might explain the origin of our modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween. Trick or Treat The custom of trick-ortreating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninthcentury European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven. Persephone was a young goddess who lived in ancient Greece. Her mother, Demeter, made plants grow -- the grapes, the wheat, the trees -- all across the world. One day, as Persephone played alone in a field of flowers, the ground opened with a rumble and out came a chariot drawn by dark horses. It was Hades, god of the Underworld. He captured Persephone and took her to the Underworld to be his wife. As the earth closed up behind them, Persephone's belt fell to the earth. When she didn't come home Demeter searched everywhere for her. As the months passed, Demeter grew so sad she forgot to make things grow. The warm, green earth turned brown and cold. Earth's first winter had come. One day a shepherd gave Demeter the belt he'd found in a meadow, near an opening to the Underworld. Demeter guessed what had happened. She went to Zeus, King of the Gods, and told him that if he didn't tell Hades to let Persephone go, the earth would stay brown, cold and lifeless forever. Zeus ordered Hades to free Persephone. Demeter went to fetch her, but quickly discovered something terrible had happened. Persephone had eaten a few pomegranate seeds while in the Underworld. According to the law, if a person ate pomegranate seeds, she could not leave the Underworld. Demeter refused to make anything grow, and so the gods made a promise: for every seed Persephone had eaten, she must spend one month a year below ground with Hades. Demeter agreed. Persephone returned to the earth with her mother and Demeter's happiness returned. The earth flowered and grew warm again. The gentle months of spring and summer passed. But then, because of the pomegranate seeds, Persephone had to visit Hades. Demeter grew sad without her daughter. Leaves fell from the trees. Another winter returned, cold and lifeless. So according to the old storytellers of Greece, winter melts away as Demeter and Persephone run together in the meadows each SPRING.