Max Clarke is a copywriter for holiday services company, Holiday Extras, currently writing about Gatwick airport parking,Manchester airport hotels and Heathrow airport parking.
The Ancient Roots of Halloween
Halloween, as we know it, as well as many of the traditions associated with Halloween are a mixture of ancient religious practices that have been modified throughout the ages.
The Festival of Samhein
In order to explore the history of Halloween, we must go back in time about 3000 years to the archaic culture of the Celts. These were people who occupied the British Isles and France and could be found throughout other parts of Europe as well. This ancient people were like many other pre-Christian cultures practicing polytheism by worshipping the sun and moon as well as many other deities.
On the evening preceding the Celtic New Year, November 1, the Celts observed the festival of Samhein, pronounced (SAH-wen). This celebratory time was very important from a seasonal perspective. Samhein was the time by which all the crops had to be harvested and the domesticated animals were brought in for the winter. Obviously, many of the farm animals had to be slaughtered because there was not room to house all of them over the cold winter months. Because of this, Samhein became a great feasting time – a feast that honored Samhein, the Lord of the Dead. During Samhein, the spirits of the dead were believed to be able to wander the earth and visit their loved ones.
Although this was one of four major festivals of the Celtic year and it was a time of celebration, it also evolved into a time of trepidation for many. The ancient culture began to fear these spirits that were loosed on earth for a short time. They developed rituals such as lighting bonfires to scare the evil spirits away and the wearing of masks to blend in so the presumably hideous looking spirits would not bother the living population. Their ghostly white-robed priests, called Druids, would also be called upon to bless a sacred fire. Each household would carry a sacred ember home in order to ward off the presence of evil. Another eerie ritual performed on October 31 was the practice of human sacrifice. Criminals and other undesirables were put into large cages and burned alive at the hand of the Druid priests.
Roman and Christian Influence on Halloween
In the first century A.D., the Romans conquered Great Britain and subsequently began to impart Roman culture on existing Celtic culture. The Romans had their own version of fall feasting demonstrated by the feast of Feralia, which was the Roman day of the dead, as well as a feast dedicated to the goddess of fruit, Pomona.
During the third and fourth centuries Catholicism was introduced and Christians attempted to alter established pagan rituals. In an attempt to put a Christian slant on Halloween, religious leaders instituted All Saints’ Day or All Hallow’s Day. This fall celebration honored Christian saints as people attended extra masses. It also became a time to offer prayers for the deceased and visit their graves. Halloween got its name a few hundred years later when November 1 was declared a church wide holiday and the evening before was dubbed All Hallows’ Eve, hallow being an Old English word for “holy”.
Getting dressed in costumes, attending parties, bobbing for apples, and trick or treating are just some of the Halloween activities that many children and adults look forward to every fall. Few people are aware that they are shadowing ancient traditions as they celebrate Halloween. Our fall holiday full of spooky, scary fun is a rich conglomeration of ancient religious and cultural rites that have evolved into our modern day tradition known as Halloween.
Written by MelissaMurphy
Professional Life Coach, Freelance writer
Spirit Halloween Store NY 2008
A Short History of Halloween and Tocobaga Indians
Halloween is an evening celebrated by people of all faiths especially children dressed up as ghosts and skeletons. Halloween is a historical celebration held in evening and night of the 31st October every year. When talking about history, a unique tribe of Native American people lived in the vicinity of Tampa Bay in Florida called the Tocobaga Indians.
The history of Halloween has a lot of meaning Halloween which has been almost lost as we celebrate our modern version but its roots are still well known making a great story for children before they set off on their mission to frighten and entertain.
The Tocobaga Indians were actually a maritime tribe who survived on fish and whatever they could hunt in the locality or trade with distant tribes. They were a highly developed tribe with a social structure based around chiefdoms with institutionalized social inequality between various classes which were similar to the caste system of other cultures like the medieval Europe and Hindu India.
The legend of Haloween comes from thousands of years ago. The Celtic people of Western Europe particularly the British Isles and Western France believed that on the last day of summer, the barriers between the living world and the kingdom of the dead would open allowing spirits and saints to pass among the living. Evil spirits would scare people from door to door and unlucky person who was caught would be taken back to the kingdom of the dead. It was a terrifying night and people lighted great fires and offered sacrifices calm down the evil spirits until the barriers had closed again the next day.
A symbol of Halloween is a hollowed out pumpkin carved into a scary face with a candle lit inside giving it a scary look. This pumpkin is known as Jack o’ lantern. This was a favorite tradition that started in USA spreading to other parts of the world. Halloween changed in the 19th and 20th centuries from a religious celebration to an annual holiday.
The Tocobagan Indians were the most peaceful tribe although their society did practice slavery and a person generally remained in their caste with little chance to improve to a higher status. They were highly structured and always built around a central plaza which would feature the pyramidal mound in larger settlements upon which the chief’s house and the village temple would be built.
The Tocobaga was a dominant Indian tribe in the Tampa Bay area. However, they disappeared from the history in 18th century. Their archeological remains were found and a Tocobaga Indian mound is situated in Florida’s Philippe Park which is a National Historic Landmark known as the Safety Harbor Site.
Also learn the detailed history of Halloween and also the history of Tocobaga Indians
.
Pumpkins, gory costumes, spiders and E-numbered-up kids hammering on your door. Are you ready for this year’s Halloween-fest? The supermarkets have been since the last Bank Holiday in August, so what’s it all about?
Many people exist quite happily without ever acknowledging Halloween. However, most of us surround ourselves with spooks, ghouls, demons, magic and spells, wizards and witches and the living dead every year because of an ancient pagan festival called Samhain and All Saints’ Day from the Christian calendar.
While we are munching on pumpkin pie and bobbing apples dressed as zombies we may want to remember the Celts who 2,000 years ago would have been throwing the bones of slaughtered livestock onto bonfires and wearing masks in order to calm evil spirits. This festival traditionally celebrated the end of harvest time and the beginning of the Celtic New Year on November 1.
In later years the Christian church began marking All Saints’ Day at the same time of year. Their belief was that souls were released from purgatory on All Hallow’s Eve, the night before All Saints’ Day, for 48 hours. This was parallel to the pagan belief that the spirits of the dead could spill into the land of the living on this particular night.
Over time, ideas from both festivals merged and became known as Hallowe’en in mainstream culture. The pagan and Christian religions continue to celebrate with their own separate events too.
Halloween is marked around the world in similar form, from Mexico’s Day of the Dead to China‘s Ghost Festival, and increasingly as a result of the influence of American culture in areas such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Europe.
Since the Americans hijacked Halloween it has become an excuse for any kind of themed event for adults as well as kids: from Halloween club nights to midnight screenings of horror films at cinemas and spooky TV specials.
If you fancy a night of dastardly devilry, there are plenty of events on around the country. The All Hallow’s Eve Ball at The Crypt, near Chancery Lane in London, is being held in aid of UNICEF on Friday October 31. Food is being provided by The Bleeding Heart restaurants in the rooms where King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon feasted on their wedding day.
For those interested in exploring the pagan roots of Halloween, the Caduceus Pagan and Witchcraft Halloween Bash at Conway Hall, Holborn in London could be just the ticket. The changing seasons will be celebrated with dance, song, drama and ritual on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 October.
Nicely coinciding with school half term holidays, Bristol Zoo is running a series of family activities from October 24 to November 5. These include an interactive trail with residence witch, Ninny Noo; a pumpkin carving competition; and a Halloween Parade with prizes for the scariest costumes.
Along the country’s heritage railways, ghoulish ghost trains will be steaming ahead for a range of family and adult seasonal rides. Railways to search for include Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway, Mid-Norfolk Railway, Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, South Tynedale Railway, Kent & East Sussex Railway, Bodmin & Wenford Railway, Foxfield Steam Railway and North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
The Spooky Sleepover at the London Bridge Experience invites guests to join the Society of Paranormal Investigation and spend the night of Saturday November 15 soaking up the unexplained in a historic setting. This special event is in aid of St John Ambulance and is for over-18s only.
If you can’t face going out in public on All Hallow’s Eve, you can always get decorating and create your own haunted house. Put on your fangs and fake blood, get some Halloween spirit and enjoy a good old fashioned fancy dress knees up. You should frighten off the youth beating down your door at least.
Although present day Halloween activities revolve around trick-or-treating and costume parties, historically masks were worn to placate the evil spirits. You may not be frightened by pumpkins carved into eerie faces nor believe in witches and goblins. But when is the last time you thought seriously about the “ghosts” that have been haunting you far too long?
The negative feelings that you may be experiencing – from time to time or perhaps more regularly – could be due to normal unhappiness, stress from overload, situational sadness, or even clinical depression. When there is no obvious trigger for emotional symptoms, they are often minimized, ignored or dismissed. But did you know that one in four people suffer from depression at some time in their life? Close to 50% don’t receive treatment yet, in the past few years, there has been a marked increase in the use of antidepressants – 120 million prescriptions were filled in 2005.
If you have had feelings of extreme sadness, helplessness or hopelessness for more than two weeks, you should consider scheduling an appointment with you family practitioner or internist. After discussing your symptoms, you will most likely be referred to a specialist. Psychiatrists are medical experts who are trained to evaluate clinical depression. This can take some time, especially if anti-depressants are indicated. There may be a process of trial and error while you are being regulated on the appropriate medication and proper dosage with the least side effects.
In the meantime, there are several non-medical actions you can take as you begin to better understand and cope with your moods. After reading the following suggestions about self care and social support, implement the ones that best fit your personal situation:
1. Honor your body by focusing on what makes you feel physically and emotionally better – pay attention to your exercise routine, what you eat, your sleeping habits and what gives you pleasure. Reduce the situations that cause stress and increase the ones that make you feel more relaxed or alive.
2. Create a balance between caring for the well being of others and nurturing your personal needs. Make time each day to nourish yourself – you may even need to make a schedule until this becomes a routine that is factored into your daily life.
3. Knowledge is power. Gather information about ways to deal with how you are feeling – explore Internet search engines or the self-help section of bookstores. Talk with friends and family whose opinions you respect.
4. Gratitude is a powerful emotion. Use it to your advantage. Tell those who are important to you what you think of them. Watch their reaction and see how that makes you feel. Practice what you have learned in the past about being resilient. Release tension through humor and watch yourself begin to bounce back
5. Support is a valuable tool. Find a class or workshop through your local university extension program or mental health center. Join an ongoing group or attend a weekend retreat to share concerns, problem-solve and gain new perspective. A therapist or a coach can be a sounding board, validate your perceptions, support your ideas and help you follow through with your plans.
It can be difficult to maintain a sense of optimism when emotional circumstances are complicated and painful. Focus your thoughts on what you can accomplish rather than on what you cannot. Recognize the insight and skills that are already an integral part of you. And notice how your character strengths support what you do and who you are.
Beginning to talk about depression can increase awareness, reduce the stigma and mitigate symptoms. Think about exorcising your “demons,” once and for all. Don’t disguise yourself in costume, no matter what time of the year. This Halloween, take off your mask and commit to feeling more positive about yourself.
(C) Her Mentor Center, 2007
Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. & Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. are founders of http://www.HerMentorCenter.com, a website for midlife women and http://www.NourishingRelationships.Blogspot.com, a blog for the Sandwich Generation. They are authors of a forthcoming book about Baby Boomers and family relationships. They offer free newsletter Stepping Stones.
Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31st. It is celebrated with Halloween parties and kids going house to house going trick or treating. It is celebrated in the US and in other parts of the world like the United Kingdom and Canada.
How Halloween is celebrated today goes back to the time when ancient pagans believed that October 31 is the day when the boundary between the living and the dead dissolves. Since the dead could cause harm to those who are living, people will go out into the streets wearing costumes and masks to ward off the evil spirits.
But that was then and now, we simply do it for fun. Weeks before Halloween, people would go out and by costumes. The most saleable ones are the skeletons, ghosts, vampires, witches and devils. If you have the time, you can make your own costume based on a television show or movie.
One study shows that of the people surveyed, more than half of the American public plan to buy a costume for Halloween even if it costs $10 more than it did last year. This means that sales will reach more than $6 billion from a little over $5 billion last year.
People in the Halloween spirit will also put up decorations in their homes like carved pumpkins, skeletons and candles.
During parties, aside from the food and drinks, several games are played. The most common is dunking or bobbing for apples in which applies that are floating in a tub or large basin are picked up by the participants using their teeth.
Another is to eat syrup coated scones that is hanging by a string. Again, you have to eat it without using your hands.
If you don’t want to go to party and do something daring, try going with a few friends and visit a haunted house. Many people don’t do this literally when they can have fun visiting a theme park that has something special for the occasion.
The favorite fruit during Halloween is the apple because it comes during the wake of the harvest season. You can eat it directly or have this mixed with sticky syrup and nuts.
Other countries celebrate Halloween differently. In most Asian countries, the people put food and water as well as a lantern so those who have departed will have something to eat, drink and a lighted path as they travel the earth during Halloween night. In Czechoslovakia, chairs are placed by the fireside on Halloween night. Each chair represents a living member and those who have passed on. The Swedes simply give students a day-off and a shortened working day for the employees.
But paying homage to the dead is what most countries do during Halloween. In fact, the day after which is November 1, is considered to be All Saint’s Day while the 2nd is called All Soul’s Day. This is done to commemorate those who are in purgatory with the hope of being cleansed of their sins so they may go to heaven.
For most children and adults, Halloween is simply a time to have fun with friends and family. They can go around getting candy by moving from one house to the next while the grown ups will go to a party where there is a lot of food and drinks.
Focalprice: Halloween Supplies: 12% OFF ALL with Coupon: "FES15OFF" – Expires October 1st. 2011
Halloween 2011 Extra 15% OFF any order of $150+ with Code: "15More" or 5% off any order of $50+ with Code: "5More" Expires Oct 31st.
HalloweenMart – world's largest inventory of Halloween costumes for everyone! Get $10 off any orders over $75! Use Code: "10OFF"
Take 10% Off Your Order of $50 or More at PetSmart! Use Code: "AFFOCT" at Checkout. Offer Expires 10.31
ChildBoys Costumes
Get Scary Contact Lenses for this Halloween with 10% off code: "DRM26SCMTRU"
Halloween Gifts
Halloween Warehouse
PierreSilber offer: $4.75 Domestic Ground Shipping until October 10, 2010
Pretty Party Place
So you can Trick or Treating More now for Less!