Matthew Pawlina is a freelance writer for Cheap Halloween Costumes , the premier website to find Halloween Costumes, Discount Halloween Costumes, Unique Halloween Costumes, Best Halloween Costumes, Buy Halloween Costumes Online, Easy Halloween Costumes, Online Halloween Costumes and many more.
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
Origins of Halloween
To safeguard by themselves, the Celts built bonfires the place they sacrificed crops and animals to the gods. The men and women dressed in costumes and believed that they could inform fortunes on October 31st, or Samhain.
Afterwards the Catholic church declared All Saints Day and All Souls Day about the exact same time. This is extensively considered to be an attempt to substitute a pagan holiday with a Christian an individual. The bad would go from doorway to doorway getting food in return for prayers for the dead.
As the a long time went on, other traditions became attached to Halloween. While individuals had carved lanterns out of a assortment of vegetables for a prolonged time, a frightening tale about Stingy Jack became the purpose that Jack-O-Lanterns ended up affiliated with Halloween.
Now Halloween is the 2nd most business holiday in the U.S. We expend capital on costumes, fog devices and candy. In metropolitan areas across America, you’ll come across overall retailers that open up just for the two months prior to Halloween.
Are you knowledgeable of the legitimate origin of Halloween? There was a time when I was totally uniformed about the connection this holiday getaway has with occult practices. I assumed it was just a exciting getaway and eagerly participated in a Haunted Household as a fundraiser for my church until eventually mastering about the origins of Halloween.
Halloween began properly just before Christ’s birth as a three day celebration of the dead by the druids in ancient regions of England and Ireland. It is recorded in historical past as the eve of samhain, which marked the conclude of the Celtic calendar 12 months.
For the duration of this festival, divination and sooth-saying had been practiced. Druids dressed as witches, goblins, and fairies were documented to go during the countryside harassing men and women for contributions of foods. This is the foundation for our latest trick-or-deal with rituals. Satanic worship and witchcraft, this includes black cats, have been all affiliated with this time which sounds a lot like our recent Halloween traditions.
The present-day Halloween practice of dressing little ones in masks and costumes and sending them out into the neighborhoods for “food” closely mimics people harassing behaviors by the early druids. Even the jack-o-lantern got its starting from turnips carved as death masks carried by the druids during this time.
These traditions have turn into a element of American household lifestyle as basic and playful fun. The real origin of this pleasurable paints a much different picture. The query continues to be: is this a apply that our children ought to be engaging in when it was born out of these “dark” beginnings?
Is it just basic exciting or is there more going on powering the scenes?
Halloween is an individual of the most ancient celebrations, its origins getting discovered thousand of several years in the past. The celebration we now know as Halloween has regarded a whole lot of influences from unique peoples. In the Roman Empire, it was acknowledged as Pomona’s Day, the Celts understood it as Samhain and the Christians understood it as All Saints’ Day or as All Hallows’ Day.
Here are a number of items on the Celtic origins of this holiday getaway.
A brief history individuals modern Halloween begins with a traditional Celtic holiday called Samhain (pronounced sow-en). The Celts lived in present-day Ireland and England dating to about the 5th Century BC. Other story will amaze you see it at this website.
How To Make Money On Halloween- 7 Easy Ways
Halloween is just around the corner. And while you may think of it as just another holiday, many people see this holiday as a “moneyday”. Halloween is one of the most popular holidays, and that’s why its a billion a year industry! Lets see how you can take a cut off of this billion. There are couple of not so unusual ways to make money on Halloween. While some of these Halloween money making ideas require long term planning, others are very easy and quick to execute. With that said, here are 7 ways to make money on Halloween.
Halloween Affiliate Marketing
As most of you may know making money affiliate marketing is one of the easiest and widely practiced ways to make money online. With Halloween being so popular, it’s so easy to find Halloween related product to sell. Get a free account at Clickbank or any affiliate marketing network you like. Find Halloween related products and start promoting them.
You can either buy your own domain and hosting and goo all the way, or you could go the fast and free way, blogger! Set up a blog or two on blogger and you can even monetize it with ad sense as well.
Halloween Blog
Are you a big Halloween fan and happen to know a lot about it? Why not set up a blog where you can write about Halloween. People love to read about Halloween, specially if you can be creative and bring in some originality. You can use the same method to give people ideas for Halloween costumes or Halloween parties. Write short scary stories. While you may think no one would read that, people are hungry for new and original ideas. But, how would you make money this way?… Easy! Use ad sense or other PPC advertising companies to monetize your blog. When people click on those ads, you get paid for each click.
Halloween Costumes Creation
Use your creativity to come up with new Halloween costumes. Again, same as the same old pumpkin face, people are wanting new costumes. And believe it or not you don’t have to be a fashion designer to come up with a Halloween costume. How many times have you seen a Halloween costume that looked like two pieces of clothes sewed together, yet it was unique and aye catching?…
Halloween Recipe E-book
You knew this was coming, didn’t you? While there are many Halloween recipes out there, there are never enough for every taste. So, if you know a thing or two about Halloween food or how to make different kinds of pumpkin pie, you can make a nice Halloween cookbook, or a ” special Halloween recipe “. Or better yet, since online Halloween shopping is becoming more popular, instead of making a cookbook and having to go through all the trouble of finding a place to sell it, make that an e-book. If you have all of your recipes ready, you can put together a Halloween recipe e-book in matter of hours. Not only that, you also get to reach far more potential customer than selling a recipe book to your neighbors or friends and family. You can even use eBay or craigslist.
Halloween Costume Selling
Another way to make money with Halloween costumes is buying costumes after Halloween. Stores are wanting to get rid of their halloween costume stocks as soon as the halloween is over. And just like any other holiday, related merchandise are going to be sold way cheaper than the usual. Plus if you buy bulk, you can always get a better deal. Also during the year keep your eyes open for garage sales and thrift store for anything that could be a potential costume. When halloween roles around the next time, use ebay, craigslist or whatever source, to sell the costumes for a nice profit. While this may not pay your bills for the whole entire year, but you can bet you can make a good profit doing this.
Pumpkin Carving
Think about it, how many years have gone by and you have seen the same old carved pumpkin faces? Come up with new faces for your pumpkin. You can either make one of each and take picture of them, and go door to door to your neighbor’s house and offer to make them one. Or better yet, rent a small space in a busy spot in your town and showcase your carved pumpkins. People are tired of same old “missing one tooth, eyebrows pulled in, angry pumpkin face “, and they will spend a few dollars to have a new and unique carved pumpkin. You can even put pictures of your carved pumpkins on craigslist and offer your service there.
Hunted House
A good designed hunted house, can make you more money in just one month than most people would make in an entire year. While it seems like an impossible task at first, you can easily set a hunted house up in your area, specially if you happen to live in a town with not many hunted house around. Rent an empty warehouse, an empty piece of land, maybe even your own backyard if its big enough.
You may need to invest a couple hundred dollars to buy some 2×4s and some drywall (you can even use thick sheets of plastic to make the walls of you hunted house) and let your creativity juice flow. Ask your friends and family to be the actors for your hunted house for a small cut. It’s a good way to make some money, while having fun with your friends and family. Although this may take some time and maybe a couple hundred dollars investment, but with the right setup and good scary decoration, it can easily give you a nice return on your investment. Hell, maybe you can even grow a seasonal business out of it. How do you think the halloween spirit got started?
I hope this post gives you some inspiration you can use to make money on Halloween.
About the author: Satrap is the founder and author of controversial blog, blogstash.com. A blog full of great how-tos and information about making money online. Visit blogstash today for more information on this and other online jobs
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Written by satrap
An internet marketer who blogs about ways to make money online.
The reason I called this “versitile Halloween hair” is because you can do this hair for a good costume or evil costume depending on the way you style it! its very fun crazy and could even be whimsical if you curled it instead of flat ironed it. Hope this helps! Things Used: Rat tail comb Bobby Pins Hair tie Flat iron Big sexy hair spray Check out my other profiles!! BLOG: carahamelie03.blogspot.com TWITTER: twitter.com FORMSPRING: www.formspring.me Disclaimer: I didnt get anything for free in this video, I’m not affiliated, and it’s my honest opinions
Video Rating: 4 / 5
2002 Things to Do with Your Kids: Creative Ideas for Family Fun
New – Whether it’s rainy days, holidays, or just a few moments of quality time throughout the day, 2002 Things to Do with Your Kids is a treasure trove of ideas for making the time you have with your children — from day one to high school graduation — extra special and entertaining. Handprints in cement add a special touch for the whole family when moving to a brand-new home; yard sales can be an adventure when each child has fifty cents to find a treasure with; and that Halloween jack-o’-lant
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Halloween Worldwide – Which Country Does Celebrate Halloween?
Halloween was originally a pagan holiday celebrated by Celtic people and born from the pagan holiday “Samhain”.
Samhain is a holiday that celebrates the dark season of the Celtic year. Gallic people also celebrated this holiday; which was called “Samonios”. Samonios has been replaced in Gallic countries by Christian celebrations.
Samhain was celebrated three days before and three days after November 1st and the origin of there was no carved pumpkin nor trick or treating. People had a lantern made out of a turnip. The celebration was strictly observed by the whole society and gave the opportunity to every barbarian to eat, drink and have fun.
Over the centuries, continental Europe converted to Christianity and abandoned Samonios in favour of All Saints Day and Samhain became All Hallow’s Eve.
However, the Halloween that we currently celebrate has nothing in common with Samhain.
Halloween and All Saints Day are still interrelated because Halloween means “The Night Before the Feast of All Saints” and “All Hallow’s Day” is our Continental All Saints Day.
All Hallow’s Eve; which evolved during the Christianization of European populations, was imported in America by European colonists and the current Halloween holiday was created by the Irish emigrants.
In Belgium, two villages still celebrate Samonios (Samhain), born from All Saints Day, Grindin and Saint Gregory holidays. One of these villages is Gouy-Lez-Pieton. A friend of mine lives in Gouy and when I talk about Halloween, she says: “We did not replace Saint Nicholas holiday by Christmas so, we will not replace our All Saints Day and our Day Of The Dead by Halloween!” However, she agreed to organize a Halloween party with me next year.
Here are some countries which celebrate Halloween:
If some continental European countries adopted Halloween, this has not been without difficulty. Indeed, we consider this celebration being too “American Marketing” style. European people give more value to their culture and traditions than to commercial events.
Belgian people celebrate Halloween since more than ten years but Gouy-Lez-Pieton refuses to adopt it, preferring to celebrate their own Samhain-style holiday. Even if Belgian people organize a Day Before Christmas dinner, they still offer gifts to children on December 6th and not on December 25th. So, I doubt that my country will replace All Saints Day by Halloween.
On the other hand, Belgian people do not open their doors to unknown persons – including children – and we are not welcomed to ask for candies. By the way, many children are fighting in the streets to steal candy from others.
French people think that this holiday is too commercial and while this country finally adopted Halloween in the late 1990s, it is now less appreciated. There are very few children ringing at the doors and asking for sweets.
English people celebrate the Guy Fawkes Day on November 5th and adopted many customs from Samhain. These festivities are marked by torchlight parades where children use masks made from beets and pumpkins.
Scottish people practice their ancient pagan rites. Children wear costumes and cut scary faces into large rutabagas and place a candle inside them. They receive candy when they provide a nice entertainment to their neighbours.
Trick or treating originated in Ireland, so as usual, Irish children in disguise will enjoy the Halloween festivities, they will carry lanterns cut into large rutabagas. Children will be received by their neighbours with sweets and Irish houses will be decorated with Halloween lights.
Spanish people enjoy each kind of holidays and parties. Their kids will then enjoy receiving candies from their neighbours and adults will have the opportunity to have a Halloween party in each and every club. Spanish people also organize many Halloween parades.
Portugal does not celebrate Halloween; Portuguese people celebrate the Day of the Dead by organizing feasts at the cemetery.
Some regions of Italy organize Halloween Events and it seems that the Italian children enjoy this holiday.
Other European cities and clubs organize commercial events for Halloween (mainly for tourists), newspapers publish articles dedicated to Halloween, but I am unsure that people really practice Halloween. There are very few information about Halloween festivities in Europe; especially Central and eastern Europe. They stick to their own All Saints Day and Day Of The Dead.
Australia and New Zealand begin to enjoy Halloween.
USA, Canada, and Quebec: Halloween is very much appreciated and I think that only some worldwide disaster should prevent these people to celebrate Halloween.
Since some years, there is a growing interest on the part of the Chinese population for western events: Chinese people enjoy Halloween parties.
D. Halet is an European history, Holidays and Tarot Cards passionate; she writes articles and creates websites dedicated to these subjects.
For more info on Halloween Costume ideas, visit My Happy Halloween! and receive a free My Happy Halloween Guide.
Article from articlesbase.com
Find More Halloween Articles
Halloween adds excitement to young and old. And the occasion demands style, trends, exclusive treats and more.
Halloween styles, treats, decorations and more are the focus of magazines and websites bringing to a peak festival excitement.
To make Halloween exclusive we bring you some expert tips:
1. Surf the World Wide Web to see what is haute and happening this Halloween. Websites host Halloween exclusive blogs and send out alerts on celebrity costumes and latest trends to registered customers. So update your knowledge.
2. Plan your families Halloween. Sit down with young and old to decide on a theme: renaissance, films, comic strip heroes, or traditional witches and imps!
3. Design the entire Halloween around the theme you have decided. Decorations, invites, treats, bags and more could all feature the “theme.” So where its Flintstones, the Adams Family, or the teachers at Harry Potter’s school or Batman and Batwoman; plan the adventure well.
4. Learn how to take exclusive photographs for Halloween-create the atmosphere of eeriness use effects to bring alive “Halloween” create eternal memories for generations to come.
5. Plan the Halloween decorations to match your theme. Jot down the list and visit discount stores and online Halloween special stores to find the decorations you need. Begin the gathering of decorations well in advance. If you live in a neighborhood that’s friendly then plan with your neighbors a ‘street look’ for Halloween. Think about it is may be fun!
6. Make Halloween a safe celebration by following safety regulations that protect the kids and your home and front yard.
7. Make sure the treats you prepare are healthy and free from allergens and other poisons. Read about safe Halloween treats and only buy treats manufactured by reputed organizations.
8. Teach the kids about not eating treats while trick or treating and about safety norms. If children are small they must be accompanied by older children or adults. See http://www.halloween-safety.com/halloween_safety_treats.html for some guidelines.
9. Take care of pets during Halloween. Many pets fall sick or die from eating treats or from accidents. While dressing up the dog may be fun think about the pet‘s safety and needs.
10. If you are planning a party make sure yours does not clash with any other planned within your group of friends. Plan the party around your theme and let guests know about costumes etc. Choose suitable music and take care that you only use approved colors for drink and food. Check out websites like http://www.halloweenpartybox.com/ for great ideas and buys.
Halloween can become a tradition in your family Many may not be aware but Halloween is an ancient festival; its origins lie in a Celtic celebration Samhain which was celebrated at the end of the harvest season. Traditional decorations of Halloween include the jack-o-lantern carved from a pumpkin representing knowledge and that knowledge would always triumph over evil. So enjoy Halloween in the modern way and carry forward an ancient tradition.
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