is HALLOWEEN really the devil's birthday?

Answer 1

I don't know that it is the devil's b'day, but it is a major pagan holiday

.Halloween originated in Ireland as the pagan Celtic harvest festival, Samhain. Irish, Scots and other immigrants brought older versions of the tradition to North America in the 19th century.

Neopagans of North America honor their ancestors on October 31. It was once believed that on this night any souls who had not yet passed into the paradise of the summer lands might return to wander the streets and visit their old homes once more.

The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European pagan traditions, until it was appropriated by Christian missionaries and given a Christian interpretation

The mingling of Christian and Pagan traditions in the development of Halloween, and its real or assumed preoccupation with evil and the supernatural, have left some modern Christians uncertain of how they should react towards the holiday. Certain fundamentalist and evangelical Protestants, along with some Eastern Orthodox Christians as well as conservative Jews and Muslims, strongly object to the holiday and refuse to allow their children to participate, citing its pagan origins (and, in some cases, its Roman Catholic connections) as well as what they regard as its Satanic imagery.

Lots of information out there if you are really interested.

Answer 2

No. Halloween is the eve of the ancient holiday of Samhain, which is the start of the year in Wicca. So when Christians started taking over the places where Samhain was traditionally celebrated, they needed something to make it clear they were in church that night, and therefore not out on the hillside dancing in the moonlight. So they created All Saint's Day, or All Hallow's Day. So then the night before was Hallow'een, the eve of All Hallow's. And that night, unlike the day that follows it, was essentially given over to mocking the mystical practices of Wicca and other pagan traditions. So we need to distinguish between a "Halloween witch" and a real witch. A real witch is someone who believes in Wicca, a pagan religion, not someone who boils up potions to poison bad little boys, or whatever; poison apples for the girls, isn't it?

Answer 3

The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening before "All Hallows Day". In Ireland, the name was All Hallows Eve and this name is still used by some older people. Halloween was also sometimes called All Saints' Eve. The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European pagan traditions, until it was appropriated by Christian missionaries and given a Christian interpretation. In Mexico November 1st and 2nd are celebrated as the "Dia de Los Muertos" Day of the Dead. Halloween is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the púca, a mischievous spirit. In Australia it is sometimes referred to as "mischief night", by locals.

Answer 4

Prepare to be enlightened...

Samhuinn, from 31 October to 2 November was a time of no-time. Celtic society, like all early societies, was highly structured and organised, everyone knew their place. But to allow that order to be psychologically comfortable, the Celts knew that there had to be a time when order and structure were abolished, when chaos could reign. And Samhuinn, was such a time. Time was abolished for the three days of this festival and people did crazy things, men dressed as women and women as men. [This happened at Beltane too — IB] Farmers’ gates were unhinged and left in ditches, peoples’ horses were moved to different fields, and children would knock on neighbours’ doors for food and treats in a way that we still find today, in a watered-down way, in the custom of trick-or-treating on Hallowe’en.

But behind this apparent lunacy, lay a deeper meaning. The Druids knew that these three days had a special quality about them. The veil between this world and the World of the Ancestors was drawn aside on these nights, and for those who were prepared, journeys could be made in safety to the ’other side’. The Druid rites, therefore, were concerned with making contact with the spirits of the departed, who were seen as sources of guidance and inspiration rather than as sources of dread. The dark moon, the time when no moon can be seen in the sky, was the phase of the moon which ruled this time, because it represents a time in which our mortal sight needs to be obscured in order for us to see into the other worlds.

The dead are honoured and feasted, not as the dead, but as the living spirits of loved ones and of guardians who hold the root-wisdom of the tribe. With the coming of Christianity, this festival was turned into Hallowe’en (31 October), All Hallows [All Saints Day] (1 November), and All Souls Day (2 November). Here we can see most clearly the way in which Christianity built on the Pagan foundations it found rooted in these isles. Not only does the purpose of the festival match with the earlier one, but even the unusual length of the festival is the same.

Answer 5

Halloween
Holiday observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day. Its pagan origins can be traced to the Celtic festival of Samhain, celebrated in ancient England and Ireland to mark the beginning of the Celtic new year. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on Samhain eve, and witches, goblins, black cats, and ghosts were said to roam abroad. The night was also thought to be the most favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. The pagan observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows' Eve, celebrated on the same date. The holiday was gradually secularized and was introduced into the U.S. by the late 19th century. Still associated with evil spirits and the supernatural, it is celebrated by children in costume who gather candy by ringing doorbells and calling out “trick or treat,” “trick” referring to the pranks and vandalism that are also part of the Halloween tradition.

Answer 6

What are you talking about?
Halloween is a holiday. It is not more the devil's birthday than labor day is Buddha's birthday.

Answer 7

The devil or satan was not born so he has no birthday.
Satan was an angel, God threw him out of heaven, so no halloween is not the devils birthday.

Answer 8

HOPE THIS HELPS....
The origins of the holiday we now know as Halloween can be traced back to an ancient Celtic harvest festival called Samhain (pronounced sou’-en – like “cow”). The ancient Celts celebrated November 1 as the beginning of the New Year and on sundown the night before, they would begin their celebration with a large bonfire and sacrifices of animals and crops. The Celts also believed that on this night the “veil between the worlds” was thinner. This allowed their priests, or Druids, to tell the future by communicating with the dead.

It’s interesting to note that the Celtic religion was polytheistic and, while they did believe in a god of the dead, they did not have the Christian concept of “a devil” or “Satan”. Also, the festival of Samhain was in no way connected to their god of the dead and was more in celebration of the coming new year.

When Catholicism reached the Celts, they couldn’t be convinced to stop participating in their pagan harvest ritual. Rather than have a big fight about it, Pope Gregory IV in 835 AD moved the Catholic holiday of “All Saints’ Day” to November 1 to coincide with the existing celebration. Celebration of Christmas on December 25 was established in much the same way – to line up with an existing pagan winter solstice celebration. The night before was dubbed “All Saints’ Eve” or “All Hallows Eve” which was eventually shortened to “All Hallowe’en” from which we derive our current “Halloween”.

The idea of Halloween being “evil” is probably derived from early Christians condemning the pagans as “Satan worshipers” and associating their harvest ritual with a celebration of death. This turns out to be historically inaccurate. And the name “Halloween” is actually derived from a Catholic holy day.

That doesn’t really explain costumes or trick-or-treating, as neither were associated with the Celtic festival or the Catholic holiday. The early Catholics would dress up for other holidays – notably Christmas, which may be where the custom came from. There’s also a theory that in Medieval times, people were worried about evil spirits roaming the earth on Halloween, so if they went out after dark, they would dress up like ghosts to fool the spirits into thinking they were one of them.

The tradition of trick-or-treating, on the other hand, can be traced. The Irish celebrate a night they call “Mischief Night,” which happens to fall on – you guessed it – October 31. It’s a night when faeries, elves and goblins supposedly run rampant and perform minor acts of vandalism. In reality, the faeries and elves used to get a hand in the vandalism, which would include tipping over outhouses and egging houses and similar activities, by neighborhood adolescents.

During the large Irish migration in the late 1800’s, the tradition of Mischief Night came to America. The tradition caught on pretty quickly (what adolescent doesn’t like a nice excuse to perform some mischief?) and by the 1920’s the vandalism had gotten so bad – as well as occasionally violent – that local city governments and clubs such as the Boy Scouts decided action needed to be taken. They encouraged children to go door to door and receive treats from neighbors and shop owners as an alternative safe, less destructive alternate activity on Halloween. The “beggar’s nights” – which introduced the traditional “trick-or-treat” greeting were enormously popular and by the 1930’s had become wide-spread.

The idea for the door-to-door begging activity may have come from early Christian All Souls’ Day parades during which the poor would go door to door begging for food. Families would hand out a pastry known as a “soul cake” in return for a prayer on behalf of their dead relatives. All Souls’ Day is traditionally celebrated on November 2, right after All Saints’ Day.

So fill up the bowl with treats, don your favorite costume and let your fears of the “evil” Halloween holiday be put at ease. It’s really an ancient Celtic harvest festival adopted as a Catholic holiday that was tweaked a bit by the Boy Scouts of America. And if the devil does happen to knock on your door, it’s probably a hungry neighborhood kid in disguise.

Answer 9

All Hallows eve = Halloween.

Answer 10

Nope. In history, it is the day that all supernatural creature to come out and to keep them at bay, you put jack-o-lanterns in the windows of your house or a the doors. Something along those lines.