This is going to sound daft, but here goes. I was talking with my kids on the way to school this morning about their hallowe'en party - what to eat, who's wearing what and such like. It's all going well until my five year old asked where hallowe'en came from.
The thing is, outside of this Americanised trick or treat and carved pumpkins version I haven't got a clue. Please help, becasue my kids see me as the font of all knowledge and i'm struggling here!!
2006-09-19 22:38:11 · 4 answers · asked by Tish P 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
Halloween is religious irony. It was a pagan festival, that was stolen by the Christians and then stolen again by popular culture - makes me smile.
2006-09-19 22:47:03 · answer #1 · answered by dryheatdave 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Halloween is the pre-Christian celtic festival of Samhain meaning summer's end marking the autumnal equinox when days start to get shorter and marking the final harvest. The opposing equinox for May Day celebration was called Beltane.
Celtic folklore
The Samhain celebrations may have survived in several guises as a festival dedicated to the dead. In Ireland and Scotland, the Féile na Marbh, the "festival of the dead" took place on Samhain.
Samhain Eve, in Irish and Scots Gaelic, Oidhche Shamhna, is one of the principal festivals of the Celtic calendar, and is thought to fall on or around the 31st of October. It represents the final harvest. In modern Ireland and Scotland, the name by which Halloween is known in the Gaelic language is still "OÃche/Oidhche Shamhna". Bonfires played a large part in the festivities celebrated down through the last several centuries. Villagers were said to have cast the bones of the slaughtered cattle upon the flames, cattle having a prominent place in the pre-Christian Gaelic world. Victorian sources claimed the English word 'bonfire' derives from these "bone fires" but the Gaelic has no such parallel. With the bonfire ablaze, the villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then solemnly lit its hearth from the common flame, thus bonding the families of the village together.
2006-09-20 05:43:55 · answer #2 · answered by Chris C 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you are a Christian, you would know. Anyway, it is a time to pray and reflect over your loved ones who have passed away and also to all the faithful saints and martyrs, known or unknown. It is also known as "All Saints" day.
Halloween is derived from "Hallowmas" ("hallow" meaning "holy," and "mas" meaning "Mass").
2006-09-20 05:42:38 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Was originally a sacred day, celebration of all saints. It has been turned into a day of celebration of witches and evil spirits. A day to celebrate the devil. Hallow - means sacred, ween - means to clean out the temple of the most high.
2006-09-20 06:05:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋