Okay, so this totally sucks. I have school on the day after Halloween. I go to St. Therese, a Catholic school. They say Halloween is a "pagan" holiday. Is there anything I can do to prove that Halloween is somehow Christian? I was thinking maybe because Halloween has something to do with Mexico's holiday, we could talk to the Spanish teacher. Someone please help me!!!
2006-09-22 11:30:46 · 13 answers · asked by Miles B 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Other - Holidays
Actually, early Christian (US) colonists used to observe the Halloween holliday. They used to believe that if you dressed "scary" that you could frighten away evil spirits. They also believed that you could appease evil spirits with treats...thus the tradition of giving out candy.
2006-09-22 11:34:44 · answer #1 · answered by Rance D 5 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Halloween (All Hallows Eve) is actually a Catholic holiday, along with All Saint's Day (the next day.)
Samhain, at roughly the same time, *is* a Pagan holiday. Many of the "scary" elements to modern secular Halloween celebrations were brought over with the Irish during the time of the Potato Famine - while formal Pagan observances of Samhain had ended quite a long time before that, folk traditions such as costumes and trick-or-treating survived and were brought over with the immigrants.
2006-09-26 14:06:41 · answer #2 · answered by ArcadianStormcrow 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's not Christian and it's certainly not celebrated with any religion in mind nowadays. It has pagan roots but so does many traditions surrounding Christmas and other holidays. Is your school that bent on teaching non acceptance and hate?
Pagans do not worship Satan...one would have to be quite the ignorant and uneducated soul to believe that.
2006-09-23 08:21:51 · answer #3 · answered by KathyS 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Pagan first, called Samhain...xtians took it over and called it the Feast of All Saints., All Saints Day. All Hallows Eve, (h'ween) Ask your Spanish language teacher about the Day of the Dead. Big celebrations in Mexico to venerate dead relatives.
2006-09-22 18:43:59 · answer #4 · answered by lpaganus 6 · 8⤊ 0⤋
What about easter and christmas ... how do they celibrate?
If it's anything other than a fancy diner and praying... with manger scene's.... then there celibrating a pagan holiday....
lol
Nearly all of christmass and easter traditions are pagan from where there taken from pagan festivals.
Just tell them that..... besides Christians and there own version of it where people would go around dressed up to scare off demons..... that part of halloween is acutaly i think a christian tradition.
2006-09-22 18:35:13 · answer #5 · answered by CrazyCat 5 · 8⤊ 1⤋
its a hard direction to explain. the answers you have received are based on many people whop only wished to study it the way it makes it acceptable for themselves. you need to really study it historically, not religiously based first. its pagan, its Christian, its American its foreign, just like the study of languages each person may have an answer but not study back far enough. like hitting a wall. the sites below are just examples of the differences. the way people look into it. plus the fact that different countries view it differently
2006-09-22 21:26:20 · answer #6 · answered by angelchele 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Halloween falls on a tuesday or a wednesday, everyone is going to have school the day after Halloween, as far as i know no one has ever had the after off.
2006-09-22 18:34:46 · answer #7 · answered by ? 6 · 5⤊ 3⤋
all saints day is the day after halloween...... the word halloween comes from the words hollows eve..... its the eve of the holy day for all the saints.... and it is believed back then that the evil spirits and monsters and such...... would come out to lurk the night before all saints day..... and it still remains all saints day nov. 1st for us christians.......
2006-09-25 14:13:51 · answer #8 · answered by musicbuggie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is not related to the mexican holiday "dia de las muertas".
it is, however, considered "pagan" to the roman catholic church because it has history stemming back to before christ.
I dont believe that the modern celebration of it is pagan, and i see that you agree, but it is not a christian holiday.
2006-09-22 18:37:13 · answer #9 · answered by ~Selene~ 3 · 11⤊ 0⤋
Halloween has nothing to do with a Mexican holiday, and it is not a Chrostian holiday. In fact, it is not a holiday at all. Go to school.
2006-09-22 18:38:28 · answer #10 · answered by Sordenhiemer 7 · 1⤊ 9⤋