my sister wants to know.
2006-10-15 15:28:16 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Halloween
Halloween came from the Pagan holiday Samhain (pronounced "sow-when"). Like Ostara (now Easter) and Yule (now Christmas), the Christians "Christianized" the holiday. The Pope moved All Saints Day from the spring to coincide with Samhain, which was the end of the year. The name was changed to All Hallows Eve, until it's form now of Halloween.
Some Christians considered Christmas to be "too Pagan" and it wasn't always celebrated. Colonial Americans didn't celebrate it even! Halloween followed the same rout. However, Christmas is now celebrated by Christians, but Halloween isn't always. Many Christians see Halloween as still a Pagan holiday, and unfortunately they have many misconceptions about what Paganism is. Some Christians then draw the conclusion that to be Pagan is to be evil, and that Halloween is Pagan, therefore it's evil.
In summation, if Christians think that Halloween is evil because of it's Pagan roots, then should quite celebrating Christmas, which was once the Pagan holiday Yule, and Easter, which was once the Pagan holiday Ostara.
2006-10-15 16:57:20 · answer #1 · answered by Mrs. Pears 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All Hallow's Eve means All Saint's Eve, that is the night before All Saint's Day. The name became contracted over time to Hallowe'en.
It's still the same. It was originally a pagan festival, apparently so popular that the Church had no better option than to appropriate it as the night before All Saint's....
2006-10-15 15:39:17 · answer #2 · answered by sonyack 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Halloween is just a corruption/contraction of all HALLOWs EvENing. Eve is a shortened form of evening.
2006-10-15 15:38:50 · answer #3 · answered by David74 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All Hollow's Eve is hard to say.
2006-10-15 15:35:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A question like this was asked on Ask Yahoo!
here's a link:
http://ask.yahoo.com/20061004.html
2006-10-15 15:40:51 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe it was too "Pagan" for the time?
2006-10-15 15:31:03 · answer #6 · answered by fancy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋