What is halloween?

Question

someone said it was devils bday and i read that 1st ppl went door to door askin 4 food then soon it came to be trick or treatin

Answer 1

Halloween is a combination of several fall festivals that commemorated the end – or the death – of the year, and all the people who are now dead.

Halloween's biggest influence appears to have been the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts thought that the dead might be able to communicate with the living during the "death" of the year and would disguise themselves in order to communicate with the nether world without being recognized.

The Romans celebrated Feralia, a festival to honor their ancestors, at about the same time of the year, and they combined it with Samhain when they occupied Ireland.

The Catholic Church celebrated All Saints Day, a holiday for saints and martyrs, during the fall, and combined their holiday with the Celtic one while they were converting Ireland to Catholicism.

Jack-O'Lanterns came from an Irish story about a man who tricked the Devil out of a drink, and couldn't gain access to either Heaven or Hell because of it, and now spends eternity wandering through the night with a lump of burning coal in a carved-out turnip to light his way.

Trick-or-treating may have come from the Christan practice of souling, where beggars would ask for bread in exchange for saying prayers for their benefactors' recently-dead relatives.

Answer 2

Halloween is said to come from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a person entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

Answer 3

Halloween started several centries ago when the British Druids (creepy guys in robes) went from door-to-door looking for young women whom they might use as a human sacrifice to "Baphomet". Baphomet (I think that's how it's spelled) is that goat-looking thing inside a pentagram. If the druids got a human sacrifice at a house they left a jack-o-lantern on the doorstep to keep the demons away. If they didn't, they painted a pentagram on the door.

Answer 4

Halloween is derived from all hallows eve which is a time once a year when monsters and demons were thought to roam the earth terrorizing villages in the early 1600's
in order to scare away evil from their towns, people dressed as demons and monsters.
children took the time during ceremonies to play pranks on people, such as moving all their furniture out of their houses unless they were given goodies. (think trick or treat)
eventually, corporate America took over and made the holiday all about costumes and demanding candy from strangers.
also, Lanterns came from a legend about Jack, who lied and cheated and eventually, mad a pact with the devil that he would never have to go to hell. when he died, heaven wouldn't take him and Hell had agreed to leave him be so he was forced to wander earth forever with only the light of his lantern to guide him
(PS they used to make jack 'o ' lanterns out of Radishes...)

Answer 5

Halloween sucks, it's all about Devil's Night (the eve of Halloween)

Answer 6

I am pretty sure Halloween originated form Mexico's Day of the Dead, but I am not positive.

Answer 7

Have you ever asked yourself, "Who in the world ever thought of the idea of walking around in weird costumes, trick or treating, and/or putting a carved-out pumpkin in your window?"

You will agree with me that Halloween is really one of the strangest days of the year, is it not? Perhaps you wonder how the celebration of such a day ever got started. In this pamphlet I would like to answer this question for you!

Where and when did Halloween customs originate?

The many customs we have today in relation to Halloween have their origins in the religious practices of the Romans and the Druids, therefore dating back many centuries. The Romans worshiped various gods and on October 31, a special feast was held in honor of Pomona, goddess of the fruit trees. Later, the Druids, an ancient order of Celtic priests in Britain, made this feast an even more extensive celebration by also honoring Samhain, lord of the dead. This was normally done on November 1 and it was therefore decided to conveniently honor both Pomona and Samhain on October 31 and November 1.

These Druids believed that on the night before November 1 (October 31) Samhain called together wicked souls or spirits which had been condemned to live in the bodies of animals during the year which had just transpired. Since they were afraid of these spirits, they chose October 31 as a day to sacrifice to their gods, hoping they would protect them. They really believed that on this day they were surrounded by strange spirits, ghosts, witches, fairies, and elves, who came out to hurt them. In addition to this, they also believed that cats were holy animals, as they considered them to represent people who lived formerly, and as punishment for evil deeds were reincarnated as a cat. All this explains why witches, ghosts, and cats are a part of Halloween today.

The custom of trick-or-treating and the use of "jack-o'-lanterns" comes from Ireland. Hundreds of years ago, Irish farmers went from house to house, begging for food, in the name of their ancient gods, to be used at the village Halloween celebration. They would promise good luck to those who gave them good, and made threats to those who refused to give. They simply told the people, "You treat me, or else I will trick you!"

The apparently harmless lightened pumpkin face or "jack-o'-lantern" actually is an old Irish symbol of damned soul. A man named Jack was supposed to be able unable to enter heaven due to his miserliness, and unable to enter hell because he had played practice jokes on the devil. As a result, he was condemned to wander over the earth with his lantern until judgment day (i.e., the end of the world). The Irish were so afraid that they would receive an identical plight, that they began to hollow out pumpkins and place lighted candles inside to scare away evil spirits from their home.

When did the modern Halloween celebration begin?

During the Middle Ages (about 600 years ago), the Roman Catholic Church at that time, decided to make the change-over from pagan religion to Christianity a bit easier, and therefore allowed the new converts to maintain some of their pagan feasts. It was agreed, however, that from now on they would be celebrated as "Christian" feats. So instead of praying to thwir heathen gods, they would now pray to, and remember the deaths of saints. For this reason the church decided to call November 1 the "Day of All Saints," and the mass to be celebrated on that day "Alhallowmass." In consequence of this, the evening prior to this day was named, "All Hallowed Evening" which subsequently was abbreviated as "Halloween." In spite of this effort to make October 31 a "holy evening," all the old customs continued to be practiced, and made this evening anything BUT a holy evening!

Halloween today.

You would have to agree with me that also today Halloween is most definently not a holy evening!! This annual event is far from the harmless, innocent tradition it is promoted to be. Many dread this "holy" evening as they think what could happen to them, their property, and/or their children! Consistent with its historical roots, this evening is charecterized by fear, and frequently arouses dormant fears in many. The fear generated by this event is symbolic of the fear which plagues so many in our moden, morally bankrupt world. It is a gripping fear for an unknown and very threatening future, a fear caused by a gnawing inner emptiness.

Answer 8

halloween is not the devil's b-day! it is when u dress up and get candy!