Whoever thinks this is very sadly mistaken.
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Identifying Samhain as a Celtic Death God is one of the most tenacious errors associated with Halloween.
Almost all stories about the origin of Halloween correctly state that Halloween had its origins among the ancient Celts and is based on their "Feast of Samhain." But many conservative Christian authors which are critical of Halloween, Druidism, and/or Wicca have stated that Samhain was named after the famous Celtic "God of the Dead." No such God ever existed. By the late 1990's many secular sources such as newspapers and television programs had picked up the error and propagated it widely. It is now a nearly universal belief, particularly among conservative Protestants.
Modern-day Samhain is the day when many Wiccans believe that their God dies, later to be reborn. [Wicca is a Neo-pagan, Earth-centered religion.] Thus, Samhain is not a God of death; it is actually a yearly observance of the death of a God.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_sa.htm
2007-09-28 08:45:49 · 14 answers · asked by iColorz 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Exactly and thank you for posting this. WE may have to keep posting it through November.
Carl - the Celts had All Souls Day (equivalent of the "Day of the Dead") which falls after Halloween... it's where your Catholic Church gets "All Saints Day" to begin with, trying to persuade the Pagans of that time to convert to Christianity (which obviously didn't work). The Catholic Church is nowhere near being more "ancient" than the Celts... Do a little brushing up on your History. Julius Ceasar fought against the Celts, (calling them Keltoi)... and he was around before your Catholic Church was. *Sigh* But I guess we should Thank the Catholic Church for preserving some of our Pagan Holidays and keeping them, somewhat, alive for us till the Catholic Church quit trying to destroy everyone who didn't follow it.
This just proves how people will listen to what others say it is without really looking it up themselves. They just assume that what they are spoon-fed is the Truth, just because the person telling them says "this is the Truth".
Edit:
Carl - Wicca was "invented" in the late 40's... Samhain is a CELTIC holiday. The Celts are older than the Catholic Church - Dear. =) Just because Wicca uses the Celtic holiday doesn't mean Wicca invented it.... again, brush up on your history.
2007-09-28 09:03:57 · answer #1 · answered by River 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Thanks for pointing that out to those that don't understand. I love this time of year. It's probably my favorite celebration.
To the one lady talking about her cats. You can't blame that on us Pagans. There are kids of whatever religion that think this time of year gives them the right to be horrible people. It makes me sick to think that anyone could do things to animals. By the way, Pagans usually love their furry family members. lol Yeah that statement should get some laughs cause my mind just went in the gutter with it. Anyway, most of us love our animals, I won't say more than others because I couldn't imagine someone not loving their pets. So don't blame Pagans for animal disappearances. You'll also find some kids claiming they are Satanist doing stuff to shock other people. Oh and don't forget sometimes people like to think black cats are evil so it gives them a perfect time to shoot them and blame someone else.
2007-09-28 16:18:17 · answer #2 · answered by Janet L 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Where's the question? Anyway, I agree with you about how the christians got it all wrong.
Are you familiar with Dia de Los Muertos? It's a Mexican celebration. If there weren't so many catholics in Mexico that also celebrate this I'm sure those wacky christians would have also called this one satanic...oh wait some of them do...
2007-09-28 15:54:09 · answer #3 · answered by practical thinking 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Thank you for pointing out this misconception. I have only recently heard THIS misconception and find it funny.
Jesussaves: "SO a false god day of celebration is not satanic?"
No more than celebrating false god Christ's birth at christmas
2007-09-28 16:02:33 · answer #4 · answered by Ma'iingan 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Samhain is one of my favourite festivals, a time to honour the ancestors :)
2007-09-28 15:56:53 · answer #5 · answered by Diane 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Samhain is on All Hallows eve (All the Saints) All Saints is a Catholic feast when we honor all the Saints who are in heaven- the day after , we honor all the dead (those who are in Purgatory and pray for them)
We have a more ancient Faith than you.
Dear, your faith was invented in the 60´s.
My Faith is more than 2000 years old.
2007-09-28 15:54:04 · answer #6 · answered by carl 4 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Greetings!
The name actually means:"end of summer" in Gaelic, and is considered to be the end of the Year.
Only those who burn Books, Temples, and People consider "All Hallows" to be scary. We look forward to this time, as the Veil Between Worlds is thin, and we give thanks to those who came before us, thanks for all the warm season has brought, and voice our hopes for the return of The Light.
/!\
2007-09-28 21:11:55 · answer #7 · answered by Ard-Drui 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Blame Jack T. Chick for this misconception
2007-09-28 15:49:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anne Hatzakis 6 · 6⤊ 0⤋
"many conservative Christian authors" well i would never have guessed christians had anything to do with it! they all seem so lovely! *cough cough*
2007-09-28 23:58:13 · answer #9 · answered by crazy_one 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Man, I so sorely wish that I could believe that Halloween wasn't an evil holiday. I have black cats. I must keep them inside during October. Don't tell me I'm delusional either: all the stray black cats in our neighborhood disappear in October. None of the other cats disappear, get sick, or are injured, so it's not some natural phenomenon, and they never disappear any other time of the year. The local police also found evidence of such sacrifices in the nearby woods: remains of bonfires, cat bones, blood, and tons of black cat fur. If it's such a nice, festive holiday, why aren't my kitties safe?
2007-09-28 16:08:24 · answer #10 · answered by The SuburbanCat 4 · 1⤊ 7⤋