do people who celebrate all Halloween know what its about?

Question

and if so, why would they! just because its a tradition,well not all traditions are good>

Answer 1

Well, most people do as their parents. So if you grew up thinking Halloween is just a tradition, then that's probably what you will continue to think.

Parents these days don't really care about why things are done, which will continue down to their children.

Some people (Thank God!) still question why we do things and go outside the box.

Star for you!

Answer 2

Yes, I do know what it's all about. It is a Germanic re-adaptation of a spring Christian holiday. (All Saints was originally in spring, and the Orthodox still celebrate it then.) The Irish also celebrated All Saints in spring. However, when the Pope of Rome extended his influence over the native Irish Church, the holiday's day was regularized to Germanic usage.

That whole "Hallowe'en is Samhain" nonsense is just that, nonsense invented in the 1800s by Victorians.

To quote a respected historian, Ronald Hutton:

"At the end of the nineteenth century , two distinguished academics, one at Oxford and the other at Cambridge, made enduring contributions to the popular conception of Samhain. The former was the philologist Sir John Rhys, who suggested that it had been the 'Celtic' New Year.... Rhys's theory was further popularized by the Cambridge scholar, Sir James Frazer. At times the latter did admit that the evidence for it was inconclusive, but at others he threw this caution overboard and employed it to support an idea of his own: that Samhain had been the pagan Celtic feast of the dead. He reached this belief by the simple process of arguing back from a fact, that 1 and 2 November had been dedicated to that purpose by the medieval Christian Church, from which it could be surmised that this was been a Christianization of a preexisting festival. He admitted, by implication, that there was in fact no actual record of such a festival, but inferred the former existence of one from a number of different propositions: that the Church had taken over other pagan holy days, that 'many' cultures have annual ceremonies to honour their dead, 'commonly' at the opening of the year, and that (of course) 1 November had been the Celtic New Year. He pointed out that although the feast of All Saints or All Hallows had been formally instituted across most of northwest Europe by the emperor Louis the Pius in 835, on the prompting of Pope Gregory IV, it had already existed, on its later date of 1 November, in England at the time of Bede. He suggested that the pope and emperor had, therefore, merely ratified an existing religious practice based upon that of the ancient Celts."

"The story is, in fact, more complicated. By the mid fourth century Christians in the Mediterranean world were keeping a feast in honour of all those who had been martyred under the pagan emperors; it is mentioned in the _Carmina Nisibena_ of St Ephraem, who died in about 373, as being held on 13 May. During the fifth century divergent practices sprang up, the Syrian churches holding the festival in Easter Week, and those of the Greek world preferring the Sunday after Pentecost. That of Rome, however, preferred to keep the May date, and Pope Boniface IV formally endorsed it in the year 609. By 800 churches in England and Germany, which were in touch with each other, were celebrating a festival dedicated to all saints upon 1 November instead. The oldest text of Bede's Martyrology, from the eighth century, does not include it, but the recensions at the end of the century do. Charlemagne's favourite churchman Alcuin was keeping it by then, as were also his friend Arno, bishop of Salzburg, and a church in Bavaria. Pope Gregory, therefore, was endorsing and adopting a practice which had begun in northern Europe. It had not, however, started in Ireland, where the _Felire_ of Oengus and the _Martyrology of Tallaght_ prove that the early medieval churches celebrated the feast of All Saints upon 20 April. This makes nonsense of Frazer's notion that the November date was chosen because of 'Celtic' influence: rather, both 'Celtic' Europe and Rome followed a Germanic idea...."

Answer 3

Halloween originated under the name of Samhain as a Pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century and was later celebrated by western countries. ( means all hallows eve)

Answer 4

What Halloween used to be and what Halloween is now. are two entirely different things.

All Hallows Eve was a paganistic holiday, which the church tried to change to suit their needs by changing it to All Saints Day.

Just as the Church had placed other Christian Holidays over pagan holidays in order to capitalize on traditions while converting people to their faith.

Trick or treating was started by the catholics, you would go house to house and collect soul cakes. by doing this you agreed to pray for some deceased relative according to the number of currants in the cake.

Todays Halloween has little to no resemblance to the pagan holiday or rituals, it is no more evil than Valentines day. It is a fabrication of the marketing industry in order to sell goods.

And it is a throw back for adults who enjoyed Halloween as a kid. It is only recently that people in the Christian Faith have suddenly turned up in arms over it.

As for me, I am Christian, and Halloween is my favorite holiday. And for those of you in the Los Angeles Area come celebrate with me at the Heritage haunt ins Santa Clarita. We are raising money for the local historical society and for the high Schools AVID program.

http://www.heritage-haunt.com

I hope to see you their.

God Bless

Answer 5

Yep, I know all about it.

It's the ancient festival of Samhain, the Celtic new year.

But more importantly, this pagan holiday serves a very important and healthy psychological function. It's the holiday that acknowledges the death aspect of the life cycle (all pagan holidays celebrate some aspect of the life cycle), and invites people to 'walk around in its shoes' so to speak. By dressing up as symbols of the things we fear, and by allowing ourselves to be frightened (as in haunted houses), we acknowledge and embrace our fears and therefore, gain a better understanding of them.

This brings our fear into light and removes its power to make us afraid. So you see, it helps us process the fear and change it into something manageable. The holiday also celebrates the hope of an afterlife, so it's not just about fear either. AND it is often about honoring those loved ones who have passed on.

Conquering our fears is a primal thrill and that's why people are drawn to it, even without this analysis.

Our culture has a bad habit of trying to pretend that unpleasant things like fear and death don't exist. Of course, as soon as it is said, we know that's not true. So let's celebrate!

Answer 6

Let me guess, you probably have a problem with christmas trees and easter bunnies too, don't you?
Get over it already. All things change and evolve in thier context as societies develop.
Halloween is a fun holiday making fun of our own superstitious fears, by having kids dress up as monsters, and grown-ups get to have a little costume fun too.
That's all it is. Doesn't matter what it 'used to be' or 'originated' as. Why do folks like you have to be such kill-joys and try to distort 'sin' out of every innocent frivoloty?

Answer 7

Don't assume what is good for you is the same for everyone else. Your self-righteous reasoning is misguided and your facts are not straight.

Answer 8

some.