By: Ashley Giandomenio
Posted In: News
Photo credit: www.goingpostal.com
Soon the dead will arise from their graves, one limb at a time. They will
emerge from the ground in search of the living. Creeping down the street as their aching bodies are screaming for a fresh home, they will spot you, capture you and fuse into you, taking over your soul as you become possessed by evil. On October 31st, evil characters such as witches, demons, ghosts and skeletons are likely to be seen knocking on doors. People are expected to put pumpkins out on their front step and place cobwebs in their windows. Fortunes will be told and haunted houses will be explored. All of these events take place to celebrate the holiday of Halloween. But just what is it actually a celebration of? Where did these peculiar customs originate from and why? The holiday, like many celebrated today, stems from religious rituals and beliefs made hundreds of years ago. The word “Halloween” has origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a distortion of All Hallows Eve. On November 1st, All Hollows Day is celebrated which is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, tradition goes even further back to the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland. Since summer ended on October 31st, the following day was celebrated as a holiday called Samhain, the Celtic New Year. Some Christian scholars have their own beliefs as to what the Celtic’s really celebrated on this day. Some scholars recorded that Samhain was the Celtic God of the Dead, worshipped by the Druids (Celtic priests) who offered their god dreadful bloody sacrifices. Therefore, according to some Christian historians, Halloween is thought to have originated as a satanic holiday among them where the Celts sacrificed human beings to the devil or some evil demonic god of death. Demons and goblins were born and became symbols for Halloween. Thus, an evil connotation for the holiday took hold. Additionally, some Christians believe that on this day the evil Druids would go from castle-door-to-door seeking virgin princesses to rape and sacrifice then leaving an illuminated pumpkin behind and the modern day custom of trick-or-treating and carving pumpkins in the form of jack-o-lanterns became a reminder of the gruesome practice. Little evidence of these rituals can be found and some people claim that the Christian literature’s explanation of the origin of Halloween is a bit fabricated. In the eyes of some, Christians are guilty of spreading falsehood and creating frightening fantasies masquerading as historical facts in order to promote their own beliefs. For example, there is no historical or archeological evidence of any Celtic deity of the dead named “Samhain.” There is also no evidence that virgin princesses or anyone else were being offered to the lord of death on Halloween by the Celts or of pumpkins being left behind with burning candles. In fact, the pumpkin is a New World plant that never grew in Europe until modern times, so it is historically impossible that a pumpkin would be used to make jack-o-lanterns by the Druids. Furthermore, no where is it recorded that trick-or-treat is a Satanist plot to captivate children or women. One would wonder why Christians would make up such bizarre allegations. Maybe Christians really did believe these traditions were true, or, maybe the fabrications were simply out of ignorance. Maybe it was because the Celts were pagans, people who believe in more than one god and renounces any entity known as Satan or the devil which was viewed by the Christians as wrong. Regardless, Christians adopted many of the Celt traditions for their celebration of All Saints Day and yes, they may have manipulated the customs a bit and may have “tricked” people into believing evil things about the pagan religion. In any case, they gave us all a “treat” making it possible for people today to enjoy a holiday that is supposed to scare and excite all in good fun. Today, the traditions continue, however, the holiday has grown into nothing more then dressing up, having a good time and receiving a bag of candy which should last until Christmas.
