October
25
2017

Some Origins of Halloween

Halloween’s origins date back to 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. 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, to commemorate the event, Druids (Celtic priests) built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities

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As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups as well as the American Indians meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds.
Borrowing from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots.
Today’s Halloween ghosts are often depicted as more fearsome and malevolent, and our customs and superstitions are scarier too. We avoid crossing paths with black cats, afraid that they might bring us bad luck. This idea has its roots in the Middle Ages, when many people believed that witches avoided detection by turning themselves into black cats.

Today it is a kind of festival of the dead, with tombstones in yards and costumes of ghosts, devils and costumes and masks of the gruesome other-world persons who have returned from the dead. The costumes and masks are supposed to hide their identity from the ghosts and goblins who would haunt or harm the living. The costumes supposedly showed them that the living was like them, so none would harm them.

It is sad that our world believes all this, but the Gospel Truth is that none returning from the dead can harm us. Though Satan and his angels wants to do harm to believers and lead them astray, we are protected by our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In Christ, the gates of Hell can not prevail against us. Ghosts and Goblins are figments of our imagination. They are part of the superstitions and fears that Satan would have us believe, but have nothing to do with The Truth.
“Yea, though I walk though the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; they rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

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