The true Origins of Haloween

[kaijo]

I dont know if it is true, but somw historians believe Nimrod was the first to "celebrate" his birthday, and it was a "national holiday".

Most likely true.

When Nimrod died, his wife ...Semiramis ...claimed that Nimrod had become the "sun god"...and that he impregnated her with the rays of the sun, afterwards.

Her son, Tamuz was then born from her.

She also claimed that Tamuz , was Nimrod ...reincarnated. And from there...they had an incestuous relationship.

Tamuz' birthdate was December 25. (Hence where we get Christmas).

So, in that sense...Nimrods (reincarnate) birthday was celebrated.

 

[Hizikyah]

Eating too much added sugar increases the risk of dying with heart disease



Posted February 06, 2014, 2:04 pm , Updated November 30, 2016, 3:29 pm Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter

A sugar-laden diet may raise your risk of dying of heart disease even if you aren’t overweight. So says a major study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Added sugars make up at least 10% of the calories the average American eats in a day. But about one in 10 people get a whopping one-quarter or more of their calories from added sugar.
Over the course of the 15-year study on added sugar and heart disease, participants who took in 25% or more of their daily calories as sugar were more than twice as likely to die from heart disease as those whose diets included less than 10% added sugar. Overall, the odds of dying from heart disease rose in tandem with the percentage of sugar in the diet—and that was true regardless of a person’s age, sex, physical activity level, and body-mass index (a measure of weight).
Sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks are by far the biggest sources of added sugar in the average American’s diet. They account for more than one-third of the added sugar we consume as a nation. Other important sources include cookies, cakes, pastries, and similar treats; fruit drinks; ice cream, frozen yogurt and the like; candy; and ready-to-eat cereals.
Nutritionists frown on added sugar for two reasons. One is its well-known links to weight gain and cavities. The other is that sugar delivers “empty calories” — calories unaccompanied by fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Too much added sugar can crowd healthier foods from a person’s diet.
Could it be possible that sugar isn’t the true bad guy boosting heart disease risk, but that it’s the lack of heart-healthy foods like fruits and veggies? Apparently not. In this study, the researchers measured the participants’ Healthy Eating Index. This shows how well their diets match up to federal dietary guidelines. “Regardless of their Healthy Eating Index scores, people who ate more sugar still had higher cardiovascular mortality,” says Dr. Teresa Fung, adjunct professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Exactly how excess sugar might harm the heart isn’t clear. Earlier research has shown that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages can raise blood pressure. A high-sugar diet may also stimulate the liver to dump more harmful fats into the bloodstream. Both factors are known to boost heart disease risk.
Federal guidelines offer specific limits for the amount of salt and fat we eat. But there’s no similar upper limit for added sugar. The Institute of Medicine recommends that added sugars make up less than 25% of total calories. But that advice dates back to 2002, before the data about sugar’s potentially dangerous health effects were available, says Dr. Fung. She supports the American Heart Association’s recommendation that women consume less than 100 calories of added sugar per day (about 6 teaspoons) and men consume less than 150 per day (about 9 teaspoons).
To put that in perspective, a 12-ounce can of regular soda contains about 9 teaspoons of sugar, so quaffing even one a day would put all women and most men over the daily limit.
“If you’re going to have something sweet, have a fruit-based dessert,” says Dr. Fung. “That way, at least you’re getting something good out of it.” Of course, plain fruit with no added sugar is ideal. If you’re trying to curb a soda habit, Dr. Fung suggests mixing a little fruit juice with seltzer water as a replacement.

 

[blue_ladybug]

I have a gigantic candy bowl full of Reese's peanut butter pumpkins.. lol

 

[FlSnookman7]

I have a gigantic candy bowl full of Reese's peanut butter pumpkins.. lol

Where do you live??? I'm almost 50 but i'll grab a costume and head on over for those!!

 

[Kavik]

I don’t think there’s a way to upload files (a Word doc) so, rather than pasting a very long post getting into the intricacies of the origins of this holiday, suffice to say that most supposed origins of Halloween are wishful thinking at best. Virtually all our modern Halloween traditions come from right here in the good ol’ USA and date no earlier than the early 1900’s. The phrase “trick or treat” itself dates to about the mid 1930’s in the US (1920’s in Alberta Canada where it was first used).

There are vestigial remnants of pre-Christian traditions that still survive with some Halloween traditions; most notably those from the Roman celebration of Pomona – specifically al the apple related traditions (bobbing for apples, casting an apple peel in water to reveal one’s ‘true love’s’ initial, etc.). Even the day itself is Christian in origin (the old Celtic Samhain was a ‘movable feast day’, Halloween is a fixed date).

Yes, the original holiday associated with Halloween is Samhain/Samhuain/Sauin (depending on where you’re from; Ireland, Scotland, or Man), but as mentioned, most modern traditions supposedly associated with it are wishful thinking.

There is absolutely zero association with ancient traditions (or deities) from what is today the Middle East.

As sort of an aside, for those not born in this country, the American holiday of Halloween must be a curiously strange thing indeed! Something like modern Halloween, when it’s so intrinsically not at all a part of one’s cultural heritage, must be somewhat confusing and hard to grasp. I imagine it would be something like trying to get all of America to celebrate say, the Hindu festival ‘Diwali’ – sure, we could all do it, but hardly anyone would really understand it; it’s not part of our culture. Sadly, American cultural holidays have a funny way of permeating most other cultures, I mean, is Halloween really celebrated in Asia?? Does it really need to be??? Why???? I suspect for the sole purpose of generating lots of revenue for someone somewhere.

Samhain/Halloween is to some people a very spiritual and magickal time of the year; for some it’s a time of fun and candy, perhaps a way to celebrate Fall in general; for others perhaps a time to contemplate their own mortality as the holiday mocks death. Still, others are not quite sure what to make of it and prefer to steer clear of it, but however you wish to celebrate it….or not – Halloween is only ‘evil’ if one chooses to make it so.

 

[hornetguy]

Most countries have their own peculiar celebrations, or holidays.

Like Britain with Guy Fawkes Day.... or Mexico with Dia de las Muertos...

 

[Kavik]

Yep - each one is unique to that culture. One of the oldest continuous vestigial celebrations with respect to Samhain is the Manx "Hop tu Naa" - unique to the island and, as far as anyone knows, an unbroken tradition.

 

[Hizikyah]

Colossians 2:8, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Messiah.”

 

[oldethennew]

we must all work real hard at not letting 'worldly-worries',
smother our 'Hope and Faith'...

remember, we have received 'new-hearts in order to 'believe' and 'partake' where our Saviour leads -
our actions will be the proof of this for us, our loved ones, friends, and all others, as God Wills -
those whom Jesus puts in our paths...

 

[Hizikyah]

1 Peter 1:13-16, “Therefore, having girded up the loins of your mind, being sober, set your expectation perfectly upon the favor that is to be brought to you at the revelation of יהושע Messiah, as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts in your ignorance, instead, as the One who called you is set-apart, so you also should become set-apart in all behavior, because it has been written, “Be set-apart, for I am set-apart.”

 

[dcontroversal]

Come out from among the world and be seperate sayeth the Lord.......me personally....I have not engaged in Halloween in about 3.5 decades.....and at the end of the day could care less....as far as everyone else...let them be persuaded in their own mind and by their own conscience.........

 

[SovereignGrace]

Haloween?

There's a holiday dedicated to halo's??

 

[p_rehbein]

Folks can bash thissin' all they want........I don't celebrate it anyhoo...........BUT........I DO likes a bag full 'o candy!

 

[laura_charlotte]

Great article. If you make the rounds of hospitals and talk with those with lung cancer, diabetes or obesity, if you go into households and see how people are affected by sugar and smoke, if you speak to many former smokers or obese individuals, they'll attest to the difference it made in their lives and what they put themselves in a much more able mind and bodied position to be able to do again - living for the Lord and doing God's will for their life. As opposed to those who don't make the necessary changes and their health is rampant with problems or they leave this life prematurely, the evidence speaks for itself.

Eating too much added sugar increases the risk of dying with heart disease



Posted February 06, 2014, 2:04 pm , Updated November 30, 2016, 3:29 pm Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter

A sugar-laden diet may raise your risk of dying of heart disease even if you aren’t overweight. So says a major study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Added sugars make up at least 10% of the calories the average American eats in a day. But about one in 10 people get a whopping one-quarter or more of their calories from added sugar.
Over the course of the 15-year study on added sugar and heart disease, participants who took in 25% or more of their daily calories as sugar were more than twice as likely to die from heart disease as those whose diets included less than 10% added sugar. Overall, the odds of dying from heart disease rose in tandem with the percentage of sugar in the diet—and that was true regardless of a person’s age, sex, physical activity level, and body-mass index (a measure of weight).
Sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks are by far the biggest sources of added sugar in the average American’s diet. They account for more than one-third of the added sugar we consume as a nation. Other important sources include cookies, cakes, pastries, and similar treats; fruit drinks; ice cream, frozen yogurt and the like; candy; and ready-to-eat cereals.
Nutritionists frown on added sugar for two reasons. One is its well-known links to weight gain and cavities. The other is that sugar delivers “empty calories” — calories unaccompanied by fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Too much added sugar can crowd healthier foods from a person’s diet.
Could it be possible that sugar isn’t the true bad guy boosting heart disease risk, but that it’s the lack of heart-healthy foods like fruits and veggies? Apparently not. In this study, the researchers measured the participants’ Healthy Eating Index. This shows how well their diets match up to federal dietary guidelines. “Regardless of their Healthy Eating Index scores, people who ate more sugar still had higher cardiovascular mortality,” says Dr. Teresa Fung, adjunct professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Exactly how excess sugar might harm the heart isn’t clear. Earlier research has shown that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages can raise blood pressure. A high-sugar diet may also stimulate the liver to dump more harmful fats into the bloodstream. Both factors are known to boost heart disease risk.
Federal guidelines offer specific limits for the amount of salt and fat we eat. But there’s no similar upper limit for added sugar. The Institute of Medicine recommends that added sugars make up less than 25% of total calories. But that advice dates back to 2002, before the data about sugar’s potentially dangerous health effects were available, says Dr. Fung. She supports the American Heart Association’s recommendation that women consume less than 100 calories of added sugar per day (about 6 teaspoons) and men consume less than 150 per day (about 9 teaspoons).
To put that in perspective, a 12-ounce can of regular soda contains about 9 teaspoons of sugar, so quaffing even one a day would put all women and most men over the daily limit.
“If you’re going to have something sweet, have a fruit-based dessert,” says Dr. Fung. “That way, at least you’re getting something good out of it.” Of course, plain fruit with no added sugar is ideal. If you’re trying to curb a soda habit, Dr. Fung suggests mixing a little fruit juice with seltzer water as a replacement.

 

[Hizikyah]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ALL HALLOWS’ EVE
October 31. All Hallows’ Eve or All Hallow E’en, with its tradition of witches, ghosts, hobgoblins and sprites, its games and incantations, still is a gay time for pranks and parties in many North Country homes. Fun-loving Americans have borrowed from their British ancestors many Hallow E’en games, such as apple-bobbing, nut roasting and tossing of apple parings. Transplanted to New World soil, the old practices have become revitalized and currently are observed with more enthusiasm than in the country of their birth. To ancient Druids the end of October commemorated the festival of the waning year, when the sun began his downward course and ripened grain was garnered from the felds. Samhain, or ‘‘Summer’s End,’’ as this feast to the dying sun was called, was celebrated with human sacrifce, augury and prayer; for at this season spirits walked and evil had power over souls of men. Not until the fourth century did the pagan vigil for the god of light give way to All Hallows, the mass for Christian saints; and not until the tenth, did the Druids’ death feast become All Souls’, the day of prayer for souls that had entered rest. Cakes for the dead were substituted for human sacrifce, fortune-telling for heathen augury, lighted candles for the old Baal fres. [/FONT]

 

[Kavik]

No clue where the above comes from, but …… the “tradition of witches, ghosts, hobgoblins and sprites” was not derived from Samhian, but rather the early church as a way to deter people from practicing the old traditions and beliefs.

That said however, with respect to ‘other-worldly beings’ at Samhain, in addition to ancestors briefly crossing into the material world (see below), so too could the fey (the so-called “Fairy Folk” / “Little People”) who were said to live in the numerous mounds, called sidhe (‘shee’), that dotted the countryside.

The origin of these ‘little people’ by the way is deeply steeped in the cultural history of the Celtic lands and belief in them is still strong even today (no matter what a person’s religious beliefs are). There are instances reported in Ireland where roads and highways have been known to be built around (literally detour around, sometimes at great cost) areas that are historically thought to be inhabited by the ‘little people’. This concept has a ‘twin’ in Iceland where roads are often detoured around places said to be traditionally inhabited by the huldufólk (‘hidden people’, i.e. elves).

As mentioned in a previous post, the apple related ‘games’ are the vestigial elements of the Roman Pomona, brought to the Celtic lands after the Romans conquered them.

The Druids did celebrate Samhian as a festival (Samhain is actually also the name of the entire month of November in the Goidelic languages, not just a particular day), and it’s quite possible there were human sacrifices, but two things must be remembered – one, human sacrifices were quite common in that time period and practiced by many cultures (including Semitic) and two, it is critical to note that every written source of the time states that those sacrificed were criminals and prisoners of war. Occasionally, some seem to have been actual volunteers. In many cultures, sacrificing oneself to the gods brought great honor to the family and the favor of the gods to said family; some were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the wellbeing of their families (which may have extended to the entire clan).

These accounts of human sacrifice amongst the Druids must however be regarded with a bit of suspicion – virtually all contemporary accounts come from the Romans; a people who were at war with the Celts and sought to conquer them. Most historians agree that many of the stories told of the Celts by the Romans may have been part of what we would today call a “smear campaign” and painted these people in as poor a light as possible without sounding too absurd – just how much of these Roman stories about Celtic religious practices, with respect to human sacrifice, are really true may never be known. Again, it is nonetheless noteworthy that even the Romans themselves wrote that those sacrificed were criminals and prisoners of war.

“…evil has power over souls of men.” – a completely Christian concept – this way of thinking did not exist among the early Celts. The spirits were those of ancestors who were also honoured at this time. A time associated with the dying crops and death in general. Artifacts from excavated graves from the time seem to attest to this tradition. Some of the oldest folk legends report that a candle was typically left in a window which guided ancestral spirits back home. Doing so was hoped to incur their help in a positive way.

“lighted candles for the old Baal fires” – the association of the Semitic god Ba’al with the Celts is…well, I don’t even know where to begin with this one. There is absolutely zero association with any Semitic god/goddess with any Celtic deity. To suggest this is wishful thinking and to call it sheer utter nonsense would be a kindness.

No demons, no devils, or anything else ‘Satanic’ or evil for that matter – you can’t impose Christian nomenclature on a non-Christian culture; it just doesn’t work that way. The result of doing so is a slew of inaccuracies and false perceptions.

 

[Hizikyah]

This post was from

The Yearbook of English Festivals, 1954, pages 153-157;

ALL HALLOWS’ EVE;

ALL HALLOWS’ EVE
October 31. All Hallows’ Eve or All Hallow E’en, with its tradition of witches, ghosts, hobgoblins and sprites, its games and incantations, still is a gay time for pranks and parties in many North Country homes. Fun-loving Americans have borrowed from their British ancestors many Hallow E’en games, such as apple-bobbing, nut roasting and tossing of apple parings. Transplanted to New World soil, the old practices have become revitalized and currently are observed with more enthusiasm than in the country of their birth. To ancient Druids the end of October commemorated the festival of the waning year, when the sun began his downward course and ripened grain was garnered from the felds. Samhain, or ‘‘Summer’s End,’’ as this feast to the dying sun was called, was celebrated with human sacrifce, augury and prayer; for at this season spirits walked and evil had power over souls of men. Not until the fourth century did the pagan vigil for the god of light give way to All Hallows, the mass for Christian saints; and not until the tenth, did the Druids’ death feast become All Souls’, the day of prayer for souls that had entered rest. Cakes for the dead were substituted for human sacrifce, fortune-telling for heathen augury, lighted candles for the old Baal fres.

No clue where the above comes from, but …… the “tradition of witches, ghosts, hobgoblins and sprites” was not derived from Samhian, but rather the early church as a way to deter people from practicing the old traditions and beliefs.

That said however, with respect to ‘other-worldly beings’ at Samhain, in addition to ancestors briefly crossing into the material world (see below), so too could the fey (the so-called “Fairy Folk” / “Little People”) who were said to live in the numerous mounds, called sidhe (‘shee’), that dotted the countryside.

The origin of these ‘little people’ by the way is deeply steeped in the cultural history of the Celtic lands and belief in them is still strong even today (no matter what a person’s religious beliefs are). There are instances reported in Ireland where roads and highways have been known to be built around (literally detour around, sometimes at great cost) areas that are historically thought to be inhabited by the ‘little people’. This concept has a ‘twin’ in Iceland where roads are often detoured around places said to be traditionally inhabited by the huldufólk (‘hidden people’, i.e. elves).

As mentioned in a previous post, the apple related ‘games’ are the vestigial elements of the Roman Pomona, brought to the Celtic lands after the Romans conquered them.

The Druids did celebrate Samhian as a festival (Samhain is actually also the name of the entire month of November in the Goidelic languages, not just a particular day), and it’s quite possible there were human sacrifices, but two things must be remembered – one, human sacrifices were quite common in that time period and practiced by many cultures (including Semitic) and two, it is critical to note that every written source of the time states that those sacrificed were criminals and prisoners of war. Occasionally, some seem to have been actual volunteers. In many cultures, sacrificing oneself to the gods brought great honor to the family and the favor of the gods to said family; some were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the wellbeing of their families (which may have extended to the entire clan).

These accounts of human sacrifice amongst the Druids must however be regarded with a bit of suspicion – virtually all contemporary accounts come from the Romans; a people who were at war with the Celts and sought to conquer them. Most historians agree that many of the stories told of the Celts by the Romans may have been part of what we would today call a “smear campaign” and painted these people in as poor a light as possible without sounding too absurd – just how much of these Roman stories about Celtic religious practices, with respect to human sacrifice, are really true may never be known. Again, it is nonetheless noteworthy that even the Romans themselves wrote that those sacrificed were criminals and prisoners of war.

“…evil has power over souls of men.” – a completely Christian concept – this way of thinking did not exist among the early Celts. The spirits were those of ancestors who were also honoured at this time. A time associated with the dying crops and death in general. Artifacts from excavated graves from the time seem to attest to this tradition. Some of the oldest folk legends report that a candle was typically left in a window which guided ancestral spirits back home. Doing so was hoped to incur their help in a positive way.

“lighted candles for the old Baal fires” – the association of the Semitic god Ba’al with the Celts is…well, I don’t even know where to begin with this one. There is absolutely zero association with any Semitic god/goddess with any Celtic deity. To suggest this is wishful thinking and to call it sheer utter nonsense would be a kindness.

No demons, no devils, or anything else ‘Satanic’ or evil for that matter – you can’t impose Christian nomenclature on a non-Christian culture; it just doesn’t work that way. The result of doing so is a slew of inaccuracies and false perceptions.

I do personally think there is a connection, pagan rits not of the Most High... If you believe in the Most High and you know the adversary is there is decieve, it's not so hard to think these ancient rites may have connection in their manner, yet it is fully a non-issue, no matter if there is a connection to ancient pagan religions or not, these things are not a Yah and they promote things that are aginst Him and His ways.

The Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Symbols, Part One, pages 200-201, tells us:



BELTANE (BALTEIN, BEALTUINN, BELTAINE, BELTAN)
An ancient Celtic festival marking the opening of summer and honoring the sun. One of the quarter days. Celebrated on May 1 of the old calendar with bonfres and other rites. Druids drove cattle between two needfres to which miraculous virtues were ascribed to prevent the murrain; dances were performed, and the day was flled with gaiety, which culminated in the sacrifce by fre of a man representing the oak king. Parallels the fre-cleansing ceremonies of ancient Babylonians. Beltane is the Druidic assembly marking the opening of summer and is marked by human sacrifice. The above excerpt openly admits that the pagan, Celtic worship parallels the ancient fire cleansing ceremonies of ancient Babylon from which it came.

PS your avatar, that is a place where it is well know for some to perform pagan rites...

 

[Hizikyah]

The ancient Babylonians had a God called Samas; The Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 5, page 1020;



...for example, before going out to battle with the Babylonian king Kastilias, the Assyrian king accuses the latter of betrayal and violation of the treaty between them, and as proof he reads the treaty in a loud voice before the god Samas.


The Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 14, page 719 says:
Samael, from the Amoraic period onward the major name of Satan in Judaism.


Jewish legend says Samael-Samiel is the angel of death and the head of the devils. The Greek rendering of the word, Samael is Sammane. ...includes the name, although not in the most important place, in the list of the leaders of the angels who rebelled against God. The Greek versions of the lost Hebrew text contain the forms Sammanhv (Sammane) and Semiel (Semiel).


Samain is the Druidic assembly on the night of October 31, to sacrifice to their Gods and burn their victims.


The Standard Encyclopedia of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, Volume A-1, page 263,
Cromm Crúac A huge idol which stood on the plain of Mag Sleact (the plain of adoration or prostrations) in County Cavan, in Ulster, near the present village of Ballymagauran; also called rig-iodal h-Eireann, the king idol of Ireland. ‘‘Around him were twelve idols made of stone but he was of gold’’ and to him the early Irish sacrifced one third of their children on Samain (Nov. 1) in return for ‘‘milk and corn’’ and the good weather which insured the fertility of cattle and crops. The idol and the sacrifces are mentioned in the 6th century Dinnsenchus in the Book of Leinster. Cromm Crúac was held in horror for his terrible exactions; it was dangerous even to worship him, for the worshippers themselves often perished in the act of worship. A pre-Christian king named Tigernmus is said to have introduced the worship of Cromm Crúac to Ireland and to have been destroyed himself with three fourths of his people one Samain night during the prostrations. The twelve lesser idols encircling the golden image have led to the assumption that Cromm Crúac was a solar deity; certainly he was a fertility god. But he has not been identifed with any ancient Irish god. Dagda, in his agricultural aspect, has been suggested for this role, but no identity can be substantiated. The Dinnsenchus names the idol Cromm Crúac (bloody crescent or bloody bent one); it is referred to as Cenn Crúaic (bloody head) in the Tripartite Life of Patrick.Legend says that Patrick cursed and destroyed it. The Dinnsenchus story tells how Patrick preached to the people on Mag Sleact against the burning of milk-cows and their frst-born progeny. Cromm Dub’s Sunday In Irish folklore, the frst Sunday in August: anniversary of the destruction of the famous idol known as Cromm Dub. On this date flowers were still offered at his place on Mt. Callan in County Clare, as late as the mid-19th century. For this reason the day is also called Garland Sunday. The flower offerings were reminiscent of a time when more bloody sacrifces were prepared. Compare Cromm crúac. See Celtic Folklore.

 

[joefizz]

Yeah, umm... Halloween was like so yesterday... I think we're movin on to the evils of Thanksgiving.

Yes the evils of an overstuffed stomache,hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha!

 

[Hizikyah]

[h=1]History of Halloween - Halloween[/h] History of Halloween - Halloween - HISTORY.com


[HR][/HR] [h=2]Ancient Origins of Halloween[/h] 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. 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 people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
[h=5]Did You Know?[/h] One quarter of all the candy sold annually in the U.S. is purchased for Halloween.
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 43 A.D., the Roman Empire 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.
On May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III (731–741) later expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1. By the 9th century the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted the older Celtic rites. In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It is widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.