Halloween

Happy Halloween Wishes
From 101lifeStyle.com

History Of Halloween:

The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All -Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day. Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English, All-Hallows-Even is itself not attested until 1556. The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain, the Celtic New year. Regarded as one of the oldest holidays celebrated today, Halloween has its roots in the Pagan Celtic Harvest feast of Samhain, which was annually on October 31st to honor the dead and dates back to 2000 years ago. The Celts lived in the areas which are now Ireland, Great Britain and Northern France. They celebrated the end of the light half of the year (Spring and summer) with the festival of “Samhain, which they observed during the October/November lunar cycle. They believed Samhain was a time when the division between the two worlds became very thin, when hostile supernatural forces were active and ghosts and spirits were free to wander as they wished.

The priests of the Celtic people, called Druids, would light fires on hilltops as the bonfire represented the sun and was used to aid the Druid in his fight with dark powers, and strengthen the Sun God, and give him power enough to overcome the lord of darkness so that the sun season could continue. All fires except those of the Druids were extinguished on Samhain and householders were levied a fee to relight their holy fire which burned at their altars. During the Festival of Samhain, fires would be lit which would burn all through the winter and sacrifices would be offered to the gods on the fires. . They believed that the fires were sacred, therefore they burned dried crops and sacrificed animals to help strengthen the Sun God. At midnight they stop worshiping the Sun God and start to worship Samhain because he will be the ruler for the next six months. This is the starting of the new year. They perform ceremonies through the night to ask the spirits to tell the future of the upcoming year. In the morning each household receives an ember from the fire, this ember is used to start fires in their own homes with the belief that it will ward off evil spirits in the new year.

By A.D. 43, When the Romans conquered the majority of Celtic territory and started their rule of the Celtic lands, Roman festivals were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. One of the Romans observances included the holiday of Feralia, intended to give rest and peace to the departed. Participants made sacrifices in honor of the dead, offered up prayers for them, and made oblations to them. Another festival 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.

When the influence of Christianity spread to Celtic lands, in the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs, to replace the pagan festival of the dead. It was observed on May 13. In 834, Gregory III moved All Saint's Day from May 13 to Nov. 1 and for Christians, this became an opportunity for remembering before God all the saints who had died and all the dead in the Christian community. Oct. 31 thus became All Hallows' Eve ('hallow' means 'saint'). As Christianity spread throughout the world, pagan holidays were either Christianized or forgotten. Samhain was absorbed into Halloween. Costumes and gifts and bobbing for apples were preserved, incorporated into the new holiday. They remain a celebrated part of Halloween to this day, many centuries later. These ceremonies and celebrations continued and October 31 was then called All Hallows Even. It was a night for superstitious beliefs and mystery. Through the years the name was shortened to Hallowe'en and then to Halloween. .

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Customs / Symbols Of Halloween