October 31, 2006
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No Candy For You! LOL!
Well its that time of year again, when the large candy companies sell about a BILLION DOLLARS worth of candy to get us all sick, rot out our teeth and maybe even cause someone to become a diabetic! Don’t get me wrong here. I love candy, if fact I’m a chochalic big time. All the hype every year is a little much and most people have no idea what this night represents. We do not celebrate this day,as it is a Pagan Holiday and we are Christians. The one thing we do love is seeing all the little ones that live on our street in costumes, they are so cute. So if you must go out tonight, be safe, and don’t drink and drive…please!The Big Pumpkin Himself
Comments (5)
I am glad you posted about what this day represents. It is just so awful! We can only do our best to try to see it as a fun day for our kids to dress up and get loads of the candy. Of course they have to share with their chocoholic parents!
Blessings…
Robin
:heartbeat:Hey I miss you!!! okay i have to be the bad guy here but let me educate all the christians on Halloween! I am a christain as well…deep, deep realtionship with my savior Jesus Christ…okay then, halloween is NOT a pagan holiday. It started out with the Christian pilgrims as they would dress up in costumes to ward off evil spirits… you can research a lot more ofcourse on Google..You know whats funny…Is Christmas and Easter…these are completly pagan with pagan and witchcraft roots…The evil Queen in the old testament Eastoria is where EWaster comes from, she would take all the virgins inthe land and have them impregnated and then sacrifice their babies and dip the babies blood in eggs..hence we color eggs now..hmmm…you can also read about Jezabel and christmas lights..and the mistletoe…what we celebrate as christian is really evil and we think is evil really isnt…so…………….this is what i say “I take it all back…Satan can go to hell…lol…as he will..its all about the heart what is behind what we do and celebrate…okay now the reason i came here in the first place was to say hi and come to my blog soon and watch this awesome video i got…you will die laughing!
And for some odd reason… all that billions of dollars in candy ends up at our house! Why is that?
Thought this was interesting…
Halloween’s Origins
The word Halloween is derived from the term “All Hallows Eve” which occurred on Oct. 31, the end of summer in Northwestern Europe. “All Saints Day,” or “All Hallows Day” was the next Day, Nov. 1st. Therefore, Halloween is the eve of All Saints Day.
Apparently, the origins of Halloween can be traced back to ancient Ireland and Scotland around the time of Christ. On Oct. 31st, the Celts celebrated the end of summer. This was important because it was when animal herders would move their animals into barns and pens and prepare to ride out the winter. This was also the time of the crop harvests. This annual change of season and lifestyle was marked by a festival called Samhain — pronounced ‘sow-ane’ and means ‘end of summer.’ Sow rhythms with cow.
There was much superstition associated with this time of change including the belief in fairies, and that the spirits of the dead wandered around looking for bodies to inhabit. Since the living did not want to be possessed by spirits, they dressed up in costumes and paraded around the streets making loud noises to confuse and frighten the spirits away. In addition, the new year began for the Celts on Nov. 1. So, the day of Samhain was believed to be a day that was in neither the year past or the year to come. Since it was in between, chaos ruled on that day. Often, people would pull practical jokes on others as a result.
Later, around the 5th century, as the Catholic Church developed and moved into the area, instead of adding a new day to celebrate, it took over the Samhain celebration. Nov. 1st became “All Hallows Eve” where all the saints of the Catholic church were honored. A later custom developed where people would go door-to-door on Nov. 2, requesting small cakes in exchange for the promise of saying prayers for some of the dead relatives of each house. This arose out of the religious belief that the dead were in a state of limbo before they went to heaven or hell and that the prayers of the living could influence the outcome. This may have been the precursor to Trick-or Treat.
The Jack-0-Lantern apparently comes from Irish folklore about a man named Jack who tricked the devil into climbing a tree. Once the devil was in the tree, Jack carved a cross on the trunk, preventing the devil from coming down. The devil then made a deal with Jack to not allow Jack into hell after Jack died if only Jack would remove the cross from the tree. After Jack died, he couldn’t go to hell, and he couldn’t go to heaven. He was forced to wander around the earth with a single candle to light his way. The candle was placed in a turnip to keep it burning longer. When the Irish came to America in the 1800′s, they adopted the pumpkin instead of the turnip. Along with these traditions, they brought the idea that the black cat was considered by some to be reincarnated spirits who had prophetic abilities.
So, it appears that the origins of Halloween are a mixture of old Celtic pagan rituals superstition and early Catholic traditions.
Sorry it was so long..
:wave: Kerri
Thanks for stopping by and the encouraging comments! I really appreciate them. I look forward to checking in regularly and viewing your beautiful photos. Thanks for your insights!