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 Posted - 08/28/2001 : 9:49:26 PM
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Hi. I'm Erin and i want to tell you THE Halloween Explanation. Its about how halloween was made. here it is. Halloween, as we know it today, is a truly American phenomenon, but the holiday did originate in Ireland. The Celtic peoples of Ireland celebrated the festival of Samhain on October 31. Samhain, meaning “end of summer," was a time to harvest crops and bring herds down from mountainous pastures. Samhain was believed to be a magical time. The Celtics believed that times of transition, like the interval between night and day, were instances when the boundaries between our world and the spirit world were the thinnest. Since Samhain was the transition between summer and winter, the Celtic people felt that Samhain was a time to honor the dead and try to communicate with beloved ones that died, much like Mexico’s Dias De Los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead." Because Samhain was thought to be a time where the dead roamed the earth, huge bonfires were set atop cliffs to scare away unwanted or evil spirits. However, there is absolutely no evidence that cats or any animals were thrown into these fires as sacrificial offerings. Cats were not even indigenous to Ireland at that time. The only animals that were killed around the time of Samhain were animals deemed unfit for breeding throughout the winter.
Contrary to popular belief, Samhain is not a “Lord of the Dead." There is no deity, demon, or spirit named Samhain. Samhain is simply the name of the festival that celebrates summer’s end. The Celtics had no demons or devils in their religion. The Celtics did, however, believe that fairies existed. These fairies were considered hostile, short tempered, and dangerous. They supposedly longed for the chance to punish mankind for invading their land.
Samhain was very much a harvest celebration and many Celtics believed that any food left on vines, trees, or in the ground after Samhain, was tainted by the fairies and hence, inedible. Samhain was also a celebration of the New Year to the Celtics. Due to the thought that the Fairies and the dead wandered the earth on Samhain, many households put out food for their deceased family members or the fairies to ensure good fortune for the new year. Vagrants usually ate this food, leaving the inhabitants of the house to falsely believe they had been visited by fairies or their beloved dead. Later, the problem of vagrants and pranksters eating the gifts left for the dead or the fairies worsened to the point that villagers started wearing horrific masks to scare away the unwanted. The costumed individuals who scared away the scavengers often carried lanterns composed of a candle inside a hallowed turnip.
<Picture>During the period when the Catholic Church coerced the Celtics into Christianity, much changed with Samhain. Samhain and other Celtic festivities were combined into All Saints Day, that honored all the Catholic Saints and took place on November 1. The Church did not want to upset the Celtics and cause them to denounce Christianity, but still wanted to end their Pagan celebrations. So, the Church endorsed All Saints Day, but also heavily encouraged prayer and religious festivities the night before. Due to this prayer and celebration on the night before All Saints Day the traditions of Samhain were peacefully restrained, which was the Church’s goal. Over time All Saints Day became known as All Hallows Day and the night before, previously known as Samhain, was now named All Hallows Eve. Eventually, the Catholic Church abandoned its disapproval of the traditions of Samhain, and even supported All Hallows Eve by including it on all calendars. This increased the number of people who celebrated All Hallows Eve greatly and soon the holiday became commonly referred to as Halloween.
In the 1800’s when Ireland suffered many potato famines, over 700,000 Irish Catholics came to America and brought with them the many traditions of Halloween. These traditions soon changed to accommodate their new land. The turnips that were used for lanterns soon became pumpkins and evolved into what we now know as a “Jack-O-Lantern." The wearing of terrifying masks to scare away food scavengers or pranksters, and the custom of leaving food for visitors eventually became “Trick or Treating." In this time of change, the American Irish were also influenced by Native American stories of ghosts and American Colonial stories of witchcraft. These elements contributed greatly to the evolution of Halloween being a truly American observance. Halloween gained a lot of popularity during the 1920’s, when American cities began sponsoring costumed parties and parades. In the 1930’s, radio programs united all the different Halloween traditions across America into one distinct holiday.
<Picture>Until the end of World War II, Halloween had mostly been an occasion for adults to party and for teens to play pranks, such as soaping windows and tipping over trash cans. After World War II ended, the population exploded and the “Baby-Boom” parents saw Halloween as a unique, fun holiday to include their children in. Children’s programming with Halloween themes, like the classic “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!”, became wildly popular and influenced a generation with fond Halloween memories. Unfortunately, in the 1970’s, Halloween had started to acquire a dubious reputation. A child was reportedly killed after eating “Pixy Stix” laced with cyanide. It was later revealed that his father had poisoned the candy to collect on the child’s insurance policy. Other “urban legends” arose about needles and razor blades being inserted into apples and candy.
In the late 1970’s and throughout the 1980’s, Halloween had decreased in popularity and the only passionate participators in the holiday seemed to be teenagers who dressed as the villains featured in the “mad slasher” films that were so popular at the time with young audiences. Then came the 1990’s. Now the “Baby-Boom” children, in which the holiday had played an important part in their lives, have truly embraced Halloween. They have become parents themselves and lavishly celebrate the holiday with family and friends making Halloween one of the most popular holidays in America, second only to Christmas. Imagine that you are a security guard at Independence Hall. Your job is to help protect an American landmark. These days, of course, you are aided by electronic security devices which can detect movement, and the presence of anyone who shouldn't be inside the building when it is closed to the general public. But...can those electronic gadgets also detect the presence of spirits? Of ghosts? Imagine again that you are about to close up shop at Independence Hall. The tourists are long gone, the day is done, you're ready to head home, and you make one final sweep of the building before securing it for the night. You are standing in a corner to the rear of the front door. You know you are alone. Or...are you? All is very quiet. Quiet, that is, until the sound of footsteps shuffle on the floor of the Long Gallery upstairs. You are certain it is footsteps. Certain, too, that it is the footfall of a stray tourist who somehow was left behind. You ascend the staircase, cautiously. The footsteps seem to stop at the top of the stairs. You brace yourself for whatever you may encounter. But nothing can brace you for what you are about to experience. As you reach the top of the stairs, you sense a chilling feeling. You feel that you are not alone, but you see no one. Again, and as if directly in front of you, are the footsteps. A musty aroma wafts past you...the air is now icy cold...and not three feet from your face, a cloudy form begins to take shape! You stand stunned and silent. You have never experienced anything like this in your life, and you have no idea how to handle it. You are a security guard, but this icy feeling...this musty smell...this emerging form...these are beyond any training and any preparation you have ever had. Your eyes wide, your feet riveted in place, you watch as the cloudy form seems to take the shape of a human being. A head...shoulders...a torso...as if a massive puff of cigarette smoke was pressed together into a shape, the figure becomes somehow familiar...and then...and then! POOF! It vanishes before your eyes. Gone in an instant. You breathe for the first time in what seems like hours, and yet it has really only been a minute or so. You step back, swallow, wipe your brow. You try to reason with an episode which unfolded from somewhere beyond all reason. You have witnessed...you have come face-to-face...with one of the ghosts of Independence Hall!! Well did you like the story? well gotta go. bye!!
Ghosts8992
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Country:  USA ~
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Member Since: 08/20/2001 ~
Last Visit: 03/11/2008
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Posted - 09/04/2001 : 5:07:49 PM
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Whew! That was a good read, thanks 
KRyza
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Country: USA ~
Posts: 55 ~
Member Since: 07/05/2001 ~
Last Visit: 11/13/2001
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