Connections

Connections

Welcome to our blog / newsletter

by Sonja, KRMT Date: 10/24/22 Topic: Halloween

(This is researched history and not intended to be offensive to anyone.)

Halloween!

(And We Got Here How? )

Grab a cup and settle in… this is a bit long… but there is so very much to say!

Well.. the time is nigh… carve the pumpkins, light the candles, get ready for the ghosties and goblins to scare the BOO! out of you when you come to the door!( Yes! You are supposed to act terrified when you see these strange critters show up asking for, “the good stuff”… You know, like the chocolate you stash and munch yourself before they even get to your door?) I do not think popcorn balls are the thing anymore!

Ever think about how this all started, the boon to the candy companies? Did you know in the US., 6000 million pounds of candy is sold for Halloween, another 90 million pounds of chocolate, on top of that!. Only about 48 million pounds are sold for Valentines Day,total !

How it all started, and changed and grew over the centuries !

Take a deep breath, and let your mind wiggle back…way, way back to the time of the Celtic’s, 1,0000 B.C. Halloweens origin is found in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain ( pronounced : saw-en, meaning end of summer) The Celts cerebrated their New Year on Nov. 1. That day marked the end of harvest and the beginning of winter, the ending of day light and the beginning of the long dark night. The end of life and the beginning of death. The Celtic priests, were called Druids. They made large bonfires on the hilltops around which the people gathered and offered sacrifices of plants and animals to the Celtic gods to thank them for the years crops, and asking to make their crops and animals prosper in the coming year so their people could have plenty and to ask also that health would be good for all. This was viewed as a very spiritual time, when the veil would thin enough between heaven and earth that souls could easily pass and prayers could be heard by the gods. They believed that the veil was thin enough at that time, that souls from the, “Otherworld,” were allowed to room the earth during the day and bring messages to their loved ones. During that time it was believed that fairies,and little people, as well as evil spirits, came through and caused mischief. The Celts would set a place at the table hoping for a visit from their departed loved ones. It was a sign of respect. ( this custom is still held by many today to honor a passed loved one during a holiday time) They also set food or tables of food out for any wandering spirits. After all, these spirits had came a long way. The people did not want to upset the gods by not showing proper respect and care for their visitors. Pumpkins, and sometimes turnips were carved to put in front of their doors to scare any evil spirits that were around. If they went out at night, they wore costumes so that if they met an evil spirit, they would be mistaken for an evil spirit themselves and be protected from any trouble.

Time moves on, now we come to All Saints day…By around 43 A.D. the Romans had conquered most of the Celtic lands. During the next 400 years, Samhain was merged with two Roman holidays:Feralia, a day when the Romans commemorated their day of the dead, usually at the end of Oct. and secondly, Pomona, a day of honoring the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. In 609AD, Pope Boniface IV, established the Catholic feast of All Martyr’s Day, in honor of the early Roman martyrs. This feast was later expanded by Pope Gregory III, to include all saints and is still practiced today on November 1^st as All Saints’ Day ( also known as Hallowtide or All Hallows) mainly to honor the saints and pray for the lives of the recently passed who have not reached heaven yet. Some Halloween traditions can be seen in the festival surrounding All Saints’ Day. There were traditions of bell ringing for the souls in purgatory, Poor people, and mostly children, would go from house to house “souling,” they would get “soul cakes”in exchange for prayers for the departed loved ones, people even wore costumes in order to protect themselves from wandering souls of the dead.

With the Protestant Reformation during the 16^th and 17^th centuries,Protestant Christians started to resist the Catholic Holy Days, like All Saints Day, primarily over Catholic beliefs that were considered erroneous, such as Purgatory. Purgatory gets its name from the idea that there still remains some sin in us, or impurity, that needs to be purged and cleansed from the soul before we are allowed into Heaven, but not so bad that we go to Hell. Protestant Christians believed that after death, no amount of prayers or indulgences or “payments” made on the behalf of departed loved ones to speed up their time in Purgatory- can help a loved one in Purgatory. Instead, many Protestant Christians began to celebrate Reformation Day, by providing different options for people who didn’t want to celebrate the Catholic holiday. Some dressed up as Bible characters or as reformers themselves and used the day as an opportunity to gather together to pray and fast. Today,many Lutheran churches celebrate Reformation Day with the traditional color red which symbolizes the Holy Spirit and the Martyrs of the Saints. Martin Luther’s hymn, :A Mighty Fortress is Our God, is usually sung by children. They often put on plays reenacting some of the events during the life of Martin Luther.

Amazing how old the bones of this belief are. Most of us still see and celebrate the remnants of it today and we have made a children’s holiday out of it.

Some do not agree or believe in this holiday. And see it as pagan and believe it is about devil worship . Many churches have replaced Halloween with fall festivals that are family friendly and have group parties as an alternative to trick or treating. Some choose to celebrate Reformation Day, honoring Martin Luther as the Great Reformer, others believe Halloween is just a fun harmless opportunity for kids to dress up and have a great time! Many feel this is just a non-religious festival.

Whatever you believe, stay in your lane as long as it’s working for you. We have gone through centuries of changing belief systems, through different rulers,changing ideas and melding cultures, politics,and educational levels. Pick any religious holiday and go back to the beginning and we can see the evolve-meant of humanity through the centuries! Pretty amazing.

The apostle Paul tells us ‘everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial,’ and let no one seek his own good but the good of his neighbor, ( 1 Corinthians 10:23-33) In this tricky subject of Halloween, perhaps it would be helpful if we all exercised discernment and were attentive to what we believe Spirit leads us to do.

Hope this bit of history was interesting. There is so much more of our history and history of the world, with so many different beliefs systems. Beliefs that wars were fought for, ideas people were killed for. Most of us have no idea how our ancient cultures still weave around us today, and have no idea about the real beginnings of why we do what we do. Researching history helps us follow the thread of how we got where we are…with much better understanding. (smile)

So until next time… Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat! ( Not a fan of candy corn! I’ll just take the chocolate, thank you very much!)

Keep well and enjoy every goblin, and every goodie, just save the chocolate for me!

Sonja, Healing Focus