It's a mask?Well, it's the one time of year where folk don't tell me I can take my mask off now...
lain:
Do Jack-o-lanterns make Brits feel self conscious or is that just a vicious rumor I keep spreading?
Members Attitudes About Halloween
- Thread starter Ktoyou
- Start date
Do Jack-o-lanterns make Brits feel self conscious or is that just a vicious rumor I keep spreading?
Quetzal
New member
It would only make AB feel self conscious if it was wearing a sombrero.It's a mask?
Do Jack-o-lanterns make Brits feel self conscious?
Ask Mr. Religion
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Halloween and All Saints’ Day
The name Halloween is a blending of the words All Hallows’ Eve or Evening (referring to the evening before All Saints’ Day on November 1). The term hallow means “holy” — for example, we recite it in the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9 KJV).
Early in church history, Christians began to celebrate people who they considered outstanding in holiness— specifically those who were martyred for their faith. However, with time, the growing number of men and women who were killed for being Christians made it impossible to assign a separate celebration for each one. Thus, various churches made an effort to select a common day to commemorate all of these “saints.” Some churches celebrated the “saints” on the Sunday after Pentecost (Orthodox churches continue to celebrate the Sunday of All Saints on this day), while others chose the Friday after Easter. On May 13, 609 or 610 AD, Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome (originally built to honor all the gods of ancient Rome) to the Christian saints, and he established this date as a yearly celebration.
Over a century later, sometime between 731 and 741 AD, the date for commemorating the saints was changed to November 1. All Saints’ Day (also called All Hallows’ Day) was formally added to the church calendar in AD 835. By this time, Christians recognized as “saints” not only the martyrs but also the confessors (those who had “confessed” their faith by exceptional holiness but were not martyred).
Who are the Saints?
It should be noted that the New Testament repeatedly uses the word saints to refer to all believers. However, with time, the term came to apply more specifically to"heroes of the faith."After the Reformation, Protestants have taken care to identify that all Christians are saints. Thus, the term "saints" will be used in quotes when it refers only to Heroes of the faith.
History of Samhain
A popular contemporary notion is that Halloween originated with a pagan holiday called Samhain. The fact that All Saints’ Day and Samhain both fall on November 1 has led many people to draw a connection between the two— claiming in particular that Samhain influenced the establishment of All Saints’ Day. Let’s explore this idea a wee bit.
Samhain was an ancient pagan festival celebrated in the Northern Celtic regions (particularly Ireland and Scotland). There were no written records among the Northern Celtic people prior to their Christianization in the fifth century, so no information is known about the holiday with any certainty.
In order to learn anything about Samhain, we are forced to rely on Northern Celtic folklore recorded in the tenth century and later. From this literature, we learn that Samhain marked a change of season more than anything else. In fact, the name Samhain is derived from an Old Irish word that roughly means “summer’s end.” With the onset of a new season, increasingly long and cold nights drew people around their hearth fires. Samhain served as the perfect setting for fairies, elves, and spirits to appear in stories; it was also the time of year that mythic kings and heroes were said to have died. Despite the fact that nothing is really known about the pre-Christian pagan practices associated with Samhain, some scholars assert that the church established All Saints’ Day in an effort to Christianize the pagan festival.
There are several reasons to disagree with this claim:
- The celebration of Samhain was a tradition limited to the Northern Celtic regions (particularly Ireland and Scotland). By the time that All Saints’ Day came to be associated with November 1, Christianity had been well-established in this region for at least 300 years. There is no indication that ancient pagan practices persisted on Samhain in a way that concerned Christian leaders.
- Even if remnants of pagan practices remained in the remote parts of Christian lands (the Northern Celtic regions), they were probably not of particular concern to the Christian leadership in Rome (which was 1500 miles away across land and sea).
- It is quite possible that November 1 was chosen so that the many pilgrims who traveled to Rome to commemorate the saints “could be fed more easily after the harvest than in the spring.”
- Irish Christians originally celebrated the saints on April 20. So before the establishment of All Saints’ Day, it is more likely that they remembered their dead in April than during Samhain. Furthermore, there is no concrete evidence to suggest that Samhain had any association with the dead.
- The idea that Samhain was a festival of the dead was popularized by Sir James Frazer in his famous work The Golden Bough, A Study in Magic and Religion (1890). However, Frazer seems to have confused the traditions associated with All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2) with ancient Samhain practices. It is more likely that the Christian holiday of All Saints’ Day (as well as All Souls’ Day, which will be described in the next section) introduced a focus on the dead to Samhain rather than the reverse.
Among the Northern Celtic people, it appears that three key elements combined to create the nature of Halloween:
1. A change of season to a darker and colder time of year.
2. A time associated with supernatural storytelling.
3. The Christian addition of a holiday that focused on the dead.
Though Celtic traditions associated with Samhain may have influenced the character of Halloween, there is no evidence to suggest that Christian leaders were influenced by Samhain in either the establishment of All Saints’ Day or the selection of its date. It was initially created as a time for Christians to remember and celebrate the dead. Unfortunately, among Christians, a great deal of superstition and confusion came to be associated with the dead, and this added the final component to creating a “scary” Halloween.
October 31 -November 2: Church Celebration of Hallowmas
Though the original use of the term Hallowmas referred specifically to Nov. 1, it gradually developed a broader definition that included three days: Oct. 31 (Halloween, The Eve of All Saints' Day), Nov. 1 (All Saints' Day) and Nov. 2 (All Souls' Day)— all understood to be interconnected. Similar traditions could be celebrated on any one of these days depending on the local Christian community.
AMR
The name Halloween is a blending of the words All Hallows’ Eve or Evening (referring to the evening before All Saints’ Day on November 1). The term hallow means “holy” — for example, we recite it in the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9 KJV).
Early in church history, Christians began to celebrate people who they considered outstanding in holiness— specifically those who were martyred for their faith. However, with time, the growing number of men and women who were killed for being Christians made it impossible to assign a separate celebration for each one. Thus, various churches made an effort to select a common day to commemorate all of these “saints.” Some churches celebrated the “saints” on the Sunday after Pentecost (Orthodox churches continue to celebrate the Sunday of All Saints on this day), while others chose the Friday after Easter. On May 13, 609 or 610 AD, Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome (originally built to honor all the gods of ancient Rome) to the Christian saints, and he established this date as a yearly celebration.
Over a century later, sometime between 731 and 741 AD, the date for commemorating the saints was changed to November 1. All Saints’ Day (also called All Hallows’ Day) was formally added to the church calendar in AD 835. By this time, Christians recognized as “saints” not only the martyrs but also the confessors (those who had “confessed” their faith by exceptional holiness but were not martyred).
Who are the Saints?
It should be noted that the New Testament repeatedly uses the word saints to refer to all believers. However, with time, the term came to apply more specifically to"heroes of the faith."After the Reformation, Protestants have taken care to identify that all Christians are saints. Thus, the term "saints" will be used in quotes when it refers only to Heroes of the faith.
History of Samhain
A popular contemporary notion is that Halloween originated with a pagan holiday called Samhain. The fact that All Saints’ Day and Samhain both fall on November 1 has led many people to draw a connection between the two— claiming in particular that Samhain influenced the establishment of All Saints’ Day. Let’s explore this idea a wee bit.
Samhain was an ancient pagan festival celebrated in the Northern Celtic regions (particularly Ireland and Scotland). There were no written records among the Northern Celtic people prior to their Christianization in the fifth century, so no information is known about the holiday with any certainty.
In order to learn anything about Samhain, we are forced to rely on Northern Celtic folklore recorded in the tenth century and later. From this literature, we learn that Samhain marked a change of season more than anything else. In fact, the name Samhain is derived from an Old Irish word that roughly means “summer’s end.” With the onset of a new season, increasingly long and cold nights drew people around their hearth fires. Samhain served as the perfect setting for fairies, elves, and spirits to appear in stories; it was also the time of year that mythic kings and heroes were said to have died. Despite the fact that nothing is really known about the pre-Christian pagan practices associated with Samhain, some scholars assert that the church established All Saints’ Day in an effort to Christianize the pagan festival.
There are several reasons to disagree with this claim:
- The celebration of Samhain was a tradition limited to the Northern Celtic regions (particularly Ireland and Scotland). By the time that All Saints’ Day came to be associated with November 1, Christianity had been well-established in this region for at least 300 years. There is no indication that ancient pagan practices persisted on Samhain in a way that concerned Christian leaders.
- Even if remnants of pagan practices remained in the remote parts of Christian lands (the Northern Celtic regions), they were probably not of particular concern to the Christian leadership in Rome (which was 1500 miles away across land and sea).
- It is quite possible that November 1 was chosen so that the many pilgrims who traveled to Rome to commemorate the saints “could be fed more easily after the harvest than in the spring.”
- Irish Christians originally celebrated the saints on April 20. So before the establishment of All Saints’ Day, it is more likely that they remembered their dead in April than during Samhain. Furthermore, there is no concrete evidence to suggest that Samhain had any association with the dead.
- The idea that Samhain was a festival of the dead was popularized by Sir James Frazer in his famous work The Golden Bough, A Study in Magic and Religion (1890). However, Frazer seems to have confused the traditions associated with All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2) with ancient Samhain practices. It is more likely that the Christian holiday of All Saints’ Day (as well as All Souls’ Day, which will be described in the next section) introduced a focus on the dead to Samhain rather than the reverse.
Among the Northern Celtic people, it appears that three key elements combined to create the nature of Halloween:
1. A change of season to a darker and colder time of year.
2. A time associated with supernatural storytelling.
3. The Christian addition of a holiday that focused on the dead.
Though Celtic traditions associated with Samhain may have influenced the character of Halloween, there is no evidence to suggest that Christian leaders were influenced by Samhain in either the establishment of All Saints’ Day or the selection of its date. It was initially created as a time for Christians to remember and celebrate the dead. Unfortunately, among Christians, a great deal of superstition and confusion came to be associated with the dead, and this added the final component to creating a “scary” Halloween.
October 31 -November 2: Church Celebration of Hallowmas
Though the original use of the term Hallowmas referred specifically to Nov. 1, it gradually developed a broader definition that included three days: Oct. 31 (Halloween, The Eve of All Saints' Day), Nov. 1 (All Saints' Day) and Nov. 2 (All Souls' Day)— all understood to be interconnected. Similar traditions could be celebrated on any one of these days depending on the local Christian community.
AMR
trick or treat
there is significant theology there
pay me now or pay me later
either way
you will pay
there is significant theology there
pay me now or pay me later
either way
you will pay
genuineoriginal
New member
This is a good start, but it is incomplete until you address the following questions:
Where did the jack-o’-lantern originate?
How did the tradition of trick-or-treating begin?
Where did Halloween costumes originate?
What’s the significance of fruits and nuts at Halloween?
How did we get the tradition of telling ghost stories?
Those questions are answered in the following article.
_____
The Pagan Roots of Halloween
By John Ankerberg, John Weldon and Dillon Burroughs
Are the specific customs of Halloween related to pagan beliefs?
Since Halloween itself originated in paganism, it is not surprising that its customs are related to pagan belief. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica,
The Pagan Roots of Halloween
By John Ankerberg, John Weldon and Dillon Burroughs
Are the specific customs of Halloween related to pagan beliefs?
Since Halloween itself originated in paganism, it is not surprising that its customs are related to pagan belief. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica,
In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic Festival of Samhain was observed on October 31, at the end of summer…. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, goblins, black cats, fairies and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the most favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes.
_____
Halloween...looks like some of the kids smeared your license plate.
Darn kids. :mmph:
You're like a photo savant or somethin.
lain: It's eerie.
A bit of a sad sack, I think?
glorydaz
Well-known member
I don't know how I missed those pictures. Awesome. :thumb:
glorydaz
Well-known member
I wonder if wearing a sombrero has some deep dark beginnings attached to it?
I'll say this. If kids can't enjoy Halloween, Christmas and the Easter bunny....to say nothing of celebrating birthdays, they will end up resenting their parents' religion. So, let them wear sombreros if they want. :thumb:
So you worship the devil on Halloween?
Amen Sister! This is socializing with good will and good feelings.
When you hit high school, it's time to ditch the costume.
SWAT team descends on CO school over student’s Halloween costume
SWAT team descends on CO school over student’s Halloween costume
Last edited:
Did someone go as a clock?When you hit high school, it's time to ditch the costume
SWAT team descends on CO school over student’s Halloween costume
lain:
Caledvwlch
New member
I can't stand Halloween. I like going to parties, but I hate dressing up in a costume like a child. Also, trick-or-treat happens on my birthday, so I flee the house and go out for margaritas while hundreds of little gobblins troll my neighborhood for candy.
Do you mean that you have difficulty with buttons or that you wear the wrong sort of costume?
I can't wait to hear about your Christmas.
lain:
Caledvwlch
New member
Do you mean that you have difficulty with buttons or that you wear the wrong sort of costume?
I can't wait to hear about your Christmas.
I'm more grinchy about Halloween than I am about Christmas.
