Ever wonder what the origins of Halloween are? I did. So I searched Google and found a number of pages with varying descriptions. Almost all the pages say that the holiday can be traced back to the ancient religion of the Celtics. There are also some pages dedicated to taking information from the Bible to explain its origins (don’t ask me why). I like this one:
Originally, Halloween was commonly celebrated as a religious holiday meant to scare evil spirits away. People used to dress up as goblins, witches, and ghosts in order to celebrate All Saints’ Day without a visit from the evil spirits. Other customs associated with Halloween that can be traced back in time include the Jack-O-Lantern. Irish children used to carve out potatoes or turnips and light them for their Halloween gatherings. The commemorated Jack was an wicked Irish villain unwanted by either heaven or hell. Jack wondered the world endlessly looking for a place to rest. Once in America, the Irish began to use pumpkins to celebrate Halloween with a Jack-O-Lantern because pumpkins were easier to carve and could be found in abundance.
Anyway, enjoy your last day of freedom. Freedom? Well you can count on seeing Christmas everywhere starting tomorrow. You won’t be able to escape the red, green and gold decorations, holiday music, and Christmas trees. New Years won’t come soon enough!
MasterMaq's Blog 
BAH Humbug! Your right Mack Christmas will be upon us way too soon! The traditions and symbols of Halloween are rooted in ancient beliefs and customs from many different cultures. Over the centuries, these have been combined and changed to become the fun and fanciful celebration known today as Halloween. Halloween means "holy or hallowed evening" and comes on October 31st, the evening before All Saints’ Day. All Saints’ Day was established by the early Christian Church in 835 A.D. The church made November 1st a holiday to honor all saints. Sometime later, November 2nd was established as All Saints’ Day to honor and pray for all the dead. Too many religious beliefs (acceptance by the mind that something is true or real, often underpinned by an emotional or spiritural sense of certainty) surround Halloween, most being thoughts on evil spirits and the protection from them to perform religious rites. It’s crazy! I like this one: Several years ago a Sunday School class decided to make their Halloween a time of sharing with other children who were not as fortunate as themselves. The children collected shoes, soap, canned food and money instead of the regular Halloween treats. These items were given to the United Nations for distribution to needy children throughout the world. As a result of the efforts of these children to help others, UNICEF was organized in 1946. Now many children throughout the United States and Canada collect money in official UNICEF containers on Halloween. The money is used to purchase milk and food for the poor all over the world. Tonight, have FUN handing out your treats (candy) to those ghosts and goblins but remember the coins for UNICEF Boxes too please! THANKS! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
oh yeah, I better keep some coinage and/or billage out for UNICEF boxes, thanks for the reminder! Now…to don my ultra elite batman costume from 10 years ago…JUST KIDDING!
werd to that. however, it’s the CELTS, not the CELTICS. the culture is Celtic, but when talking about the people as a homogenous group, they’re called the Celts. 🙂
I agree w/ you about too much Christmas. Holt Renfrew was decorated in Christmas garlands, balls and trees 2 weeks before Halloween.
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