Halloween  Facts  &  Myths                    

 

         There has been for many centuries misconceptions about Halloween. Now just maybe we can dispel some of them. In many cases the original reason for many of the traditions were not understood and even eventually forgotten. That being the case people in some instances tried to explain them the best way they could, NO this will not be a religious forum!! Only a historical based explanation for some of the traditions based in different cultures. I do hope this will be informative, entertaining, but above all thought provoking.

 

    One obvious question about Halloween is, "What does the word itself mean?" The name is actually a shortened version of "All Hallows' Even," the eve of All Hallows' Day. "Hallow" is an Old English word for "holy person," and All Hallows' Day is simply another name for All Saints' Day, the day Catholics commemorate all the saints. At some point, people began referring to All Hallows' Even as "Hallowe'en" and then simply "Halloween."

Following the Jewish tradition, Christians observe many holy days from sundown on one day until sundown on the following day. This is where we get the practice of celebrating Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, etc. The direct predecessor of modern-day Halloween is the festivity that began All Saints' Day, which started at sundown on October 31.

While it takes its name from All Saints' Day, modern Halloween is actually a combination of several different traditions. In fact, a lot of the things we do on Halloween predate Christianity entirely. In the following sections, we'll look at the chief traditions that feed into today's Halloween and see how they got all tangled up together in one holiday.

   

In any case, when All Saints' Day moved to November 1, the church did begin to incorporate Samhain traditions into the holy day's activities. This helped bring descendants of the ancient Celts into Christianity, but it posed some problems for the church. Much of the Samhain traditions centered on the supernatural and spirit world, ideas that don't have much of a place in Christianity. Recognizing saints, who were by definition deceased, covered a lot of the same ground, but the converts were still fascinated by the idea of their familiar dead returning to the world of the living.

Despite some unease in the church, many supernatural ideas persisted in All Saints' Day Eve celebrations, making the occasion a remarkable combination of Christian and pagan beliefs. At the end of the 10th century, the church tried to give these traditions a little more direction by establishing All Souls' Day, an occasion to recognize all Christian dead. In the next section, we'll find out how people observe this holiday, and we'll see how these practices relate to Halloween.

All Souls' Day
All Souls' Day, observed on November 2, is celebrated with Masses and festivities in honor of the dead. The living pray on behalf of Christians who are in purgatory, the state in the afterlife where souls are purified before proceeding to heaven. Souls in purgatory, who are members of the church just like living Christians, must suffer so that they can be purged of their sins. Through prayer and good works, living members of the church may help their departed friends and family.

After its introduction, this holiday did sate many Catholics' interest in death and the supernatural. But the unchristian idea of wandering spirits persisted in some areas, as did the festivity atmosphere of Samhain. Conceding that they could not completely get rid of the supernatural elements of the celebrations, the Catholic Church began characterizing the spirits as evil forces associated with the devil. This is where we get a lot of the more disturbing Halloween imagery, such as evil witches and demons.

                                              

All Souls' Day lives on today, particularly in Mexico, where All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day are collectively observed as "Los Dias de los Muertos" (The Days of the Dead). First and foremost, the Days of the Dead is a time when families fondly remember the deceased. But it is also a time marked by festivities, including spectacular parades of skeletons and ghouls. In one notable tradition, revelers lead a mock funeral procession with a live person inside a coffin.

This masquerade is closely connected to the celebration of Halloween, as are other elements of All Souls' Day. In the next section, we'll see how one early All Souls' Day ritual may have led to modern trick-or-treating.

 

    In medieval times, one popular All Souls' Day practice was to make "soul cakes," simple bread desserts with a currant topping. In a custom called "souling," children would go door-to-door begging for the cakes, much like modern trick-or-treaters. For every cake a child collected, he or she would have to say a prayer for the dead relatives of the person who gave the cake. These prayers would help the relatives find their way out of purgatory and into heaven. The children even sang a soul cake song along the lines of the modern "Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat, give me something good to eat." One version of the song went:

 

A soul cake!
A soul cake!
Have mercy on all Christian souls, for
A soul cake!

There is also some evidence of trick-or-treat type activities in the original Celtic tradition. Historians say the Celts would dress up in ghoulish outfits and parade out of town to lead the wandering spirits away. Additionally, Celtic children would walk door to door to collect firewood for a giant communal bonfire. Once the bonfire was burning, the revelers would extinguish all the other fires in the village. They would then relight every fire with a flame taken from the Samhain bonfire, as a symbol of the people's connection to one another.

A lot of the Samhain celebration had to do with honoring Celtic gods, and there's evidence that the Celts would dress as these deities as part of the festival. They may have actually gone door to door to collect food to offer to the gods. It is fairly clear that Samhain involved an offering of food to spirits. There may have been animal sacrifices, and some historians say the Celts even sacrificed people, but the evidence is not conclusive.

The Celts believed in fairies and other mischievous creatures, and the notion of Halloween trickery may have come from their reported activities on Samhain. There's also good reason to suppose that the Celtic New Year's Eve was something like our own New Year's Eve -- a time when people let go of their inhibitions, drank heavily and got into trouble. The trickery tradition may simply come from this spirit of revelry.

 

As part of the Samhain celebration, Celts would bring home an ember from the communal bonfire at the end of the night. They carried these embers in hollowed-out turnips, creating a lantern resembling the modern day jack-o'-lantern.

                                                

 

But the direct predecessor of jack-o'-lanterns dates from 18th-century Ireland, where ancient Celtic traditions remained a significant part of the national culture. A very popular character in Irish folk tales was Stingy Jack, a disreputable miser who, on several occasions, avoided damnation by tricking the devil (often on All Hallows' Eve). In one story, he convinced Satan to climb up a tree for some apples and then cut crosses all around the trunk so the devil couldn't climb down. The devil promised to leave Jack alone forever, if he would only let him out of the tree.

When Jack eventually died, he was turned away from Heaven, due to his life of sin. But, in keeping with their agreement, the Devil wouldn't take Jack either. He was cursed to travel forever as a spirit in limbo. As Jack left the gates of Hell, the Devil threw him a hot ember to light the way in the dark. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip and wandered off into the world. According to the Irish legend, you might see Jack's spirit on All Hallows' Eve, still carrying his turnip lantern through the darkness.

Traditional jack-o'-lanterns, hollowed-out turnips with embers or candles inside, became a very popular Halloween decoration in Ireland and Scotland a few hundred years ago. Folk tradition held that they would ward off Stingy Jack and other spirits on Halloween, and they also served as representations of the souls of the dead. Irish families who emigrated to America brought the tradition with them, but they replaced the turnips with the more plentiful pumpkins. As it turns out, pumpkins were easier to carve than turnips. People began to cut frightening faces and other elaborate designs into their jack-o'-lanterns

                                                  

     All Hallows' Eve has long been a time to look into the future, and traditional festivities included several divination rituals. These come mostly from folk traditions from the British Isles, and many have their roots in the ancient Samhain festivities.

A lot of marriage divinations had to do with apples. In Celtic tradition, the fruit was associated with female deities who controlled the ways of love. This may have something to do with the inner structure of apples. When you slice an apple in two, you can see a pentagram shape (a star with five points) on each half, around the core. The pentagram was an important shape for the ancient Celtics, and many other cultures. Among other things, it was a Goddess symbol.

One of the most popular divinations was for young unmarried people to try to bite into an apple floating in water or hanging from a string. This is something like the bouquet toss that still plays a part in wedding receptions -- the first person to bite into the apple would be the next one to marry.

In another tradition, a young woman would light a candle and peel an apple in front of a mirror. While she was peeling the apple, her future husband would supposedly appear in place of her reflection. Peeling an apple was also a way to predict your life expectancy. If you could cut off one long peel, you would live to an old age. If you only cut a small piece of peel, you would die young.

Apples are still a big part of Halloween celebrations. In addition to apple-bobbing, modern Halloween revelers drink apple cider, make candy apples and hand out apples to trick-or-treaters.

   

American Traditions

Since the 1800s, when Irish and Scottish immigrants brought their Halloween festivities to North America, the holiday has evolved considerably. The celebration's connection with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day has mostly fallen by the wayside, and a number of new secular traditions have developed. For children, dressing up and trick-or-treating door-to-door is still the main event. Most households in the United States and Canada participate, and those who don't run the risk of petty vandalism. Many adults dress up themselves, to go out with their children or to attend costume parties and contests.   Other Halloween activities fill the whole month of October. These traditions preserve Samhain's spirit of revelry in the face of frightening thoughts of death and the supernatural. Americans have added scary movies, community haunted houses, ghost stories and Ouija boards to the celebration. Greeting cards and festive decorations are also a big part of Halloween. The holiday is second only to Christmas in total revenue dollars for retailers.

 

       I do hope you all have enjoyed this Post, and maybe have also started to think in another direction. What ever your beliefs enjoy the up and coming Holiday Season to it's fullest !

    As always Thank You for reading my Blog, comments are welcome and appreciated!!

Sundown                                                                                        Dark of the Moon

                                                 Gifts for Friends 2

                   The reason for this second Blog of this type is that after I have a few Signatures for Friends posted they tend to load very slowly. So here we go again! These signatures are my way of letting you all know how much you mean to me as Friends here!

            Please be patient as at times they load a little SLOW!

  Ps: Also for those that are not aware these tags can be copied and pasted to E-mails, Blogs, Message Boards, etc. . even to your Profile Page!  Good Luck !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             These are Gifts ( gifs.) for Friends

    It seems every time I try to put a special gif. for someone on a blog it won't go through anymore. So being a little different there is more than one way to achieve this  (LOL) !!

 

                 These are for you Sparklzzz on your special day, Happy Birthday kiddo !

                                             

Ps: Also for those that are not aware these tags can be copied and pasted to E-mails, Blogs, Message Boards, etc. . even to your Profile Page!  Good Luck !!


CrystalClear, this one is yours !

Tootie4 , This is for you !

Greepy , this one is for you !
 

   Tall Eagle                    Dark Rider                 Dog Soldier

                            The above are for Chief 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    The Dark Half of the Year

     There are many misconceptions, while it is true with most all early religions there were drastic differences in how many believe today. In early times religious change brought about much doctrine spinning (misconceptions) about other beliefs. This allowed the stretching of the truth to the point it was nearly an out right fabrication! Though sacrifices were a very common application in various beliefs, from the Hebrews faith to that of the Gentiles. Sacrifices are in many forms, although they may also be called offerings it is still the same thing. Unfortunately Halloween has received a BAD SPIN in early doctrine in order to establish converts to the early church from the Celtic Tribes. We have all heard the stories while some may have some base in fact most do not. It is sad however most people will never truly know what the truth is. That being the case I have decided to present to the readers of my Blog The untold truth about, THE DARK HALF OF THE YEAR! Please never blindly except anything, instead study all you can about what ever you find important to you and learn the TRUTH!!

 

   As always Thank You for reading my Blogs and your comments are not only welcome but encouraged!

Sundown                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Dark of the Moon

 

Samhain (soween or sow'-inn)
Traditional date: October 31 to November 1
Actual astrological date: Nov 6 in 2006
Midpoint between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice
The largest and most important festival, great tribal gatherings
The beginning of the dark half of the year, exact opposite day of Beltrane
First Celtic fire festival (male)
Gaelic "samhraidhreadh" means "summer's end"
Irish "Samhain" means the month of November
Celtic New Year's Eve
Third and final harvest festival
The day when day (light) does not exist
Preparation to survive the winter, confront the possibility of death was paramount
The "Fleadh nan Marbh" Feast of the Dead to honour the past clan souls
Celebrates the last harvest, the cycle of life and spirits passed
Ceremonies involve fire, lights, setting out food and gifts for passing spirits
All fires are extinguished and relit from the sacred bonfire
Stories are told around the fires as there is not much to do outside
The veil between the world (Shield of Skathach) is thin, allowing spirits to cross over
Colours: Black, browns, reds, oranges
Evolved to Halloween and All Saints Day

Notes:
Folklore has it that in the three days preceding Samhain, the Sun God Lugh, maimed at Lughnassadh , dies by the hand of his Tánaiste (counterpart or heir), the Lord of Misrule. Lugh crosses the boundaries of the worlds on the first day of Samhain. The heir is a miser, and while he shines brightly in the sky, he gives no warmth nor tempers the north wind.

 

 

                                      

 

 

                                True Power

     True Power, this has always seemed to be an issue with people through out history. Many people have believed in various forms of Magick, others fallow arcain practices within various beliefs. Some have found it, although most do not. The reason for this is simple, if you as an individual confuse Power with Strength you will not find it either! Strength is the ability to control, people places objects, etc. . Where as True Power controls nothing, instead it merely allows or promotes a change to take place through influence. Strength can be lost as well as gained. Much like a person as they become an adult they become physically strong and as they become older they tend in most cases to loose that same very strength. Yet Power is very different, once a person has awakened the Power with in it is always there. Though True Power can and does change things, people, places it still does not control. All humans were endowed with such Power, so why do they not learn to use it? Because not only are most confused as to what it is but they tend to use it emotionally and this may not always be a good thing! I believe in most cases it is not meant to be an abuse, but as the saying goes ; The road to Hell is paved with Good intentions! True Power can be as nurturing as the Sun and the Rain or as devastating as any Weapon known to man. True Power is also perpetual in nature, once turned loose it must and does run it's course. So where does this power come from? The Spoken Word, Thought, and Deed. When people speak lies do they not do great harm? The lie not only hits it' target but also innocent people all around as well. In turn this will influence all in some cases for many years in, their lives, personal as well as business. Though when the truth, positive advise, and consideration are spake all benefit from this and this remains a positive influence through out their lives as well as how they influence others. Thought, simply put as one thinks so shall they do, if it is good or bad it shall show it's self. Deed, when someone does something for good or ill, they need not tell of it for it shall be told by others. As the Deed is told it then becomes an inspiration to others, and again the change is made. For when these three things are done in sequence you then have TRUE POWER!! For as you do in this world it will be known to others and the ability to change peoples lives, Let's make the Change a Good One!

 As always thank you for reading my Blogs and your comments are encouraged and appreciated, THANK YOU.

                                            Sundown

                                    Dark of the Moon                                   

 

             

                                   What Kind of Dragon are You

 

     I thought this maybe interesting for some of you. If you do take the test that the link takes you to, please copy and paste your results. This should be fun for some and a learning experience for others! Still in any case only the individual knows for sure. (Much like the Hair Dresser only knows for SURE)(LOL) Well have fun and enjoy!!

 

http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=34439

As always your comments are welcome and Thank You for reading my Blogs.

 

Sundown                                                                               

Dark of the Moon

                 The way of Dragons 

 

     The way of Dragons is not as commonly believed by most people. Dragon kind was in the beginning given the capacity for great power, wisdom, and total freedom. With these attributes came great responsibilities! They were charged with looking after all of creation. To help when they could, to guide when needed, to protect when necessary, this was and is the way of things. Although as time progressed many cultures and peoples changed and their beliefs evolved and this is as it should be. Except as their points of understanding of the natural world changed as well, Dragons no longer fit their New beliefs and they lost the true understanding of Dragon kind. Many of the Old Ways had to change and so it is with Dragons. They had to assume human form (which they have always done form time to time) most of the time, as not to either alarm, or draw attention to them selves because of persecution. Though that being the case their responsibilities to the world did not change. We still from time to time try to pass on understanding as needed and give aide if possible but from the background and not in the light of day. Our charge is not to influence but rather to help others become what they will in time become.

      Many people tend to forget that as they do in this life they shall be done in the next! They chase after personal gain as if it were the essence of their existence, but with out it they still exist. They build their lives of luxury, on others lives of misery. They try to own that which they can not possess, such as land , water, even the air we breath and yet no man has ever been able to control not even one of them! So why are these things so necessary? When life does not revolve around wealth only false friends and mistrust. Nor does life revolve around misery, but love and understanding. Not even the control of the Four Elements, not one for man has not yet learned to control himself. To strive is good, but the learning of what is good is truly Great!! So now you know, how then will you react to me and others of my kind? Only time will tell.

   As always Thank You for reading my blog and your comments are alway welcome and needed as well!! 

                                        Sundown

                                 Dark of the Moon

 This gentleman, passed away at 8:41 pm. o8/14/06.

  Sometimes when we work closely with someone we find that when they pass away that we did not know them as well as we should. The work comes first in most cases, although we should take the time to get to know the person not just their work! I am an advocate of being honest. which to me means, that yes I did not always see eye to eye with him and even in some instances it was worse than that. However, a person that has left behind so many people who deeply cared for him outside of his family even the cats he would let on my desk to feed them......well he had to have a bigger heart than I knew!  This man even as he was having a massive heart attack he had his wife contact us so we would be able to cover his position, then passed away in route to the hospital. He will be missed by many, the cats and even me as well. May the Creator smile upon him and comfort those he has left behind, his wife and family and the cats too.

  I suppose I will have to feed the cats now, but not on my desk........Smile Boyce Shipman where ever you are!

   As always Thank You for reading my blog, and your comments are always welcome.

                               Sundown

                         Dark of the Moon

                       !!  Friends  &  Friendship  !!

 

   I think most of the people on Grab that I have written and have interacted with , have by now figured out that I care a little more about people than I would let be known ! That being the case this is the perfect opportunity to share a few ( of My Favorite Quotes). You may or may not know that I have more time on my hands than most people ! With so much time, I tend to think about what is truly important. You know those things people talk about and really have a hard time putting them in perspective !

 

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.
Saint Thomas Aquinas

 

     Though many of my favorite quotes are from the past they in general hold true even today. Maybe it is because they had a lot of time on their hands as well !!

 Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.
Aristotle

 

   I know many of you can well understand Aristotle's point !

 

Without wearing any mask we are conscious of, we have a special face for each friend.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

   Well Mr. Holmes, I do not believe I would wish to have your type of friends !! I use this quote or what one should NOT BE LIKE!!

 

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.
Henri Nouwen
 

   Now this is my type of friend, just maybe with a lot of work I can be like this one day!!!!

  As always thank you for reading my blogs. Your comments are always welcome .

                                       Sundown

                                 Dark of the Moon

 

 

 

                                                                Dreams

It has been said, that when one looks outside they dream; when they look inside they awaken !

  We all need dreams but to truly know ourselves, is a dream come true !!

  As always your comments are welcome and Thank You for reading my blogs,

                                       Sundown

                                 Dark of the Moon

 

You can never plan the future by the past.
Edmund Burke

Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver.
Edmund Burke

Nothing is so fatal to religion as indifference.
Edmund Burke

Taxing is an easy business. Any projector can contrive new compositions, any bungler can add to the old.
Edmund Burke
There is but one law for all, namely that law which governs all law, the law of our Creator, the law of humanity, justice, equity - the law of nature and of nations.
Edmund Burke

If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free; if our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed.
Edmund Burke

   I felt that perhaps I would share with you all

my more favorite quotes from Edmund Burke.

They at times have helped me , perhaps they may help someone else as well.

    As always Thank You for reading my blogs.

Comments are always welcomed.

                             

                              Sundown

                         Dark of the Moon

Although the 4 th of July is an American holiday, many countries have simular holidays for independence. As with the US
most people have deep feelings for their country and they celebrate with their families as well.
So I was thinking it would be nice for everyone regaurdless of where you are from, If you would share your countries
Holiday for independence or the closest type of holiday you have.

           Afterall we are all people and for the most part have
the same feelings,wants,drives. It is interesting to see how fast
the differences dissappear when people share their thoughts in
honesty. The point of national holidays is only another way to
display national pride and to display the unbeaten human spirit!
This is another thing we all in general have in common
, but how we celebrate and display our pride is interesting to learn.

Thank you for your time and reading my Blog!

As always your thoughts are wanted and appreciated.

Sundown
Dark of the Moon 

                                           Finally a NEW GAME !

   Yes indeed a game that is not a download, and it is a lot of fun!                                                         Rocket's Red Glare, This game has only one problem,........it is addictive!

  Do not get me wrong, I love this site an there are worse things to be addicted to. However I do wish Grab would bring out more games that are not downloads! I for one will not download a game and then 30 minutes later have to remove it from my computer. The Ad and Remove program does not always remove all of the files and then you get to search for all of the ones the program did not remove!

   I also wish there were more games that:

1. You can challenge people to

2. You can play for Grabbles

3. Well........I guess, I really do not have that many things I can think of. Hey, I knew Grab was doing a pretty good job!!

  Anyway has anyone else any ideas? What do you all think?

  As always every one's opinion is not only welcome but appreciated as well.

 Thanks for reading my blogs.

                                 Sundown

                          Dark of the Moon

       Past, Present and Future

                                        

                                     ( a perspective )

                                              The World is a Reflection