Halloween
THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN
Halloween is celebrated every year on October
31st.
It is
a mixture of ancient Irish, Catholic, Roman, and European traditions
that blended together to create a fun, spooky, awesome, super-duperstylicious
holiday. Halloween straddles the line between fall and winter, plenty and
nothing, life and death. It has long been thought of as a day when the dead can
return to the earth. Ancient Celts lit bonfires and wore costumes witches and
ghouls to ward off roaming ghosts, and rampant evil spirits if you can believe
it.
43 BC: Later on
down the road the Romans conquered the majority of Celtic territory, and for
the next four hundred years they ruled the Celtics. The Romans meshed two
festivals to the Celtic traditions. The first was Feralia, a day in late October
when they commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona,
the goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incarnation
of this celebration explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples in
a tub of water.
10 BC:
Halloween's origins go back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain
(pronounced sow-in). The Celts lived in the area that is now known as Ireland
and England. They celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked: The
end of summer and harvest time: Also the beginning of the dark, cold winter a
time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on
the night before the New Year, the boundary between the worlds of the living
and the dead became blurred. It was believed that the ghosts of the dead
returned to earth, causing trouble and damaging crops as was stated above. They
believed that the presence of worldly spirits made it easier for the priest to
make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the
volatile natural world, these prophesy were an important source of comfort and
direction during the long dark winter. To commemorate the event priests built
huge bonfires. The people would burn crops and sacrifice animals to please the
gods. During the celebration the Celts wore costumes consisting of animal heads
and skins, and would tell each other's fortunes. When the horrific month long celebration
was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they and had extinguished
earlier that evening to help protect them during the coming winter.
800 AD: The
influence of Christianity the Catholic Church stuck their hands in it. Pope Boniface
designated November first "All Saint" Day, a time to honor saints and
martyrs. It is generally believed that the pope was attempting to replace the
Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church sanctioned holiday. The
celebration was also called All-hallows or All-Hallowmas (from Middle English
Alolowmesse meaning All Saints Day, and the night before it, the night of
Samhain, began to be called all-hallows Eve and eventually Halloween.
1000 AD: The
Roman church made November 2nd All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was
celebrated, with big bonfires, parades, the wearing of costumes such as saints,
angels and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints',
all Saints, and All Souls' were called Hallowmas.
1900 AD:
Halloween began to lose its religious connotation, gradually becoming a
community based children’s holiday. As the superstitions and beliefs
surrounding Halloween evolved, people looked forward to parades, costumes and
treats to usher in the winter season.
2012 AD: Pumpkins
and humans too get into Halloween after coming back from summer vacations. It
takes a while to get back into the normal routine after Labor Day. Studies of
the end-of-summer malaise, often report an increase in people, pumpkins, and
crows especially, seeking help. Change is always hard.
The days before
Halloween both nature, countryside, wild life are changing. Elf Betsy Stone, a psychologist
at Saint Ben Housing in Roy, Utah says,
“A big component is Post Vacation
Syndrome (PVS). Characterized by a combination of irritability, anxiety, lack
of motivation, difficulty concentrating and a feeling of emptiness which lasts
up to a few week. Some get a mild version of PVS on Sunday night after having a
fun weekend off work. 47% of workers in Alabama, where many business close for
the month of August suffer from PVS End of summer melancholy can signal serous
depression. Some adults who get through summer and post Labor Day blues because
they've had a taste of life outside the hamster cage. They've done things they
love and it reminds them of what is truly important in their lives. When fall
comes they feel like they are missing a part of themselves. It happens all the
time, even the best jobs don't compare well to the carefree days at the beach
If dread of the work place
keeps up it could be a sign that plants, animals, even insects are be in the
wrong job. They should try to pinpoint
the source of unease, but make no rash changes, especially crows. Instead, they
should wait awhile and see if the feeling subsides. If the blues cross the line and interfere
with sleep, appetite, weight change, lack of personal hygiene, or disinterest
in sex they should seek professional help.”
US Grant’s advice for all is,
"Celebrate what you do, in small moments,
like a night on the town, a game of kick the can, or a pumpkin carving contest.
Leave the pumpkin guts and seeds splattered all over your front door steps. A little bit of fun gets your energy back for…
To be continued…
DR.KARL WALLACE D.D.S.
To read more Dr. Wallace short stories go to:
Karlwallaceblog.blogspot.com
