29 Oct 2011
by Sue Dreamwalker
in Inner Chatter, Mind Body & Spirit, Paranormal, Uncategorized
Tags: All Saints, Halloween, Hallows Eve, Samhain
This year I am being very lazy, so apologies to all those who read this last year as I posted it for last years Halloween.. I found much information even I didn’t know , and tied in information I found along with some things I already knew to post. There is so much Information out there if we care to dig deeper into all ceremony and rituals in which we take part in.. Often we follow blindly traditions that our parents followed and yet don’t understand where or why these traditions started, and often they turn into something that is slightly distraughted from its origins. So for those who care to spend five minutes or so reading I hope you may learn something you didn’t already know.. And for those who are just dropping by… Happy Halloween and enjoy the Graphics~Sue Dreamwalker
Halloween
Halloween, where does the word come from? Well in fact Halloween comes from All Hallow Even. The night before All Hallows Day. Therefore Halloween is the eve of All Saints Day.
From 1066 to 1485 there was no evidence that the 31st of October was anything other than the eve of All Saints Day. But that changed in the 19th century right up to the present day, and has been associated with witchcraft and ghostly ghoulish things, so why is that?
Halloween was developed from the Celtic Feast of Samhain sometimes spelt Samain or Samuin, pronounced “sow-in”, this feast marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter. Samhain was the time when the Celts acknowledged the beginning and the ending of all things as they saw the leaves fall from the trees and the coming of the winter. It was a time when they turned to their Goddesses and Gods, seeking to understand the cycles of life and death..
Due to the facts that many people died in the winter, and the people were so dependent on the natural world, they believed that this day the boundary between the living world and the dead opened up gateways. On this day the dead could invade the world of the living and priests would be able to predict the future and talk to the dead more easily. They would dress up and at a large central bonfire pay homage to the Celtic deities, sacrificing animals to the gods.
They would also try to tell each other’s fortunes while dressed up in the costumes of animal skins and heads.. It was also a time during the coming of winter that the weakest animals were culled and provision was made to store food stuff to see them through the winter.
The Celts called upon their ancestors who they thought could help bring guidance and warnings to help them through the winter months. It was a time when the Druids and soothsayers would forecast events for the coming year.. The High Kings of Ireland held feasts that lasted a week for this purpose, and predictions would be forecast of farming patterns, hunting, and Storms and the Moons eclipses. And whether or not the Kings lands would be free from Plotting Neighbours.
The Celts believed that evil spirits came in the long winter months of darkness and believed that on that night the vale between worlds of the living and those in spirit, were at their weakest. And so therefore would be most likely to be seen on earth. So they built bonfires to frighten the spirits away, and they danced and celebrated around these fires.. The fires were supposed to bring comfort to those souls who were in purgatory and people prayed for them as they burned the piles of straw.. Those in Scotland and Ireland where the Celtic influence was more pronounced kept the strongest traditions of burning fires..
In the seventh century, after Christianity had spread into the Celtic lands, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1st as All Saints’ Day, a day to honor saints and martyrs. The celebrations were called All-Hallows or All-Hallowmas and the night before became All-Hallows Eve, eventually becoming our Halloween.
And it’s not hard to see that ALL SOULS Day, now practiced on November 2nd is a continuation of the pagan beliefs of Samhain.
Interestingly In 1605 in England, the fires were moved to November the 5th ( Bonfire Night ) where the anniversary of the ( Gunpowder plot) was celebrated from the foiled attempt of Guy Fawkes to blow up the houses of parliament. So Halloween and Bonfire night have a common origin, from pagan times when evil spirits had to be driven away by fire and noise.. So in fact are we on bonfire night still celebrating our ancestor’s pagan Samhain? As we burn the old wood and leaves, and make much noise as we set our fireworks off. Despite it being depicted as a celebration of the saving of the houses of parliament from a foiled Terrorists Plot, I.e. Guy Fawkes lol
Coming back to present day Halloween, wearing costumes comes from both Celtic and European heritage. When immigrants came to America, the tradition continued with a few twists, adding mostly due to the varying beliefs. The merging of separate groups of religion, nationality and even Native American traditions changed the All-Hallows-Eve into more of a party for the harvests of the year and a celebration to honour the dead.
Dressing up was thought to make the wearer unrecognizable to the ghosts of the dead. The dead would confuse them with other spirits, and to further protect themselves, people would leave bowls of food outside their doors to appease the ghosts.
At the turn of the century, 1900, the government and newspapers encouraged people to have more of a celebration and less of the ghoulish and frightening aspects of Halloween. Parades and festivities were encouraged. Sometime between 1920 and 1950 the tradition of trick or treating was revived, thought of as a way for the whole community to share the holiday traditions.
The tradition of pumpkin carving and Pumpkin Pie came from Native Americans. The Native Americans had a staple food before the first settlers arrived in America, the pumpkin. They got this plant from South and Central America, where seeds have been found dating back thousands of years. The immigrants who arrived soon used the pumpkin in many dishes including one that they would scoop out the seeds and gunk from inside and bake it with milk honey and spices and then eat it, thus the pumpkin pie is born. Along with the tradition of the Halloween lantern..
Halloween is only now becoming hugely popular here in the UK. As the traditions of trick or treat have come back overseas from America and the Retail stores have embraced the commercial side of advertising Halloween, selling it to the children. And of course making Money out of it.
So the day of Halloween is not about the dead or pranks we pull on other people but about the end of the harvest and the warm part of the year. The remembering and honoring the dead is not done by any one nationality or people, but by many. Most people in one way or another honor and remember the people they loved and knew. Halloween is just a day that we can celebrate the people of the past and help to keep their memories alive.
But just wishing all of you who read my blogs a Happy Halloween….
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♡ The Tale Of My Heart ♡
Oct 29, 2011 @ 22:54:31
Great pumpkin 🙂
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 29, 2011 @ 23:41:53
Thank you 🙂
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Androgoth
Oct 30, 2011 @ 01:36:58
Happy Halloween Sue My Great Friend
I will be back to catch up with your postings
and of course to have a really good nosy
around those postings that you mentioned
I am looking forward to reading those 🙂
Hey I hope that you remembered to put your
clocks back an hour? That will be an extra hour
of blissful sleep, or maybe an early breakfast,
which is what I will be having as it is F1 India
this weekend and it starts at 08:30hrs 🙂 😉
Have a wicked day today Sue and be good 🙂
Androgoth XXx
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 30, 2011 @ 21:51:10
I remembered Androgoth, So how was the F1 racing?.. who won..? not that I would know Any names LOL…But I do drive fast at times… 🙂
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Androgoth
Oct 31, 2011 @ 23:23:47
Vettel of Red Bull Racing…
He is the Chamion already
so that just shows what a
great driver he is…
Of course my favourite
driver is Michael Schumacher
and he came in fifth…
I hope you have had a wicked
Halloween night with lots of the
treating kind 🙂 😉
Androgoth XXx
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Androgoth
Oct 31, 2011 @ 23:24:50
Chamion? lol 🙂
Champion too
Bl**dy Keyboard 🙂 lol
Androgoth XXx
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Sue Dreamwalker
Nov 01, 2011 @ 17:34:09
Hehe! 🙂
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Sue Dreamwalker
Nov 01, 2011 @ 17:33:45
Glad you enjoyed your F1 Androgoth my friend, now we had lots of trickters, but we gave them lots of treats.. and All went home with Happy Smiles.. 🙂
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prenin
Oct 30, 2011 @ 09:54:09
Thanks for the visit and present Sue!
I read your blog and it was fascinating! 🙂
Hope you have a great Halloween!!!
Love and hugs!
Prenin.
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 30, 2011 @ 21:59:00
Thank you Prenin, so pleased you dropped in for a visit and returned my spell… :-).. Enjoy your Halloween
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Tom (Aquatom1968)
Oct 30, 2011 @ 10:29:26
A very interesting read, Sue. I never realised that Halloween and Bonfire Night were linked in such a way, but thinking about it, it makes sense!
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 30, 2011 @ 22:04:29
Hi Tom, yes, I found out a few facts I didnt know as well… Thank you for taking the time to visit me.. 🙂
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Rosemary Monteith
Oct 30, 2011 @ 15:04:24
Enjoyed this very interesting
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 30, 2011 @ 22:05:23
Happy Halloween Rosemary,… so nice your dropped in this Sunday 🙂 Hope you are well and W is also doing ok..? Hugs xxx
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europasicewolf
Oct 30, 2011 @ 15:39:29
Interesting post…I was unaware, as I imagine most people would be today, of the original meaning/purpose of this time. Seems we humans must distort everything far from the original truth! 🙂 Must admit though…I do like pumpkin soup!
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 30, 2011 @ 22:08:55
Hi Wolfie, you are on my list of visit to do my dear fury friend… Yes we Humans do mess things up, it a Habbit we seem to do ALL the time with every thing we touch.. :-)… Happy Halloween xox
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beautifulchaos2
Oct 30, 2011 @ 16:30:17
That was so fascinating Sue! I never knew about half that stuff before.
I’ve wonderful why people dress up and how the whole trick or treating thing began, and to know it started out as people leaving bowls of food out for ghosts is a fun fact to know. Wonderful post!
Big hugs to you, and Happy Halloween! Nikki xo
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 30, 2011 @ 22:13:45
We learn something New every day… and we still have MUCH to learn.. Lol.. So happy you enjoyed, though I did all the ground work last year for this post, and just tweeked and reblogged it.. 🙂 Happy Halloween..
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timkeen40
Oct 30, 2011 @ 20:01:04
Thanks for the history lesson. This is a very interesting tale.
Tim
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Renee Espriu
Oct 30, 2011 @ 21:58:00
Beautifully written, Sue, and glad you posted it this year. I like that you have put it all into your own words, which I was too tired to do (copied and pasted another’s efforts) and your graphics are great! I haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet. Happy Hallow’s Even and Saints Day to you! 🙂
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Sue Dreamwalker
Nov 01, 2011 @ 18:19:59
Hi Renee, yes Im pleased I posted it now..Your own posting for Halloween was very informative also and I smiled as I read our themes… I hope that you and yours enjoyed your Halloween Night.. I so love to read your poems,
Wishing you a wonderful Week .. Sue
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becca givens
Oct 31, 2011 @ 01:57:19
Sue Dreamwalker – I came close to collecting detailed-details for my post yesterday – but decided to take a shorter version. I am glad you posted more details for all to learn more of traditions ~~ Thank you for sharing! 😀
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 31, 2011 @ 21:39:30
Hi Becca :-), thank you, Im affraid I was very lazy, I re-blogged this from last year, But I thought there would be many who hadnt already read it, so Im pleased that I posted again and that you enjoyed… Love and Light.. 🙂
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Princess
Oct 31, 2011 @ 07:41:10
hi,
for the halloween guest book event … thanks and wishes
happy halloween..
nice blog here.. you gave nice insight on what, how and why’s regarding this festival of which i had not much thought.. thanks
http://flic.kr/p/aAuhVt
-Aiz.
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 31, 2011 @ 21:58:44
Thank you Princess…-Aiz, Glad you enjoyed and gained some insight 🙂
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Lady Jude
Oct 31, 2011 @ 08:54:29
I’ve learnt something new today, Happy Halloween my friend….
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 31, 2011 @ 22:02:04
Always happy to learn a little something new myself Lady Jude, so happy I was able to Teach today too LOL 😉
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dogkisses
Oct 31, 2011 @ 14:36:53
I love this post! Thank you Dreamwalker. I hope I have enough ink to print it for my son. (He is doing pretty good btw. We are both working with the Taoist Alchemist and I have learned two new Qi Gong exercises!).
Happy Hallowed Eve…
Lots of hugs and good wishes to you and yours,
Michelle.
PS Also, I am going to try very hard to write a blog post this coming week.
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 31, 2011 @ 22:07:08
Oh I am so happy that things are at last starting to go well for your both.. That Taoist Alchemist sounds as if he is adding the sparkle back… lets hope he keeps spreading his own magic in your lives my wonderful friend.. I look forward to seeing a new blog Very Soon … Hugs and Love… Dreamwalker 🙂
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zendictive
Oct 31, 2011 @ 20:01:05
bows (~_~) humble
happy hallow day
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Sue Dreamwalker
Oct 31, 2011 @ 22:10:16
Hello Zendictive, nice that you commented upon my post, Happy Hallow Evening to you too, and no need to bow my friend for we are ALL Equal 🙂
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aussieian2011
Nov 01, 2011 @ 02:18:11
A very interestin post Sue , seems religion and pagan festivities have intermingled or entwined somehow , Ana and I have been discussing it in her culture , seems in Chile people go to the cemetery on halloween night and lay out tablecloths and food drink and music to be with their ancestors , my research shows All saints day being the first where homage is paid to all saints ,then again research shows it was a day for all Souls , so whether its all souls day or all saints day I am not sure, I prefer it to be all souls day and with Ana’s rendition it would be the reason that the visits to the cemetery occur at night to honour all souls who have departed.
Well that my input to your great blog Sue , whichever way it seems to end up a cross between ancient rituals and christianity
Cheers Princess
Ian aka Emu
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Sue Dreamwalker
Nov 01, 2011 @ 17:51:42
That’s interesting to know Ian, Yes many cultures visit gravesides and light candles illuminating the grave.. Many such traditions which had origins in the past have down the ages become commercialized and distorted.. Now you ask many children today the meaning of Christmas.. And they say it’s when Santa Claws comes to give them presents .. Sad that in today’s multicultural society many schools now do not do the traditional nativity play, in case it offends another religion.
It makes me smile, sadly so, for there is Only ONE Creator.. and I’m sure that ALL religions agree that the creator ‘Goddess, God’ of the Universe of Consciousness says we need to love one another.. And yet somewhere along the line even that got distorted.
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mystafied
Nov 01, 2011 @ 04:58:38
Happy Halloween
I hope it’s a lovely day for you x
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Sue Dreamwalker
Nov 01, 2011 @ 17:53:27
Many Thanks Mystafied, and thank you for the Great Pumpkin xx
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Oceanwaves
Nov 01, 2011 @ 11:52:07
That was a really interesting read..freshed my memory up too..I forgot most of the history from Halloween event..some of it is pretty harsh how it all came about.
Thankyou Sue Dreamwalker for your compliments..and I must ask did you make up the Halloween poem you brought by> it so good..I really enjoyed it!
Wonderful site you have created here.
Wishing you a good week!
Hugs TraceyxXx
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Sue Dreamwalker
Nov 01, 2011 @ 18:14:09
Hi Oceanwaves Tracey, thank you for that compliment also, and Yes I made up that poem I posted in Nikki’sHalloween Event I wrote matter of minutes thats how my poems come just off the cuff, and I hardly have to tweak them, IF you wish to see more poems then scroll to the right handside of my blog and click on Poems, or put Poems in my search engine.. and you will see more of my poetry there… Thank you for dropping back in.. 🙂
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beautifulchaos2
Nov 01, 2011 @ 19:05:04
Hi Sue,
I see you have another big celebration coming up soon, will you be going to a bonfire on Guy Fawkes night? I’d love to go to a bonfire night but there’s nothing like that here. Halloween came and went pretty quielty in my neighborhood because it’s all mostly apartment buildings, most parents take their kids to other neighborhoods with houses to do trick or treating. I think next year i’ll go with a friend who has small kids and go about their neighborhood trick or treating with them, would be great just to see all the fabulous costumes people come up with for kids. Hope you have a wonderful day Sue, Big hugs, Nikki
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Sue Dreamwalker
Nov 02, 2011 @ 11:19:14
We had around 10 trick and treaters Nikki, But many said how quite it was this year.. I think many had small family parties instead this year and its only just taken off here in the last couple of years to go out and trick or treat.. and its not as big as in the USA, But the shops are now full of Halloween things as the commercial band-waggons don’t take long to make money on it and the choice this year for kiddies has been amazing… Thank you Nikki for dropping in.. Sue xox
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jennygoth
Nov 01, 2011 @ 21:12:11
hi sue hope halloween was a good one for you mine was quiet after my weekend away resting up before this weeks fest im a bit disallusioned with people who are claiming to contact people in the afterlife lately so im giving up looking for answers for a while i find i get very down with it a bad experience lately where my hopes were dashed yet again have a lovely week xxjen
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Sue Dreamwalker
Nov 02, 2011 @ 11:27:58
Hi Jen, you sound as if you are at a low ebb, I have come across many people who search just wanting one particular person to come through and yet have been given evidence of many others, I think you are doing right in letting go for a while. You see the Universe listens intently to our wants.. and if we WANT something so badly, it delivers exactly that which we ask.. and that is it will keep us WANTing.. .. So when we let go, often that which we require often pops up unexpectedly.. And such is life Jen, there are Good and Bad in all professions…. Wishing you a wonderful uplifting week.. Sue
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summer breeze
Nov 02, 2011 @ 19:18:09
Hello my dear Dreamwalker, yes i remember this from last year and it’s facinating reading… nothing wrong with being lazy..LOL 🙂
just leaveing you some love n hugs 🙂
(\__/)
(=’:’=)
(“)_(“)
♥ love, Summer
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Sue Dreamwalker
Nov 02, 2011 @ 19:27:38
Thanks Summer… hope you too had a great Halloween.. wishing you a Great week and up and coming weekend xox
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natswans
Nov 03, 2011 @ 13:59:09
Hi Dreamwalker it’s funny that I was just thinking about Halloween and where it came from. Aww now I know thank you , very very interesting post. So thank you for sharing , also it was lovely to hear from you yesterday always good to hear from you. Hugs Sheila and Wile-e xx
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Sue Dreamwalker
Nov 03, 2011 @ 14:31:11
😉 you know what they say about THOUGHTS!… If you think long and hard enough they Manifest.. so pleased I was able to answer your questions… have a Great Day Sheila…xx
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