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The history and myths of Halloween


Still Waters

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TODAY'S MIX OF parties, pranks, and profit is a far cry from Halloween's ancient origins. Over the centuries the celebration has seen a lot of changes, and we've summed them up here for you.

Halloween's origins date back more than 2,000 years. On what we consider November 1, Europe's Celtic peoples celebrated their New Year's Day, called Samhain (SAH-win).

On Samhain eve—what we know as Halloween—spirits were thought to walk the Earth as they traveled to the afterlife. Fairies, demons, and other creatures were also said to be abroad.

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/101029-halloween-costumes-ideas-history-science-nation/

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I'm pagan and it always gives me a chuckle when fundamentalist Christians reject Halloween as evil and demonic, so they have Harvest Festivals instead. Not realizing of course a Harvest Festival is far closer to being pagan than a modern Halloween of dressing up and trick or treating ever is. 

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On 20/10/2018 at 12:45 AM, darkmoonlady said:

I'm pagan and it always gives me a chuckle when fundamentalist Christians reject Halloween as evil and demonic

Which, of course, it is.

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2 hours ago, Black Monk said:

Which, of course, it is.

Only the modern American commercialised abomination :P  

 

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16 hours ago, Black Monk said:

Which, of course, it is.

Not really. 

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I'd like to know where the 'American Folklife Center' got their information from?

"In addition to sacrificing animals to the gods and gathering around bonfires, Celts often wore costumes—probably animal skins—to confuse spirits, perhaps to avoid being possessed, according to the American Folklife Center at the U.S. Library of Congress.

By wearing masks or blackening their faces, Celts are also thought to have impersonated dead ancestors.

Young men may have dressed as women and vice versa, marking a temporary breakdown of normal social divisions."

A lot of what this article describes sounds like Mummers.

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15 minutes ago, hetrodoxly said:

I'd like to know where the 'American Folklife Center' got their information from?

"In addition to sacrificing animals to the gods and gathering around bonfires, Celts often wore costumes—probably animal skins—to confuse spirits, perhaps to avoid being possessed, according to the American Folklife Center at the U.S. Library of Congress.

By wearing masks or blackening their faces, Celts are also thought to have impersonated dead ancestors.

Young men may have dressed as women and vice versa, marking a temporary breakdown of normal social divisions."

A lot of what this article describes sounds like Mummers.

This one is a bit better from the same site

https://www.loc.gov/folklife/halloween-santino.html

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