Tollund Man (Found in the bog, naked with a rope around his neck)
Posted on 10/29/2003 7:15:52 AM PST by FeliciaCat
Celts gave Halloween its spooky start more than 2,000 years ago
By CAROLINA CHACON
Regardless of the phase of the moon, Oct. 31 is the darkest night of the year.
Halloween is eagerly anticipated in the United States. Entire families go to great lengths to decorate their home and find the perfect costume for a bewitching good time.
But these traditions have a rich history.
Halloween originated more than 2,000 years ago with the Celts, tribal people who lived mainly in England, Ireland and Scotland. For them, summer was important, because of their crops, and winter was feared, because it was dark and unproductive.
In response, the Celtic people created a festival on Oct. 31 -- the night before the dark half of the year began -- called Samhain, pronounced "sow-in," which means "end of summer."
The day also was treated as the end of the year. The Celts thanked the gods for their good crops and prayed for prosperity in the coming year. They viewed it as a magical time when legends came true, but there was a dark side as well.
Because, during the night of Oct. 31, fairies -- which were viewed as hostile creatures -- were particularly active, according to popular Celtic belief. For instance, all crops left out in the field were considered cursed by the fairies.
The Celts also believed that on Oct. 30, the veil between the living and the dead, the past, present and future, vanished, enabling the spirits of those who had died the previous year to roam the earth.
To frighten away these spirits, the Celts dressed in elaborate costumes and acted aggressively. Some Celts left food for the dead in order to ward them off. They also extinguished their fires to make their homes seem uninviting and cold. Some children and neighbors used the occasion to play practical jokes.
As Christianity spread, however, Samhain changed. Christians allowed the Celts to keep the celebration, but gave the time a new name and purpose. Instead of being a day to be frightened by the dead and the supernatural, Samhain would be celebrated on Nov. 1 to honor all saints. The day was rechristened All Saints' Day.
The day before, Oct. 31, became All Hallows Eve; "hallow" refers to anything holy or saintly. After some time, the name became shortened to Halloween.
Christians also added one more day, All Souls' Day, on Nov. 2, for the living to remember and pray for the dead.
During the 1840s, many Irish immigrants flocked to the United States, introducing remnants of Samhain tradition. Trick-or-treating, for example, has its roots in the Irish custom of "souling." In the ninth century, Christian beggars would go door to door begging for soul cakes in return for a prayer for the family. People who refused to donate a soul cake would be threatened and cursed.
Other immigrants contributed to the Halloween custom, too, such as the German interest in witches and African voodoo symbols.
Wicca is a pagan religion practiced by people who say they perform witchcraft. Wiccans say their religion centers on the earth's cycles. It is based largely on ancient Celtic practices, gods and symbols.
One Las Vegas Wiccan is Dorothy Kennedy, also known as Lady Morgan. She runs a business called Wicca World, which sells such items as tarot cards, robes and altar supplies.
Kennedy likens Wiccan worship to American Indian spirituality: "We worship the four corners: air, water, fire and earth. We call in those four corners when we call in the Mother and Father." The Mother and Father are the chief Wiccan goddess and god.
Wiccans do not do black magic, Kennedy says. "We don't believe in Satan. Satan is from Christianity. We're just trying to stay in touch with nature."
Halloween, or Samhain, is still an important holiday for Wiccans, according to Kennedy, because "this is the time of the year that we speak of the dead. ... We burn candles, call the Father and Mother and jump through the fire for good luck."
Sources: GeoCities.com Web site; World Book Encyclopedia; www.wilstar.com, which bills itself as a family Web site.
And for good measure, they strangled some unlucky schnook and threw him in a bog.
Wonder why the story left that part out?
Yeah, but not the Romans. "Peace through sharing and caring" was the Imperial Motto.
Wow, I always wondered what that "SPQR" thingy meant! Thanks!
:^)
Oh, I really don't know how they did it, but they did. Another quaint practice was collecting heads, which they proudly displayed from their houses.
The Celts ranged all over Europe before the Romans subdued them on the continent; the Gauls were Celts. They were bloody. You always hear how bloody Christian Europe was, but none recall how much worse pre-Christian society was.
Tollund Man (Found in the bog, naked with a rope around his neck)
Well, you know what they say when in Rome "Vinny, Vito, Vino." (Let the Buyer Beware.)
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