Here it is Halloween already. Halloween, traditionally called \u201cAll Hallows Eve,\u201d is celebrated on the evening before the\u00a0 Christian holy day of All Hallows\u2019 Day, or as most of us know it, All Saints Day. All Saints Day is November 1, so Halloween is always on October 31.\u00a0In England, saints or holy people were called \u201cHallowed,\u201d therefore the name \u201cAll Hallows Day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The holiday was once tied to farming and astronomy. It marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, or the \u201cdarker half\u201d of the year. The origin of Halloween can be traced to an ancient festival called Samhain (pronounced Sow-in, that rhymes with cow-in,) meaning summer\u2019s end. This was a sacred festival celebrated by the ancient Celts and Druids in the British Isles and it marked the end of the harvest and the start of a new year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ancient Celts believed that the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest during Samhain. That had positive benefits \u2014 it was an ideal time to consider the dead, communicate with the deceased, and also divine the future. Since Samhain was considered the death-night of the old year, it came to be associated with ghosts and graveyards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Halloween has lots of customs and practices associated with it \u2014 some are just innocent fun, but some deal with reminders of death and concepts of good and evil.\u00a0
Halloween was once known as \u201cNutcracker Night\u201d in England \u2014 it was a time when the family gathered around the hearth to enjoy cider and nuts and apples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You see Jack-O- Lanterns all over the place this time of the year \u2014 a tradition that comes from Ireland. The Irish used hollowed-out candlelit turnips carved with a demon\u2019s face to frighten away evil spirits. The name \u201cJack-O-Lantern\u201d comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack who invited the Devil to have a drink with him but wouldn\u2019t pay. Jack tricked the devil and made a deal in which the devil couldn\u2019t claim his soul \u2014 but God didn\u2019t want Jack in Heaven either. Now Jack is stuck roaming the Earth as an evil spirit with his lantern shining the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Irish carved scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placed them near doors or windows during Halloween Eve to frighten away Stingy Jack and evil spirits. When the Irish immigrants couldn\u2019t find many turnips in the United States, they used pumpkins instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So get all that candy ready and be sure your doorbell is working \u2014 there\u2019ll probably be lots of witches and goblins out tonight\u2026..
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here it is Halloween already. Halloween, traditionally called \u201cAll Hallows Eve,\u201d is celebrated on the evening before the\u00a0 Christian holy day of All Hallows\u2019 Day, or as most of us know it, All Saints Day. All Saints Day is November … Continue reading