HALLOWEEN: The Origin
There are many stories of Halloween. Stories of ghosts goblins and witches fill the imagination of young and old alike. You may hear the tale of Satan’s sabot, where infants are stolen and sacrificed to the fallen angel. There is even the story of the battle between good and evil. Each side is fighting for the soles of the living. My favorite tale is not so shocking as to stir the emotions to a point of reclusion. Rather it compels me to want to be of service to others.
Bring your mind to the time when the Church is just forming, and growing. The Church determines a miracle has happened because of prayers to someone who has passed over to be with God. The Church, after the long process of proving the miracle, names the dearly departed to be a Saint. There is a Saint for the protection of children. You may pray to a Saint to protect you while you travel. You may want to invoke a Saint to help you have a good harvest. People keep praying to relatives who have passed. The Church keeps naming Saints.
The anniversary of the miracle becomes a holiday. Everyone celebrates and pays homage to the Saint for that day. Not many years pass and a Saint is named for every day of the year. Life is a virtual holiday. No one is getting any chores done. Some parishioners even slack off going to the Church, because of the time they spend honoring the Saint of the day. The Church comes to a brilliant conclusion. In order to maintain a position of power and respect something must be done. “We will take one day a year,” say the elders of the Church, “to honor all the Saints.” November first is named as All Saints Day. The good people of the Church may now prepare the evening before All Saints Day for one big celebration.
The evening before All Saints Day becomes All Hallows (Holy Ones) Eve, and then Halloween. This is the greatest religious holiday (holy day) second only to Christmas. Great care is taken this evening. Cooking in a great cauldron looks like stirring a witch’s brew. Chanting a soft prayer to the Saint you honor most sounds as if you are you casting a terrible spell. Cleaning and sweeping the floors with fervor, you appear to be flying on the broomstick. Children are always getting in the way. You clean the floor and the children track in dirt. Whatever you straighten up the children mess up. Families every where give their children apples, taffy, and popped corn to get them out of the house while the adults prepare for All Saints Day. Children aren’t stupid. They rapidly discover, that not only will their parents give them treats, but also other households will give them a snack to stay away. To expand on a great opportunity children put on masks and disguise themselves as not to be recognized. Thereby going back to the same house more than once for a delicious treat. Children playing tricks for treats has become a time honored tradition. Each Halloween a light is left on, a jack-o-lantern is carved, and candy is given to ingenious children who remind adults that they are not alone. Some of us have forgotten the reason for Halloween, and whom it is to honor. Halloween is not a time for evil to reign. It is not a time for maliciousness. It is not a time for Satan to rear his ugly head. Halloween is a time to remember those who died believing a little bit of God is in all of us. You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or
interesting stories for the world to read and respond to Click hereScroll all the way down to read replies.Show all stories by Author:  62739 ( Click here )
Halloween is Right around the corner.. .
|
comapre the pagan feast days and trraditions with the catholic church. You've got Halloween/feast of all saints christmas/yule, may day/beltane. etc. Also, look at the idea of catholic saints compared to all the pagan gods. A good example is in Ireland, where the Goddess Brigid became saint Brigid. 
