2008 Woodie Awards
Demystifying the Myths
Lyndsay Phillips
Issue date: 10/26/05 Section: Valley Life
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The last day in October would be just another day without an acceptable overdose of sugar coursing through our bodies. As we carve pumpkins, find scary costumes and go trick-or-treating on what has become a multi-billion-dollar holiday, do we even know where these odd traditions stemmed from?
"For many of us, our history begins when we're a kid," said Valley anthropology instructor Leanna Wolfe. "Getting dressed up and getting candy. [Halloween] was originally part of a Celtic festival. With the influx of Christianity, it got transformed."
In pre-Christian Ireland, the Celtic New Year was celebrated on Oct. 31. This date also marked the end of summer and the onset of a cold, dark winter, called Samhain (pronounced Sow-en).
When Roman Christians began to inhabit the area in the first century AD, also known as the Common Era, Samhain became infused with their traditions. In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved the Christian celebration of All Hallows Day, a term from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day, to Nov.1, creating All Hallow's Eve on Oct. 31, according to www.historychannel.com.
"The veil between the worlds' was at its thinnest," wrote pastor Dennis Rupert of New Life Community Church of Stafford, based on his study of Celtic Mythology. "The dead could communicate with the living." The Celts also believed that all laws of time and space were suspended during this time.
Not wanting to be possessed by the wandering souls, the living dressed in costumes and paraded noisily through villages to scare the spirits away. They also extinguished the fires inside their homes to make them seem uninviting and relit them from the Druidic fire that burned constantly in the Middle of Ireland.
With the lines between living and dead so blurred, divination was much easier and some Druids could tell the future, call upon the dead and even talk with the Devil, according to legends.
On All Hallows Day, Christians begged door-to-door for "soul cakes" made of bread and currants. In exchange, they promised to pray for the souls of the donors' loved ones, thus speeding the souls' entrance into heaven.
"For many of us, our history begins when we're a kid," said Valley anthropology instructor Leanna Wolfe. "Getting dressed up and getting candy. [Halloween] was originally part of a Celtic festival. With the influx of Christianity, it got transformed."
In pre-Christian Ireland, the Celtic New Year was celebrated on Oct. 31. This date also marked the end of summer and the onset of a cold, dark winter, called Samhain (pronounced Sow-en).
When Roman Christians began to inhabit the area in the first century AD, also known as the Common Era, Samhain became infused with their traditions. In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved the Christian celebration of All Hallows Day, a term from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day, to Nov.1, creating All Hallow's Eve on Oct. 31, according to www.historychannel.com.
"The veil between the worlds' was at its thinnest," wrote pastor Dennis Rupert of New Life Community Church of Stafford, based on his study of Celtic Mythology. "The dead could communicate with the living." The Celts also believed that all laws of time and space were suspended during this time.
Not wanting to be possessed by the wandering souls, the living dressed in costumes and paraded noisily through villages to scare the spirits away. They also extinguished the fires inside their homes to make them seem uninviting and relit them from the Druidic fire that burned constantly in the Middle of Ireland.
With the lines between living and dead so blurred, divination was much easier and some Druids could tell the future, call upon the dead and even talk with the Devil, according to legends.
On All Hallows Day, Christians begged door-to-door for "soul cakes" made of bread and currants. In exchange, they promised to pray for the souls of the donors' loved ones, thus speeding the souls' entrance into heaven.
