After World War I broke out, America pretty much "lost it's innocence and began to grow up". The mentalities of Halloween and other such holidays were skewed, and stopped being celebrated by adults, thus it became a children's holiday. It became a popular tradition for kids to roam the streets at night, but as they did so it began a resurgence of the dark side that had demeaned the holiday in the past. Thus it became known as "Mischief Night."
In the years following WWI, there were many acts of vandalism during the night of Halloween. One year, in 1930s New York, kids broke an estimated 1000 windows in the Queens borough. It wasn't uncommon that the pranks would sometimes be deadly. So, some towns tried different methods to quell the beast. One such town is Anoka Minnesota, who decided it would be a good idea to hold the first American parade/festival on the night of Halloween. It was a success for the most part.
But again, WWII broke out and many Halloween festivals were ignored. Many kids disregarded Halloween at that time, putting most of their time and energy into the war effort (i.e. food or metal scraps). But, after the second great war, came an extreme resurgence in Halloween. Post WWII America, there was a baby boom and such a boom also happened with the Halloween holiday.
To make sure kids went home on time (primarily to avoid vandalism), radio stations would hold prizes to all kids who could get home within 30 minutes of the broadcast. Events like organized trick-or-treating helped subdue Halloween's more mischievous side.
But in 1970s Detroit, this night soon became known as "Devil's Night", as many houses were lit up in flame as simple, but deadly pranks. People began fearing for their lives and the lives of their children and their homes on Halloween. Rumors began to spread that kids were dying because of trick-or-treating because of razor-blades and poison in the treats. And although it was true that razor-blades were found pushed inside apples and poison was found often in candy, many police investigations realized that these were, nine out of ten times, domestic attacks within the family. Still, many parents began accompanying their children in trick-or-treating.
Today, many modern day Neopagans and Wiccans consider Halloween one of their most sacred nights of the year, believing like their Celtic ancestors, that the veil is thinner on this night. Unlike their Celtic ancestors though, they instead invite these dead loved ones and spirits bak from the grave.
Americans today spend a rough estimate of $2.5 billion a year on Halloween, making it the second most expensive holiday. More than half of all homes get decorated, and most kids trick-or-treat. Many dress-up, it's a popular custom to bob for apples, to tell ghost stories and to put faces on pumpkins. Now you know why. Although the past few decades have turned Halloween into a primarily childish holiday, it isn't uncommon for adults to celebrate it now too.
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And that's the origin of Halloween. But wait... what ever will I do for the seventh part tomorrow?
Showing posts with label Origins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Origins. Show all posts
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Origin of Halloween (Part 4)
So, this is my fourth addition to a seven part origin series on Halloween. We've gone over Halloween's most ancient direct ancestor (Samhein), how it became popular in Roman culture, how it affected Christianity, and how it blended with the festivals of Lemuria and Pomona to create 'All Saint's Day'. Well... let's continue!
In the 10th Century C.E, the Catholic Church went even further into allowing pagan traditions to permeate through the seams of Christianity, and created 'All Souls' Day' on November 2. The idea behind it was that All Souls' Day would be a day to remember everyone who had died within the past year, good OR bad, Saint or not. If you remember from Part I, this is a direct appropriation of Samhain tradition. The Celtics were also venerating the dead who had died within the past year.
Overall, the Church was very accepting of most of these pagan traditions by the 10th century. This is, except for one aspect of the Halloween tradition. Witches (from the Old English word 'WICCA' meaning "wise one" and were usually women). Witches and their practices during or around the Halloween time scared the Catholic church the most. They were a symbol of the very worst type of pagan worship (especially during Samhain): direct devil worship. Witches were seen as unruly women who threatened the male/female hierarchy, often known for tapping into the darkest aspects of Halloween.
By the 15th century C.E., Church zealots hunted down many witches and punishments were cruel. But it wasn't until the year 1486 that they were officially outlawed. The Pope at the time, Innocent VIII published a book that produced evidence of the direct link between witchcraft and the devil. He also outlawed all forms of Celtic worship and other Pagans altogether, because of their links to Witchcraft. Witches became hunted all over Europe and if they were found guilty they were hanged or burned at the stake. In fact in 1431, even Joan of Ark was burned at stake.
Witches were portrayed as violent old hags, bent on evil thoughts. Witches were such a symbol of an embodiment of evil, that even some animals became associated with demonic reputations. The black cat, for example, which is highly decorated during Halloween time, came from the belief that the cat was actually the witch's spirit in animal form. If you remember, as was tradition during Samhain, they created bonfires and those bonfires drew mosquitoes. Well, mosquitoes draw bats, and bats draw owls. Thus the bats and owls also became associated with witchcraft and Halloween.
Every culture that celebrates Halloween ends up stamping it's own culture on top of it. A great example of this is is Mexico's Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Unlike the European churches, Mexico's churches encourage the celebration of the dead. Popular customs during the Day of the Dead are the dressing of skeleton dolls and telling ghost stories and picnicking at grave sights. The reason this tradition took off so well was because of pre-existing native-American traditions or ancestor veneration (surprisingly) around the same date as Samhain.
Back to Europe, as the "Holy" Revolution to conquer paganism reached it's peek, the Catholic church would be soon torn from within. On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther posted his famous thesis attacking church doctrines, which launched the Protestant Reformation. This changed the face of Christianity and Halloween forever, rejecting all those symbols that were "against worship of God" including Popes, priests and Saints. Suddenly Halloween, All Hallow's Eve and All Souls' Day became increasingly unpopular.
In November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes (I LOVE THAT NAME) who was a Catholic militant was arrested for attempting to blow up a Protestant dominated House of Lords in the famous Gunpowder Plot. This day, November 5th, is now called Guy Fawkes day and is popularly celebrated as an English holiday. Since it is so close to Halloween, many today celebrate the two together. Some popular traditions during this festival are to burn his effigy (a sculpture or model of the person), and shoot up fireworks.
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Next stop, America.
In the 10th Century C.E, the Catholic Church went even further into allowing pagan traditions to permeate through the seams of Christianity, and created 'All Souls' Day' on November 2. The idea behind it was that All Souls' Day would be a day to remember everyone who had died within the past year, good OR bad, Saint or not. If you remember from Part I, this is a direct appropriation of Samhain tradition. The Celtics were also venerating the dead who had died within the past year.
Overall, the Church was very accepting of most of these pagan traditions by the 10th century. This is, except for one aspect of the Halloween tradition. Witches (from the Old English word 'WICCA' meaning "wise one" and were usually women). Witches and their practices during or around the Halloween time scared the Catholic church the most. They were a symbol of the very worst type of pagan worship (especially during Samhain): direct devil worship. Witches were seen as unruly women who threatened the male/female hierarchy, often known for tapping into the darkest aspects of Halloween.
By the 15th century C.E., Church zealots hunted down many witches and punishments were cruel. But it wasn't until the year 1486 that they were officially outlawed. The Pope at the time, Innocent VIII published a book that produced evidence of the direct link between witchcraft and the devil. He also outlawed all forms of Celtic worship and other Pagans altogether, because of their links to Witchcraft. Witches became hunted all over Europe and if they were found guilty they were hanged or burned at the stake. In fact in 1431, even Joan of Ark was burned at stake.
Witches were portrayed as violent old hags, bent on evil thoughts. Witches were such a symbol of an embodiment of evil, that even some animals became associated with demonic reputations. The black cat, for example, which is highly decorated during Halloween time, came from the belief that the cat was actually the witch's spirit in animal form. If you remember, as was tradition during Samhain, they created bonfires and those bonfires drew mosquitoes. Well, mosquitoes draw bats, and bats draw owls. Thus the bats and owls also became associated with witchcraft and Halloween.
Every culture that celebrates Halloween ends up stamping it's own culture on top of it. A great example of this is is Mexico's Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Unlike the European churches, Mexico's churches encourage the celebration of the dead. Popular customs during the Day of the Dead are the dressing of skeleton dolls and telling ghost stories and picnicking at grave sights. The reason this tradition took off so well was because of pre-existing native-American traditions or ancestor veneration (surprisingly) around the same date as Samhain.
Back to Europe, as the "Holy" Revolution to conquer paganism reached it's peek, the Catholic church would be soon torn from within. On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther posted his famous thesis attacking church doctrines, which launched the Protestant Reformation. This changed the face of Christianity and Halloween forever, rejecting all those symbols that were "against worship of God" including Popes, priests and Saints. Suddenly Halloween, All Hallow's Eve and All Souls' Day became increasingly unpopular.
In November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes (I LOVE THAT NAME) who was a Catholic militant was arrested for attempting to blow up a Protestant dominated House of Lords in the famous Gunpowder Plot. This day, November 5th, is now called Guy Fawkes day and is popularly celebrated as an English holiday. Since it is so close to Halloween, many today celebrate the two together. Some popular traditions during this festival are to burn his effigy (a sculpture or model of the person), and shoot up fireworks.
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Next stop, America.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Origin of Halloween (Part 1)
So, before it's asked of me, no I don't participate in any Halloween celebrations, but yes I've decided to start this lengthy 7 day blogging spree all about it's origins. This is meant to be an informative series of posts, that give you but a glimpse of the worldwide holiday many today now celebrate. So how am I going to break this up? I'm still asking myself the same thing. All I know is what I want to do for the seventh part.
So, I guess I'll go ahead and begin discussing the Celtic festival, Samhain (pronounced Sow-wen), which is Gaelic for "summer's end" and is a far earlier tradition than the "Christian" celebration today. In fact, the Celts were harvesters, so once Winter came around it became a tough time for their survival. Nevertheless, every year on the very night we now recognize as October 31st, the Celts had their Druidic priests pray to their gods for help, so they may be sustained throughout the Winter months. This also had to do with the Sun setting earlier at this time of the year. They thought that, since the gods controlled the Sun, they were showing their power by allowing it to set earlier. This transition was a very magical time for the pagan Celts. Weird things were said to have happened.
The Celts of Ireland believed that on the night of October 31st, the veil between the world of the living and the realm of the spirits was thinnest. They thought that the spirits of those who had died in the past year would awaken from their rest and walk the streets of Celtic villages. Not all of these "spirits" were friendly.
So as to ward off these evil spirits, they performed many rituals to both placate their dead ancestors and appease the gods. Many wore costumes and masks, impersonating the spirits. Others would carve faces into turnips to ward off the more harmful spirits, (much like how scarecrows scare crows, haha). While dressed, many Celts would parade towards the end of their villages with food, trying to coax the spirits from haunting or bringing any harm to their homes. Another custom was to leave food or sweets outside of their homes so that if their dead loved ones payed them visit, they would be at peace. If you didn't treat the spirits, they may decide to "trick" you.
Since the Celts were harvesters, they would thank the gods for their plentiful harvest they received during the Summer months, specifically their earth god Dagda. Doing so, they burnt blood offerings of cows and horses in large bonfires, as a sort of trade for the good food they had been provided. Many would walk in-between two bonfires as a manner of cleansing rituals. They then had the Druids of the villages look over the burnt entrails of the sacrificial offerings, and read the future, as some would read into tea leaves in modern times. Since the boundary of the living world and the spirit world was thinner, they believed the dead would help in the foretelling. The Druids would divine who would die within the next year. These divinations would travel throughout the villages and were told at bonfires and such. This is thought to be the ancient day origins of the now very popular ghost stories told on the very night that Samhain would take place thousands of years ago.
------
If you found this interesting, please note that this is only the first of a seven part origin series that I plan to continue until October 31st. So please stay tuned, or follow the blog... cause you might just learn a little something here or there.
So, I guess I'll go ahead and begin discussing the Celtic festival, Samhain (pronounced Sow-wen), which is Gaelic for "summer's end" and is a far earlier tradition than the "Christian" celebration today. In fact, the Celts were harvesters, so once Winter came around it became a tough time for their survival. Nevertheless, every year on the very night we now recognize as October 31st, the Celts had their Druidic priests pray to their gods for help, so they may be sustained throughout the Winter months. This also had to do with the Sun setting earlier at this time of the year. They thought that, since the gods controlled the Sun, they were showing their power by allowing it to set earlier. This transition was a very magical time for the pagan Celts. Weird things were said to have happened.
The Celts of Ireland believed that on the night of October 31st, the veil between the world of the living and the realm of the spirits was thinnest. They thought that the spirits of those who had died in the past year would awaken from their rest and walk the streets of Celtic villages. Not all of these "spirits" were friendly.
So as to ward off these evil spirits, they performed many rituals to both placate their dead ancestors and appease the gods. Many wore costumes and masks, impersonating the spirits. Others would carve faces into turnips to ward off the more harmful spirits, (much like how scarecrows scare crows, haha). While dressed, many Celts would parade towards the end of their villages with food, trying to coax the spirits from haunting or bringing any harm to their homes. Another custom was to leave food or sweets outside of their homes so that if their dead loved ones payed them visit, they would be at peace. If you didn't treat the spirits, they may decide to "trick" you.
Since the Celts were harvesters, they would thank the gods for their plentiful harvest they received during the Summer months, specifically their earth god Dagda. Doing so, they burnt blood offerings of cows and horses in large bonfires, as a sort of trade for the good food they had been provided. Many would walk in-between two bonfires as a manner of cleansing rituals. They then had the Druids of the villages look over the burnt entrails of the sacrificial offerings, and read the future, as some would read into tea leaves in modern times. Since the boundary of the living world and the spirit world was thinner, they believed the dead would help in the foretelling. The Druids would divine who would die within the next year. These divinations would travel throughout the villages and were told at bonfires and such. This is thought to be the ancient day origins of the now very popular ghost stories told on the very night that Samhain would take place thousands of years ago.
------
If you found this interesting, please note that this is only the first of a seven part origin series that I plan to continue until October 31st. So please stay tuned, or follow the blog... cause you might just learn a little something here or there.
Monday, October 18, 2010
The "Werewolf"
Being the young man that I am, I Love monster movies. Well... not always. I'm a big critic, and many monster flicks today are meant for the general public and tend to have tragically Hollywoodesque storylines.
Anyway, I Love the lore that these monsters are based on. I'm not going to go into too much depth as to how myths about werewolves began, or whatever, but I do want to take a closer look at the name. "Werewolf." We know it literally means man-wolf, but what does the "WERE" come from.
Well, I hadn't ever given it any thought until this one day in a Latin class of mine. We had just learned that the Latin word for man was "VIR". The letter V in Latin is pronounced the exact same way we in English would pronounce the letter W. The rest of the word is pronounced as it would be in the Spanish language, so by rolling the R at the end of VIR it sounds like you're pronouncing "weed".
At this point, it still hadn't clicked to me; the similarity of VIR and WERE. Soon though, a classmate of mine mispronounced vir and said "were". I mulled the two over in my mind a little and after class I asked the teacher if there was any connection. He said he didn't know, but that it would make sense because it meant man-wolf.
Sure enough, there is some connection between vir and were, as I read here. The Old English word for man is "WER", coming directly from a Germanic language. But both the Germanic and Latin origin of the word come from the same family of languages (if I get around to it someday, I'll attempt to cover what exactly the Indo-European language family is).
So yes! There is a connection between the Latin word for man and the monsters we see on tv and read about in books.
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Also brought out in the article were other words that are derived by vir: Virile and virility. Vir can also be a word to describe masculinity, so virile has to do with it's strength. Other words include virtue and virtuous (signs of strength or manliness).
But the really cool thing brought out in this article (besides the origin of the word werewolf) was that our word "world", although hidden over time, literally means "man-age".
Anyway, I Love the lore that these monsters are based on. I'm not going to go into too much depth as to how myths about werewolves began, or whatever, but I do want to take a closer look at the name. "Werewolf." We know it literally means man-wolf, but what does the "WERE" come from.
Well, I hadn't ever given it any thought until this one day in a Latin class of mine. We had just learned that the Latin word for man was "VIR". The letter V in Latin is pronounced the exact same way we in English would pronounce the letter W. The rest of the word is pronounced as it would be in the Spanish language, so by rolling the R at the end of VIR it sounds like you're pronouncing "weed".
At this point, it still hadn't clicked to me; the similarity of VIR and WERE. Soon though, a classmate of mine mispronounced vir and said "were". I mulled the two over in my mind a little and after class I asked the teacher if there was any connection. He said he didn't know, but that it would make sense because it meant man-wolf.
Sure enough, there is some connection between vir and were, as I read here. The Old English word for man is "WER", coming directly from a Germanic language. But both the Germanic and Latin origin of the word come from the same family of languages (if I get around to it someday, I'll attempt to cover what exactly the Indo-European language family is).
So yes! There is a connection between the Latin word for man and the monsters we see on tv and read about in books.
-----
Also brought out in the article were other words that are derived by vir: Virile and virility. Vir can also be a word to describe masculinity, so virile has to do with it's strength. Other words include virtue and virtuous (signs of strength or manliness).
But the really cool thing brought out in this article (besides the origin of the word werewolf) was that our word "world", although hidden over time, literally means "man-age".
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