Wednesday, October 26, 2011

History of Halloween

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/10/26/18695229.php
History of Halloween
by Ted Rudow III, MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com ) Wednesday Oct 26th, 2011
The true name of Halloween is “Samhain.” This was the Celtic Lord of the Dead. For 3 days from Oct 29-31, the Celtic people, along with their priestly class called Druids, would hold an ancient rite which would mark the beginning and the end of the year. A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age. Very little is currently known about the ancient druids because they left no written accounts about themselves. The druids then also appear in some of the medieval tales from Christianised Ireland like the Táin Bó Cúailnge, where they are largely portrayed as sorcerers who opposed the coming of Christianity. Usually a week before the rites of Samhain began, the Druid had ordered the people of the Celtic tribe to disperse throughout the countryside and gather thousands of wicker reed.This is a very strong and durable stick. Wicker furniture has been made from it and most of us are familiar with it. They would then construct a giant human effigy that would stand from 30 to 50 feet, as the Wicker Man. A wicker man was a large wicker statue of a human used by the ancient Druids (priests of Celtic paganism) for human sacrifice by burning it in effigy, according to Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico In modern times the figure has been adopted for festivals as part of some neopagan-themed ceremonies, notably without the human sacrifice element. Many cages had been built within it. Each prisoner would be tied to one of the cages.Then the Druids began their idea of fun and games. Yet, I have seen many Christian churches throughout this nation hold Halloween Parties within the church building. Every single one of these things is directly from the celebration of Samhain. You are simply trying to turn something evil into something good!
Ted Rudow III,MA

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