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pumpkin patches or graveyards? the origins and future of "October" and Halloween

Writer's picture: CIRCLE of FAITH + CIRCLE of LOVECIRCLE of FAITH + CIRCLE of LOVE

What comes to mind when we hit the month of October? You're more likely to answer "Halloween" and you wouldn't be wrong, as that is the celebrated, anticipated holiday of this month. But is it in fact a holiday? It is certainly defined as one - more precisely noted for its pagan and religious roots and secular traditions. Although one may not correlate Halloween with Christian concepts, it is nonetheless thought to have influences stemming from Christian and pre-Christian beliefs and practices.


Halloween, or "All Hallows' Evening," is actually only the prelude to another holiday, All Saints' Day. This Christian holy day, which has its roots in late antiquity, honors all those who have reached heaven. Christians look upon the graves of their dead as having spiritual importance. Christian cemeteries are not final resting places, as testified by the belief in the resurrection of the spirit. Thus in a spirit of celebration, a series of feast days commemorating the holy dead were introduced. These began with an evening vigil, hence All Hallows' Eve (better known as Halloween) followed by All Saint's Day, a Christian solemnity celebrated in honor of all the saints of the Church (still celebrated in Western Christianity) followed by All Souls' Day, also called The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed.


Dates Observed are:


saints
All Saints Day

Although there is so much more to discover about the origins of Halloween, let this brief introduction suffice for the purposes of this entry. In a more non-religious context, the traditions of present day Halloween can also be traced back to ancient Harvest festivals, where a successful fall harvest was celebrated by gifting these seasonal crops (squash, turnip, corn, grains) to children and neighbors. A safe conclusions that trick-or-treating traditions may have been founded this way. In reference to the beliefs of All Hallow's Eve, and the commemoration of resurrected spirits in Heaven, this is inevitably where the misconstrued abstractions of ghosts and haunting presences came about. It is said that people began wearing scary masks or costumes during these Harvest Festivals to ward off ghosts, or the spirits being celebrated on All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day. Because these festivities would primarily take place in corn fields or vast farm lands illuminated by torches and candles, the correlation of scary corn mazes and haunted hay rides, as well as candle-lit carved pumpkins also find justifiable comparisons.

dark cemetery with pumpkins and bats
Halloween Night also known as All Hallow's Eve

... And now that we have skimmed the surface of these interconnected theories, let us discuss when, how and why October 31st has been deemed such a satanic eve. in present times, not much evidence is needed to suggest the desire of glorifying the gruesomeness of what Halloween has become. While there may be nothing sinful about wearing costumes and trick-or- treating, the amplified urge to highlight all things "Dark" is ever so obvious. The massive house decorations creeping up on every street, with 10 foot tall goblins, skeletons, coffins, ghosts, zombies, amputated body parts, blood and gore pretty much says it all. Are these giant grim reapers and demons a reflection of inner sentiments and somber days? The carefully implemented details in transforming one's home into an active cemetery, complete with bloodcurdling shrills, screams, cries, and howls takes creative planning and arduous execution. Has it become a societal norm to eulogize all things dark and scary and do these demonic attributes suggest something more?
















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