You may call October 31st Halloween, but others call it Samhain. (sow-en)
Samhain is one of the "high holy days" for Pagans and Wiccans. It is a day to celebrate the Harvest and to honor ancestors. It is a day when the veil between the world of the living and the dead is at its thinnest. It is also the Witches New Year.
The Catholic Church, in its push to defeat the "Pagans" and bring Christianity to the world decided in the 8th century (C.E.) to make November 1st All Saints Day. A day to celebrate the dead Saints and to eradicate the Pagan celebration which was already being celebrated on that day. It was originally named All Hallows, to show it was to honor the holy ones who were gone. They hoped to replace the Pagan celebration with a celebration the church sanctioned. (They did this with many Pagan holidays: Christmas was to replace the Yule celebration, Easter in exchange for Beltane.) This was a practice the Church had learned from Rome. Whenever the Empire conquered a new land, they adopted the Gods of that country into their pantheon.
Christianity was successful at establishing roots and becoming the religion of the masses, but it was never successful at eradicating Samhain. People still carved out frightening faces on gourds to frighten away evil spirits, they still wore masks to keep the spirits from recognizing them.
Nowadays, we dress our children in costumes, cute or frightening, depending on the age and taste of the child, and take them door-to-door for our friends and neighbors to fill a pillowcase with candy. It is the children's harvest.
Enjoy the fruits of autumn, but beware passing grave yards on All Hallows. Remember, it is the night the spirits walk around, looking for their loved ones.
There is a Barnes & Noble gift certificate waiting for a lucky person. Be sure to leave your comments along with your email address in the comment box.
Please be sure to visit all the participating blogs, to increase your chance to win. Each blog is unique. Some have fun flash fiction, personal stories, one of the blogs even has Halloween music.
October 22, 2012
Terri Rochenski -http://www.terrirochenski.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Eaton - http://www.jennifermeaton.com/
Ceri Hebert - http://cerihebert.wordpress.com/
October 23, 2012
Liv Rancourt - http://www.livrancourt.com
Denise Moncrief - http://denisemoncrief.blogspot.com/
Dani-Lyn Alexander -http://www.danilynalexander.com/blog.html
October 24, 2012
Mackenzie Crowne - http://mackenziecrowne.com/
Maggie Devine - http://maggiedevine.blogspot.com/
Liberty Blake - http://libertysspells.blogspot.com/
October 25, 2012
Darlene Henderson - http://dandwh.wordpress.com/
Em Epe - http://www.emeperomances.blogspot.com/
Clara Waibel - http://www.pomadness.blogspot.com/
Still Moments is giving away three grand prizes. Just leave a comment below and you'll be entered into a drawing for a beautiful handmade piece of jewelry and one of the books published by Still Moments. Three lucky winners will be selected from ALL the comments left on ALL the blogs in the hop. Please be sure to leave your email address in your comment below, so we will know how to contact you if you win!
The last few days I blogspot has been giving me fits and not posting comments. If you have any problems posting your comments here, please past them on my FB page. https://www.facebook.com/liberty.blake.3?fref=ts
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Great post Liberty !!!! I learned something new today about Halloween :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post - very informative. I didn't know Halloween is the witch's new year OR that the veil is thinnest that day. Scary.
ReplyDeleteWow! You have just given me a great idea for a new historical romance Liberty. That is some interesting information you have there!
ReplyDeleteVery cool info, Liberty, although, the idea of spirits walking around looking for their loved ones give me the creeps. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAs always, Liberty, I love your blog!!! Hearing the story of how Samhain really began has always been a favorite story of mine. I think we all love halloween because of the scary aspects of ghouls and goblins, ghosts and monsters. But many people do not know how Samhain really started ~ Keep posting these wonderful facts at Liberty's Spells!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post. There are so many stories having to do with halloween. A lot of people look down on it, but I think they miss the idea of having a good time.
ReplyDeleteUseful info. Lucky me I discovered your sitee accidentally, and I am stunned why thks accident didn't came about
ReplyDeletein advance! I boookmarked it.
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