Looking forward to Halloween night is one of my fondest childhood memories. I would sneak up and dip into the large candy bowl that my mother sat by the front door. This was for all of the other little ghosts and goblins that would soon come knocking with the familiar "Trick or Treat".  I, of course, needed to test out the candy first before I went out into the night to begin my journey up and down the blocks of the neighborhood, doing the same. My mother and father would decorate the house (Inside & Out) with all of the favored goodies such as, carved pumpkins and spooky ornaments that they saved from year to year. They would place these carefully near the front door and turn the porch light on to let the children know that they were welcome.

Getting ready was the very best part of the whole evening... Every year my parents would dress me up in whatever ghost, fairy, princess, or witch costume that I decided that I wanted. Those special times with my parents and their undivided attention to me is something that I will always cherish. They have since passed, but these memories bring them back to me as if it were yesterday...The laughter and simple family fun back then was something out of the "Happy Days" TV show, when life was much more simple.

One of my parents would stay home and greet all of the trick or treaters, while the other one would walk me up and down the blocks of our small town, door to door.  I would get my brown paper sack filled to the brim with hand fulls of yummy candy, homemade candy apples, small trinkets, popcorn balls and some store bought candy.

After the long fun filled evening was over and my poor little legs were worn out from all of the walking, we would come home and empty my sack filled with goodies out on the kitchen table...Then the feast was on !  Everyone picked out their favorites and ate candy and yummy homemade morsels until we had our fill.

Mom would clean all of the makeup off of my little face and would get me set up in my pajamas for the night. I would give them both a kiss good night and off to bed I would go, looking forward to my warm blankets and soft pillow. Hmmmmm, those were the days, fantasy was in the air and off to dreamworld I would go......

Now back to today, wonderful trip back in time wasn't it? I relived this all over again, year after year, with my own children. They hopefully will also have cherished memories to hold close to their hearts, as I do, of their youth & family closeness. Each individual family has their own way of bringing closeness and creating memories through Holidays of all types.

Celebrations such as these originally began with the ancient tribal communities from the dawn of civilization. Gatherings were facilitated to bring the tribes together to give thanks for the many blessings that mother earth bestowed upon them throughout the year.  They gave names to certain times of the year and revered them as holy days.

The Pagan Sabbat called Samhain (Halloween)  marks the end of the third & final harvest, it is a day to commune with and remember the dead, and it is a celebration of the eternal cycle of reincarnation. It also marks the end of summer and the beginning of winter. The day after Samhaim is also the official date of the Celtic New Year. The reason this day was chosen as their New Year is because the sun is at its lowest point on the horizon as measured by the ancient standing stones of Britain & Ireland.

In tradition Samhain is the night when the old god dies, and the crone goddess mourns him deeply for the next 6 weeks. The Halloween image of the scarey old witch or hag stirring her caldron is a mistranslation of the Celtic crone goddess. The celts believed that the caldron is a representation that all dead souls return to her caldron of life, death, and rebirth to await reincarnation, not a pot full of poison apples and magical brews.

The crone goddess has become an object of fear in modern societies, but this was not the way our pagan ancesters viewed her. The crone was revered as a woman of great power, with much wisdom and knowledge because of her great age. She represented the grandmother and the eternal womb of rebirth. Her caldron represented the great cosmic womb in which all things are conceived, grown, and are born. The caldron is also a representation of the cup or chalice, which also is connected with the element of water (emotion).

Samhaim is most widely known today as Halloween which means "Hallowed Evening". The church attempted to turn it into  an observance of feasting and prayer for their vast pantheon of saints. The church first began calling it Michaelmas, the feast of St. Michael. Then it was renamed the Eve of All Saints or All Hallows Eve, which precedes All Saint's Day, and is still one of the holiest days in Catholicism.

Because of the lore and practice which remained in the popular pagan culture, the church was finally forced to turn Samhain into a night boiling with evil spirits, full of fear. According to the church, these horrible creatures came out only when the morning broke on All Saints Day to the ringing of the church bells.

When the church came against paganism and its deities, there was a successful campaign of fear concerning Samhaim. Unfortunately the idea of Samhaim being a horrible night of evil took hold in the collective mind, and now it represents a night of mayhem. Our present day Jack-O-Lanterns were originally various vegetables carved with a candle placed inside. They were used to scare the evil spirits and ward off any negativity away from their homes  

In order for the masses of the pagan community to be converted to the Catholic church, the Pope ordered that these two Holiday practices needed to be blended. Therefore you can see some of the similarities and how they have come under the blanket of popularity known as Halloween in our present culture.

Halloween has been blended to such an extent, that if studied further, you will find that the origin comes from our ancient ancesters, and was founded on earth based belief systems, not Christianity. With further study, you will find that many of the Christian holidays practiced today also originated from ancient pagan rituals.

Holidays are times for us to gather together and celebrate life . My attempt here is to bring some of "herstory" back to the present with understanding of the origins of our celebrations. Holidays should be a time to spend special moments with family and friends. To celebrate our place here on earth with each other and to be thankful for the goodness and blessings that we have in our lives. We need to acknowledge Mother Earth and give thanks for the beauty that she provides so freely to us throughout our time spent here.

May your Halloween eve bring much joy and family fun to you and yours. 

 

Written with love

By: Astoria

©2007 Empower U Enterprises, Inc.