Halloween derived from an ancient holiday called Sowan that was celebrated by the druids. It was to mark the end of harvest. Also it is said at that time the veil between the two worlds, living and dead, would become smaller and you could speak to your dead ancestors and loved ones. it also meant good spirts could visit us as well as the bad so the druids would carry skulls and carve skulls into turnips and stick them on giant sticks then light them on fire they would pray to thier gods to protect them from the evil ones and pray for a pleantiful harvest next year.
Now the activites
first
Trick or Treating- there are 2 old traditons that sound alot like trick or treating the first was called Souling, a begger or a poor person would go door to door at the time of sowan and ask for food, cakes bread and such, in return for the food they would pray for the dead ancestors of who ever gave them food. If not the did not pray. This traditon is alot more pleasant than the next.
The second sounds alot like trick or treating
Now what would happen is everyone in the community would bake a special dish and share it with thier neighbors like a big pot luck dinner but this was also a way of weigh out if u were a bad or good person if u gave something good u were a good person but if you made something bad u were a bad person and u were given a trick and back then a trick was something to avoid because most of the time i could cost you your life.
moving on
the jack-o-lantern: this is the irish tale of the first Jack-o-lantern
There was a man named Jack he was a great prankster and one night he decided to go out into the wood with a turnip lantern to guide him there he found the devil Jack tricked the devil into climbing up a tree the devil got stuck and couldn't get down. Having tricked his victim he headed of but the devil had the last laugh he placed a curse on jack so jack would wander in the darkness for eternity with nothing to guide him but that little turnip lantern.
now when the irish immagrnts came to America they brought this with them and since pumpkins r more plentiful in America than turnips it turned to pumpkin lanterns and not turnips.
bobbing for apples
for this activity we go back to the druids this activity was also proformed during Sowan. what happend was All the young un-married people in the villege would meet and apples would be tied to a branch from a tree each would pair off boy and girl and try to catch a dnagling apple the first to bite an apple would be the first to marry.
the reason they used apples is b/c the apple is a symbol of love and passion.
costumes:
r the equivelent of the carved turnips people dressed up to scare off bad spirits and protect themselves
thats all i can recall for know if i find or rember any more i'll write em down.
View User's Journal
Gray Ramblings
 |
