| Mumbling Vamp it Up » Halloween & 'Day of the Dead' Web |
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| Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday we know as Halloween has had many influences from many cultures over the centuries. From the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days. Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France, lived the Celts. The Celts worshipped nature and had many gods, with the sun god as their favorite. It was "he" who commanded their work and their rest times, and who made the earth beautiful and the crops grow. The Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1st. It was celebrated every year with a festival and marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning of "the season of darkness and cold." On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished. The Druids, the Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). The Druids would light new fires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they danced around the the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin. On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished. The Druids, the Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). The Druids would light new fires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they danced around the the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin. The November 1st festival was called Samhain (pronounced "sow-en"). The festival would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in costumes made from the skins and heads of their animals. This festival would become the first Halloween. During the first century the Romans invaded Britain. They brought with them many of their festivals and customs. One of these was the festival know as Pomona Day, named for their goddess of fruits and gardens. It was also celebrated around the 1st of November. After hundreds of years of Roman rule the customs of the Celtic's Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona Day mixed becoming 1 major fall holiday. The next influence came with the spread of the new Christian religion throughout Europe and Britain. In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church would make November 1st a church holiday to honor all the saints. This day was called All Saint's Day, or Hallowmas, or All Hallows. Years later the Church would make November 2nd a holy day. It was called All Souls Day and was to honor the dead. It was celebrated with big bonfires, parades, and people dressing up as saints, angels and devils. But the spread of Christianity did not make people forget their early customs. On the eve of All Hallows, Oct. 31, people continued to celebrate the festivals of Samhain and Pomona Day. Over the years the customs from all these holidays mixed. October 31st became known as All Hallow Even, eventually All Hallow's Eve, Hallowe'en, and then - Halloween. The Halloween we celebrate today includes all of these influences, Pomona Day's apples, nuts, and harvest, the Festival of Samhain's black cats, magic, evil spirits and death, and the ghosts, skeletons and skulls from All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day. |
| Witches and Warlocks have had a long history with Halloween. Legends tell of witches gathering twice a year when the seasons changed, on April 30 - the eve of May Day and the other was on the eve of October 31 - All Hallow's Eve. The witches would gather on these nights, arriving on broomsticks, to celebrate a party hosted by the devil. Superstitions told of witches casting spells on unsuspecting people, transform themselves into different forms and causing other magical mischief. It was said that to meet a witch you had to put your clothes on wrong side out and you had to walk backwards on Halloween night. Then at midnight you would see a witch. When the early settlers came to America, they brought along their belief in witches. In American the legends of witches spread and mixed with the beliefs of others, the Native Americans - who also believed in witches, and then later with the black magic beliefs of the African slaves. The black cat has long been associated with witches. Many superstitions have evolved about cats. It was believed that witches could change into cats. Some people also believed that cats were the spirits of the dead. One of the best known superstitions is that of the black cat. If a black cat was to cross your path you would have to turn around and go back because many people believe if you continued bad luck would strike you. |
| The custom of trick-or-treating originated with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, people would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. The National Confectioners Association estimates that for Halloween 2000, a whopping one billion nine hundred fifty-three million dollars will be spent on candy. 80% of children say their favorite Trick or Treat candy is either chocolate or gum. |
| Turnip-O-Lantern The Jack-o-lantern custom comes from Irish folklore. Originally the Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" but found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips in America. |
| Halloween online magazine Halloween ghost stories Wanda's Halloween Cookbook Halloween on the Web The Cavern of Halloween Clipart 101 ideas for Halloween Halloween Caverns of Blood Creaky Door |
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![[ Los Dias De Los Muertos Statue ]](http://www.oocities.org/starlites_haven/demonstatue.jpg) |
| From the beginning of time, man has felt the need to explain the mystery of life and death. Many civilizations and cultures have created rituals to try and give meaning to human existence. To the indigenous peoples of Mexico, death was considered the passage to a new life and so the deceased were buried with many of their personal objects, which they would need in the after life. Many times even their pets were sacrificed so they would accompany their masters on their long journey. Since pre Columbian times, El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead has been celebrated in Mexico, as in other Latin countries. It is a traditional Mexico holiday honoring the dead. It is celebrated every year at the same time as Halloween and the Christian holy days of All Saints Day and All Souls Day (November 1st and 2nd). Sometimes, when people of other cultures hear for the first time about the celebration of the Day of the Dead, they mistakenly think it must be: gruesome, terrifying, scary, ugly and sad. Nothing further from the truth, Day of the Dead is a beautiful ritual in which Mexicans happily and lovingly remember their relatives that have died. Much like when we go to a graveyard to leave some lovely flowers on a tomb of a relative. On November 1st and 2nd Mexico celebrates the Day of the Dead, but the community begins preparations for the great fiesta of Los Dias de Muertos in late October. |
| Town squares fill up with stands that offer colourful figures allusive to death, many made from sugar. Skeletons and skulls are found everywhere. Chocolate skulls, marzipan coffins, and white chocolate skeletons. Handmade skeleton figurines, called calacas, are especially popular. Calacas usually show an active and joyful afterlife. Figures of musicians, generals on horseback, even skeletal brides, in their white bridal gowns marching down the aisles with their boney grooms. Markets bloom with the cempasuchil flower (orange marigold), which was the same flower the Aztecs used to remember their dead by. The orange colour represents the tones of earth and is used to guide the souls to their homes and altars. Bakeries offer Pan de Muertos, Day of the Dead bread. The bread is adorned with strips of dough made to look like bones and at the top a small round piece of dough that symbolises teardrops. These breads are placed on the altars or ofrendas, and are also taken to the tombs in the graveyard. By October 31st houses and shops are decorated with cempasuchil flowers and fruits. |
| In the homes families arrange ofrenda's or "altars" with flowers, bread, fruit and candy. Pictures of the deceased family members are added. In the late afternoon special all night burning candles are lit - it is time to remember the departed - the old ones, their parents and grandparents. The morning of November 1st celebrates the little angels or angelitos; the children that died and that could never experience the happiness and sorrows of adulthood. |
![[ Los Dias De Los Muertos Cemetery ]](http://www.oocities.org/starlites_haven/cemetery.jpg) |
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| Usually Mass will be attended, followed by a visit to the graveyard to clean, weed, and decorate the tombs. They bring with them flowers, bread and fruits in baskets covered with napkins that they embroidered themselves, as well as the copal, incense, that they will burn so that the aroma will help guide the returning souls. By nightfall stages have been erected in the main square for folkdancing and celebrations which last through until midnight. The townspeople dress up as ghouls, ghosts, mummies and skeletons and parade through the town carrying an open coffin. The "corpse" within smiles as it is carried through the narrow streets of town. The local vendors toss oranges inside as the procession makes its way past their markets. Lucky "corpses" can also catch flowers, fruits, and candies. Midnight is the hour that living and dead are reunited. Returning to the tombs of relatives, it is usually the women and children who will chant prayers, light candles, sing songs, all in an appeal for the eternal rest of the souls and for the happiness of the living. |
| Common Misconceptions It is not the Mexican version of Halloween. Mexicans have celebrated the Day of the Dead since the year 1800 B.C. It is not scary or morbid. There are no images of dead people, ghosts, witches, or the devil. It is not a cult. This ritual has nothing to do with cults. It is a Catholic Christian ritual intermixed with folk culture. Going to mass is an essential aspect of this celebration. It doesn’t honor death, but our dead relatives. We welcome the opportunity to reflect upon our lives, our heritage, our ancestors and the meaning and purpose of our own existence. Altars or ofrendas are not for worshiping but for offering our love and remembering our departed family members. It is not a sad ritual. It’s a day of happiness because we will be remembering our loved ones. Although when in the graveyard, people assume an introspective attitude. It is about Love not Fear. It is not a “strange” ritual. It is very similar to going to a grave and leaving flowers or stuffed animals, lighting a candle to remember the defunct. It is not a careless or fearless confrontation of death. It is a moment to reflect upon one’s life and the cycle of life and death. |