Today’s message deals with the origin of Halloween and may not
contain anything that is Christian, but it set us up for tomorrow which we will
talk about the biblical significance and such and then move on to how to outreach
to people on this holiday.
Halloween as we know it today in America is made up of
ancient traditions and new aspects of things done to celebrate this holiday. In
the west, the traditions of Halloween date back thousands of years to a festival that is of Celtic origin. The
name of the festival was Samhain pronounced Soo-when or Sawen. It was the
festival that celebrate the new year and by which it is called means summers
end. This festival which they celebrated marked the coming of winter and the
close of the summer which is the time when they had harvest.
The belief during this time for the celts was that world was
thinnest between the living and the dead. This meant that the dead could come
back and be like they had before. Also, the people who died who had not
ascended yet could do so at this time and be seen and talk with the living.
The festival was also
to include sticking up things they needed for the winter, killing cattle, and
disposing of bones by fire that is how we got the name bonfire. While all this
was happening, they were all gathered of communities together drinking and
feasting, while all the while they were aware that people from the other side
could come and join the party.
That is the origin of Halloween, and it came to be like we know it today. Well as for candy and costumes and such I am not sure when those came into practice. But I can image there were form of those back then. Many cultures have something similar to this festival that I read. But from all that I read this is the origin of Halloween as we know it.
Starting with this holiday then the rest we will first look at the history of the holiday then move on to biblical significance and such then move on to how to outreach to people on the holiday.
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