I found this article interesting:
Surprise: Halloween's Not a Pagan Festival After All
The Origins of Halloween...
by drew sagan 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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drew sagan
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BlackSwan of Memphis
just another perspective
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5go
It is and is not a pagan holiday.
All it is to me is a fall festival.
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Gopher
Cult legend alert:
When I was a JW, I heard that Halloween originated as a commemoration of the Nephilim who died during the flood, which supposedly happened in the middle of autumn in the northern hemisphere.
Can't remember if I heard that on stage, but I don't remember seeing it in a publication.
This theory of Halloween's origin is a streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch.
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eclipse
After reading that article, I would have to agree with gopher.
It sounds like,
''Well, we made it up (*cough*liars*cough*) so it's christian and perfectly ok to celebrate in order that we can have our children in on the fun and not have to keep them inside like those Jehovah freaks do''
But that is just my take on it.
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freeme
isnt everything pagan which comes from any religion/cult/whatever which is not the jws?
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bigdreaux
freeme, everything except wedding rings. oh, no, wait, that is proven pagen, but, j.w.'s use them anyway!!!!!!!
i love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning. it's the smell of..........victory
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lonelysheep
Halloween is very much pagan in origin (as is the rest of our culture).
It began around the year 800 in the area of Ireland, France and Great Britian. The name is taken from the Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced sow-in), where fires were burned to mark a sacred day. Celtic Priests/Druids celebrated the day the dead were believed to be walking among the living (October 31st).
Samhain (sow-in) marked the beginning of winter, and a time when the dead could be communicated with, which was a good thing, as they were honored rather than feared. The spread of Christianity during this century brought about All Saint’s Day – celebrated November1st, the day after Halloween, and is believed to have been designated such to replace Halloween, which was considered evil, and instead, set to celebrate saints and martyrs.
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WTWizard
To the Watchtower Society, anything that breaks up the monotony is linked to some pagan event (and some pagan event happened on each of the 365 days, so anything can be "pagan"). To them, the service year starts on September 1, and everyone had better get their butts out in service and spend whole days every day out there. This blurs with the special boasting sessions, leading to the Crapmorial, to the summer boasting session, and back to starting point. No holidays aside the special boasting sessions and the Crapmorial are to be observed.
In reality, fall is full of perfectly safe (when not abused) fun. Starting when children go back to school, there are plenty of fall events. It all starts with the harvest, which occurs early in the north and later in the south. While they are enjoying the harvest and the leaves in the north, they are enjoying cooler weather in the south. September is the time to get that last harvest in, if you are in the north (it also marks the beginning of enjoyable temperatures further south).
Later, you get Columbus Day. While few observe Columbus, most of us get the day off from work. This in turn allows for multi-day trips that weekend. Some enjoy one last cookout before it gets too cold. Farther south, the weather is now allowing children to play without being too hot. Harvest and fall foliage are in high gear in northern latitudes now (in some southern climates, it goes year round or ends much later).
Halloween is a natural progression. Children get to go out trick or treating this time of year, and Jehovah's Witlesses are the ones that have to be home-but-hiding when the worldly children knock on their doors. It is a day of harmless fun, as the jack-o'lanterns are lit. Many Halloween lights have been showing up in recent years, and yards are decorated in Halloween attire. Fall foliage is in peak condition in many parts of the country, and the garden is usually past prime (unless you live south of Pennsylvania or along the seacoast, where you are probably getting it all in about now). Pumpkins are decorated nicely now, and many will be made into pies in another month or so. The only thing wrong is when people abuse it by vandalizing people's property or by drinking and driving.
Later, you get into Thanksgiving. By now, it is starting to get quite cold in the north, and often snow has fallen. Farther south, the gardens are winding down now. This is when the bounty of the harvest is celebrated, hence thanksgiving. There is the traditional parade (if it hasn't been ruined by politicians seeking another venue for attention getting). Football is in full swing, and children are often getting ready for winter fun. Often, there is the disappointment of having it not snow, or having about 2" of snow and then it all melts. But the fun is the meal--the abuses are eating too much (you will usually get sick if you do, and one can get fat) and drinking and driving.
Following this, we all know the mad dash of Christmas. Despite advice to get the Christmas shopping done early, nearly everyone waits until now to get started. The fun of decorating for Christmas begins, and Christmas carols are widespread. There is the break in school from all this activity (that the Witlesses miss out on), and the routine of baking all those pies, cookies, and getting the Christmas turkey or ham (or whatever you generally eat on Christmas day). It is fun to decorate stepwise, getting one or two items per day out until the middle of December, when it should be pretty much done. And we all know the snow scene: often people are speculating on a white Christmas. In the north, it is much more likely. Farther south, it is still quite warm but not the hot, muggy stuff that they usually get all summer.
Then, it happens. December 25 comes. Children are off from school. Presents are opened, and everyone enjoys their new toys. The Christmas tree is lit. Often, it is snowy and the sleds come out. This is often the one day when everyone gets together, and people get to enjoy the break. This is true whether one is honoring a religious holiday or just taking advantage of the day off to celebrate a secular version. It is also one last time to have fun before New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, when the party is finished and the new years resolutions are supposed to take effect.
However you view it, none of this is pagan. People just like to have fun, and no matter when, the Watchtower Society can dig up something about how it has pagan origins. The best thing to do is to just enjoy it regardless of what it meant 2000+ years ago. We have LED candles for pumpkins (no fires started with those), LED Christmas lights (they didn't have Christmas lights at all in Christ's day), deep fryers for turkeys (which I do not recommend because they add too many calories and may be a fire or burn hazard), Christmas shopping in ways not imaginable back then, and polyethylene Halloween costumes that used to not exist. Just be prepared for it, have fun, and as always do not drink and drive.
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diamondblue1974
I think before you give any credance to this article you need to consider the source, personally I think because he holds Christian beliefs he is seeking some justification for his own or his families observance of Halloween and therefore is seeking to conveniently debunk the holiday as being a pagan festival.
The writer suggests the Celts celebrated a 'minor' festival called Samhuinn - the festival was never minor - in my view it is the pagan new year where the veil between the physical world and the spiritual are at their thinnest. His attempt to minimise the pagan element is transparent in my view and is a blatant attempt at self denial. Whilst there is a school of thought that casts some doubt on it actually being considered the celtic new year, it was certainly regarded as 'Summers End' and so therefore again, was never minor. It is also the festival of the last harvest where the fruits of everyones labour was to be stored for the winter and where it was decided what animals would be slaughtered. Ancestors were also honoured at such times, and much divination took/takes place.
In the pagan calendar it is one of the most important times of year as the pagan God is killed to be reborn at Yule - this is also the time where the Goddess goes into mourning and leaves the world in darkness.
Most of the elements of Halloween have their origins in Samhuinn or paganism in general, the costumes, the jack o lantern, apple bobbing and so forth. How anyone can suggest it is of Christian origin is beyond me - especially when Paganism and Pagan Festivals pre date Christianity.
Very poor article in my view - extremely biased, inaccurate and totally misleading!
Gary