Halloween.doc

HALLOWEEN

Halloween is celebrated annually. But just how and when did his peculiar custom originate? Is it, as some claim, a kind of demon worship? Or is it just a harmless ancient pagan ritual?

The word itself, “Halloween,” actually has its origins in the Catholic Church.
It comes from a contracted name of All Hallows Eve. November 1, “All Hallows Day”
(or “All Saints Day”), is a Catholic holiday in honour of saints. But in the 5th century BC,
in Celtic Ireland, October 31 was the official end of summer. One story says that, on that day, the spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back
in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope
for afterlife. The Celts believed that usual laws of space and time did not work during this time, allowing the spirit world to mix with the living.

Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So, on the night
of October 31, villagers extinguished the fires in their homes, to make them cold
and undesirable. They then dressed up in scary costumes and noisily paraded around the neighbourhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten the spirits away.

The Romans adopted the Celtic practices as their own. But over time they changed to become more ritualised. As belief in spirits possession was slowly disappearing, the practice of dressing up like hobgoblins, ghosts, and witches took on a more ceremonial role.

The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians walked from village to village asking for “soul cakes,” made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars received, the more prayers they promised to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the givers.

So, although some evil cults may have adopted Halloween as their favourite “holiday,” the day itself did not grow out of evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new year, and out of Medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. And today, it is only as evil as one cares to make it.

Halloween jest obchodzone co roku. Ale jak I kiedy ten zwyczaj powstał? Czy to, jak twierdzą niektórzy, rodzaj oddawania czci demonom? Czy jest to tylko nieszkodliwy dawny pogański rytuał?

Samo słowo „Halloween” właściwie ma początek w kościele katolickim. Pochodzi ze skróconej nazwy wigilii Wszystkich Świętych. Pierwszego listopada, dzień Wszystkich Świętych, jest świętem obchodzonym ku czci świętych. Ale w piątym wieku przed naszą erą na celtyckiej wyspie, 31 października był oficjalnym końcem lata. Jedna z historii mówi, że tego dnia dusze wszystkich, którzy zmarli w ciągu ubiegłego roku wracają, w poszukiwaniu żywych ciał, żeby je posiąść na najbliższy rok. Wierzono, że jest to ich jedyna nadzieja na życie wieczne. Celtowie wierzyli, że zwykłe prawa przestrzeni i czasu nie obowiązują tego dnia, pozwalając światu duchowemu mieszać się z żyjącymi.