Okay, I admit this time of year is a guilty pleasure of mine, with the changing of the seasons. The crisp cool days and evenings let you cook hearty healthy meals that fill the home with such sumptuous, delicious smells. It’s the time of year for hot apple cider, pumpkins and families that get together. Harvest time used to be a time when all the hard work of the year was being stored up for the long cold months of winter.
We recently had the pleasure of hearing: “Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat.” Why do we say this? Where did this tradition come from? What is the reason for our dressing up, and the pumpkins that we carve? Who originally came up with this celebration and why? Let’s not forget the all-important slasher movies and TV specials. Although many people feel Halloween is not a holiday and should not be celebrated, I believe it is a holiday, because it is steeped in tradition, truly an American holiday, and a social revelry of merriment that everyone can enjoy.
Murray Hope explains on Joelle's Sacred Grove Entrance website, that this ancient holiday celebration began with the Celts (people of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England) approximately in the 5th century BCE. After the occupation of the British Isle’s many of the Roman pagan ways were added to this celebration such as their Goddess of harvest, Pomona whose sacred fruit is the apple. It is believed that this is why we celebrate the festivities with apple cider, bobbing for apples and candy apples (Wolf). This all lasted until Christianity decided to convert all pagans, and incorporated many of their holidays into the churches calendar. Pope Gregory IV was the first to try combining pagan ways within the Church so he crea...
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...ngest Holidays." Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. 28 Sept.
2007. Web. October 8, 2010.
Schaadt, Robert L. "Bats and Halloween - The Vindicator: News." The Vindicator: The Oldest Continuously Printing News Source in South Liberty County since 1887. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.
"Should Christians Participate in Halloween? - ChristianAnswers.Net." Christian Answers® Network™ (ChristianAnswers.Net): Multilingual Answers, Reviews, Ministry Resources, and More! [Home]. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.
Skal, David J. Death Makes a Holiday. New York: Bloomsbury, 2002. Print.
"Unusual Pumpkin Facts." Pumpkin Patch - Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About
Pumpkins! Web. October 8, 2010.
Wolf, Spring. "The Pagan's Path ~ Witchcraft & Shamanism - The History Of Samhain /
Halloween." The Pagan's Path ~ Education Network. 13 Oct. 2009. Web. October 8,
2010.
Wilborn, Bruce K.. Witches' craft: a multidenominational Wicca bible. New York: Skyhorse Pub., 2011. Print.
One of Magliocco's main arguments is that these Neo-Pagan cults all have roots in both anthropology and folklore in their early development. Magliocco offers a detailed historical analysis and examines influences found all the way back to classical traditions. She concludes this analysis by bringing her reader back to the contemporary and offers us insight into how both the fields of anthropology and folklore have helped shape Neo-Paganism into what it has become today.
The poem “Halloween” does such a great job at conveying that image of trick or treating. This poem takes into account the nostalgic feeling one gets when looking back at past memories such as this. Going door to door dressed in your favorite outfit. The use of imagery is so strong it is easy to be right there almost as if it were yesterday. The poet Mac Hammond writes “Kids come, beckoned by / Fingers of shadows on leaf-strewn lawns / To trick or treat” (15-17). This goes on to describe the pull and excitement a child gets when arriving at a house. The shadows of the owners Halloween decorations are cast onto the fall lawn, calling children to the front door. Not only does this give the reader an image of the fall weather, but of the Halloween decorations on someone’s house. Children tend to be drawn towards homes with decorations because it feels more welcoming. Therefore, this is where the beckoning feeling comes from. Not only does Hammond do a wonderful job by using imagery, but also the sound personified in this poem is
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. “Wicca.” The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft & Wicca. 3rd ed. 2012. Print.
Guiley, Rosemary E. Witches and Wiccans. New York: Chelsea House, 2008. Print. Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena.
When I learned that I would have to do my ethnographic report on what I did during Halloween, I was worried because I live in Turnpike and the most excitement that happens in turnpike is the sound of the garbage truck when it comes to pick up the Wednesday trash. Fortunately something did happen to me and I realized I would not have to write a boring paper of how I woke up and just stayed in my room the whole day. Well the day started off with me waking up and walking to the bathroom to take a shower, as soon as the turned the water on I realized I had left my shower and rather than turning off my shower I stayed in because the warmth of the hot water was too seductive for me to get out and get my towel. In the shower I had my usual thoughts about life, death, and comebacks to old arguments. Afterword I got out of my shower and reached for my toothbrush, which was located in a cupboard behind the toilet, but I grabbed at it too quickly and it fell in the toilet. I stood over my toilet for about five minutes just staring at my toothbrush in the toilet not believing what just happened, after that I started blaming myself for being too impatient. When I was done feeling sorry for myself I went into my room in search of another toothbrush but unluckily I couldn’t find one, so I had to go walk to the local store at around 7:30 in search of a toothbrush. While searching for a replacement toothbrush I realized that not that many people were in the store, I had always thought that stores were busiest in the morning and evening but apparently that’s not true. Once I got my new toothbrush I finished brushing, got dressed and went to catch the 11 to the Transit Center.
Late autumn has arrived and with it comes the dark magic of Halloween--and, of course, the
"History of Paganism and Wicca." History of Paganism and Wicca. N.p., 2012. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
The History of ThanksgivingTopic: The History of ThanksgivingQuestion: What is the origin of Thanksgiving?Thesis: The History of Thanksgiving goes far back to 1621 when the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared a harvest feast, which was the first Thanksgiving meal.September of 1620, a ship known as the Mayflower left Plymouth, England transporting over 100 passengers. These passengers were religious separatists and were seeking refuge in a new territory. Originally, they were headed to the Hudson River in New York, but due to erratic weather such as severe thunderstorms, they ended up in Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts.1 They were greeted by the local Wampanoag Indian tribe, who befriended the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and brought them corn and turkey for the first Thanksgiving.2 They also offered them a bountiful harvest of Indian breads, seeds, etc. Throughout the course of time, the Pilgrims had their first successful harvest which then led to a three day
Different cultures have different holiday traditions. At this time of year different cultures are preparing to celebrate Halloween or the Día de los Muertos.These two holidays occur around the same time of year. October 31st is Halloween and the Day of the Dead begins on November 1st and ends on November 2nd. Halloween is an American tradition and the Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico, and other Latin American countries. Both holidays share some similarities but also have some differences.Some common themes between the two holidays are food and religion. For example, Pumpkin is associated with both holidays. And Christianity is the religion associated with both holidays. The symbols for these holidays share some similarities , for example skulls. While Halloween also is associated with ghosts and witches. A big
Holland, Eileen, and Raymond Buckland. The Wicca Handbook. San Francisco, CA: Red Wheel/Weiser, LCC, 2008.
Through conquest and exploration, apples were spread when Romans conquered England and when Spaniards brought them to Mexico and South America. It wasn’t until the mid 1600’s that the Pilgrims cultivated them in Massachusetts. It is believed that John Endecott, an early governor, was the first to bring an apple tree to North America, and the first orchard was planted on Beacon Hill by a clergyman named William Blaxton. It is Blaxton who is credited for growing the first named apple, the Yellow Sweeting. Once apples were established in New England, they played an active role in everyday life. As a fruit which was easily stored through the winter, as well as being very beneficial to settlers’ health, apples were a main staple in early settlers’ diets. Despite the fact that apples were not initially from North America, and have been growing disease-free for centuries in their native habitats, the early settlers found that the long, hot summers and cold winters of New England grew apples unlike anywhere else in the world. New England apples are known not only for their unique blend of tart and sweet flavors, but also for their size and freshness.
Over the centuries, the concept of Witchcraft, as it presented within religion and society, evoked a variety of responses and attitudes that permeated throughout the cultures of the world. Christianity incited wars and hysteria and chaos in the name of extinguishing the practice of Witchcraft. Today there are prominent religions within many cultures that uphold the practice of witchcraft as a feasible manifestation of spirituality. The term conjures a variety of images for a diverse range of people. To the Azande, witchcraft and oracles and magic existed in everyday life as permeation of the Zande culture. In Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande, E.E. Evans-Pritchard focuses on the beliefs associated with witchcraft and how they manifest in the social structure of the Community.
Americans celebrate Halloween as a sort of party in our communities. We hold parties and kids go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. For
Lehmann A. C. & Myers J. E. Magic, Witchcraft and Religion – An anthropological Study of the Supernatural (Fourth Edition) (Mayfield Publishing Company, 1997)