Halloween...
zondag, oktober 31, 2004
History traces Halloween back to the ancient religion of
the Celtics. The Celtic people were very conscious of the
spiritual world and had their own ideas of how they could
gain access to it - such as by helping their over 300 gods
to defeat their enemies in battle, or by imitating the gods
in showing cleverness and cunning.
Their two main feasts were Beltane at the beginning of summer
(May 1), and Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween) at the end of
summer (Nov. 1). They believed Samhain was a time when the
division between the two worlds became very thin, when hostile
supernatural forces were active and ghosts and spirits were
free to wander as they wished. "During this interval the normal
order of the universe is suspended, the barriers between the
natural and the supernatural are temporarily removed, the sidh
lies open and all divine beings and the spirits of the dead move
freely among men and interfere sometimes violently, in their
affairs" (Celtic Mythology, p. 127).
The Celtic priests who carried out the rituals in the open air
were called Druids, members of pagan orders in Britain, Ireland
and Gaul, who generally performed their rituals by offering
sacrifices, usually of animals, but sometimes of humans, in order
to placate the gods; ensuring that the sun would return after
the winter; and frightening away evil spirits.
To the Celtics, the bonfire represented the sun and was used to
aid the Druid in his fight with dark powers. The term bonfire
comes from the words "bone fire," literally meaning the bones of
sacrificed animals, sometimes human, were piled in a field with
timber and set ablaze. All fires except those of the Druids were
extinguished on Samhain and householders were levied a fee to
relight their holy fire which burned at their altars. During the
Festival of Samhain, fires would be lit which would burn all
through the winter and sacrifices would be offered to the gods on
the fires. This practice of burning humans was stopped
around 1600, and an effigy was sometimes burned instead.
[bron / source]
