Chapter Five – Trick-or-Treat and Costumes (page

History writes that in their attempts to achieve health and long life, the Druids used inhumane practices. Human sacrifices were said to help the priests to determine the future and appease and persuade their various pagan gods of nature along with the many 'spirits' that served them.

Being pagans that worshiped the gods of nature, the Druid priests often used 'nature' in their religious ceremonies and festivals. The ancient Celtic people observed two seasons - summer and winter. At the time when the ‘season of the sun’ gave its place to the ‘season of darkness and cold’ the Celtic people, believed that spiritual powers and positions were exchanged. During this harvest season, they believed the summer goddess would leave and the god of winter would take his high place in control over the people and area.

During this transferring of spiritual power, the Celt people believed that the 'veil' between the spirit realm and the realm of humans was very thin. This was a holy and very celebrated time for the pagan priests and peoples. Because the spiritual veil was so thin, they believed that mysteries, powers, secrets, and the spirits of the dead (good and bad) could easily transfer between realms. In religious ceremonies and festivals, mystical spirits were conjured by the Druids - so that they might inquire of them as to who among their people should marry, who would die, how they might prosper, etc. in the coming year. They attempted to gain new insight into the spirit realm and greater powers from the spirits that passed through the veil. This was when the Celtic people celebrated their time spent serving the summer goddess and welcoming in the god of winter.

This holy celebration took place on October 31 - November 1. This was known as the festival of Samhain (which loosely translated means 'summer's end').

It's from the festival of Samhain that we draw the majority of our modern Halloween beliefs and customs.

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CHAPTER FOUR

Jack-O-Lanterns

May Jack-o-lanterns burning bright Of soft and golden hue Pierce through the future’s veil and show What fate now holds for you. ~ Author Unknown

In the Celtic regions of Ireland and throughout other parts of Europe and Rome, there were burial 'cairns' (burial mounds or caves) that were heaped with stones to seal them.

The festival of summer’s end – Samhain – is a "Festival of the Dead". Because of the belief that the 'veil' between the living and the dead was thin enough for all spirits to freely roam between the spiritual and the physical world, the Druids looked forward to gleaning more spiritual power and secrets from the spirits. But all the other Celts anticipated a yearly visit from their dead loved ones. In preparation for this time, the stones that sealed the caves and burial mounds were removed. To accommodate easier passage for the spirits, all of the graves were unsealed. Before nightfall, the villagers lit torches and placed them along the walls of the burial caves to help guide the dead out of their graves and into their villages. They believed if a spirit was 'lost' it may wander anxiously and angrily through the town, wreaking havoc until the following year when the veil was thin enough for them to find their way back. And in its wandering, the dead would seek a strong and healthy body to inhabit and work more harm.

As the Celts looked forward to this reunion with their departed loved ones most feared the return of angry and more 'evil' spirits. It was said that the hungry and evil spirits roamed the countryside destroying crops, killing farm animals and stealing babies and small children. The mystical Druid priests supposedly held the knowledge of how to guide and appease and use these spirits. So when the common people had done all they know to ward off the angry spirits, they would turn to the Druid priests who would offer their assistance – for a price.

JACK-O-LANTERNS

Using strategically placed torches, the villagers hoped to 'guide' the roaming spirits to the homes of their loving families. Once there, the dead would find a warm place set at the dining table for them. Special treats and the favorite foods of their dead relatives were prepared and waited for their return.

Obviously, the ‘dead spirits’ didn’t want to leave their loved ones. So in an attempt to lead and manipulate these spirits (and wishing to prevent evil from destroying their villages and homes and people), the Druid priests would travel from house to house demanding a payment of food. Dressed in hooded robes, they moved throughout the town leading the roaming spirits first to their homes then back toward the ‘veil’ (their grave) so they may return to their resting places for another year.

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It was a tradition among pagans to carve the likeness of their protective 'gods' and 'goddesses' into items they found in nature. Over one shoulder each of the priests hung a cord of rope. At the bottom of that rope was tied a hollowed-out turnip. Each turnip was carved into likeness of that priest's own personal (pagan) god that directed and empowered their life. These hollowed-out 'gods' contained candles to light their faces. Their individual lighted gourd gods protected the priests as they walked among the dead, as well as being used to invoke evil curses. If a Druid priest visited a residence and he received no offering of food, a curse was spoken over that household that threatened one of the inhabitants would die within the year. (This began the custom of "Trick" or "Treat".)

The Celtic peoples also carved their own turnips in the likenesses of their dead relatives. They invoked 'familiar spirits' to inhabit their turnips and they placed them outside their homes (by hanging them with ropes or by placing them on sticks) and they put candles into them to help 'light the path' for their departed loved-one's to find their way to their families again. This was done in the hope that the wrong spirits (or unwanted spirits) would not come into their homes.

Many years later, when the Celtic peoples immigrated to America, they brought their customs with them. In America, pumpkins grew well and were larger and easier to carve. Although turnips were still used, the use of pumpkins and other gourds became more popular. The English speaking Celts began to refer to their hollowed-out gourds as "Jocks" (a slang term of Gaelic and/or Celtic peoples). And they continued to use their Jock-O-Lanterns every Samhain, to light the way for the spirits of their dead relatives.

The English speaking Celts began to refer to their hollowedout gourds as "Jocks" (a slang term of Gaelic and/or Celtic peoples). And they continued to use their Jock-O-Lanterns every Samhain, to light the way for the spirits of their dead relatives.

This began the use of "Jack-O-Lanterns" to light the way for the spirits of the dead.

Exodus 23:13 Deut. 6:14 Jeremiah 1:16

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CHAPTER FIVE

Trick-or-Treat and Costumes

A gypsy fire is on the hearth, Sign of the carnival of mirth; Through the dun fields and from the glade Flash merry folk in masquerade, For this is Hallowe'en! ~ Author Unknown

Like most parents, we all teach our children to avoid strangers. We make them promise us they’ll never take any candy or food from someone they don’t know. We tell them to avoid going to the homes of people they don’t know. We would call the authorities (or worse) if a stranger ever encouraged any of our children to their home and offered them candy.

How is it then that once a year, normally careful parents allow their babies and children to dress up in It’s estimated that the costumes, stumble around in the dark with other average person will spend masked goblins and witches and monsters, and walk $75.03 on decorations, right up and knock on the doors of complete costumes and candy. Total strangers (some of which include alcoholics, drug abusers, child molesters, rapists…) to beg for candy just so they can gorge themselves on it with no Halloween spending for 2013 is expected to rise to guarantee that the candy they receive hasn’t been 6.9 billion dollars. tampered with or poisoned? There is no other time of year that loving parents will break all of their own rules and encourage their children to participate in this behavior. There is no other time of year where every age, every race and every religion comes together to participate in a holiday of this magnitude. According to the National Retail Federation, 157 million Americans will celebrate Halloween this year. It’s estimated that the average person will spend $74.00 on decorations, costumes and candy. Total Halloween spending for 2015 is expected to rise to 6.9 billion dollars. Second only to Christmas, how did this holiday come about? In ancient times, during Samhain (the festival of the dead), villagers faced a dilemma. Although they wanted to see their departed loved one's again - and they lit the tombs and the fronts of their homes to guide their dead relatives back to their homes –remember, they didn't want any evil spirits to visit them. So while some members of the family stayed home to 'welcome the dead' - others (usually the young men who were quick and agile), wore 'costumes' of dead animal heads and skins. These costumes were twofold. They were intended to frighten the evil spirits but also to protect and hide the young men from the spirits that sought 'physical homes' to inhabit for another year (until the time when the veil between worlds was thin again). The belief was that no 'spirit' wanted to return to the cold grave and to the realm of the spirits.

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