It's that time of the year, Halloween. Many people don't celebrate halloween, mainly for religious purposes. I wanted to post this, just because every year, there are a few people that ask me, 'why do witches celebrate halloween, and what does it mean?' So, I thought I would post an explanation here, just to enlighten those who don't know or want to know, know only myths, or are really interested.
A lot of people think that Halloween is just a time of year, where little kids dress up in costumes and go door to door shouting 'trick or treat!' In our American culture, it basically is just that. However, there is a minority of people (including myself) who actually consider October 31st as a sacride holiday. It goes back, long before Christianity, to the Druids. Celtic origin, also the Celtic New Year. Halloween is commonly known as 'Samhain' to witches, wiccans, and pagans (neopagans). The word Samhain actually came from 2 words 'Sam' meaning 'the end of' and 'hain' meaning 'summer.' So the pagan holiday Samhain is a holiday celebrating the end of summer, or the harvest. Pagans often time have 2 dieties, a god and goddess, at this time, the god dies (with the coming of winter, the dying of plants symbolizes the dying of the god). Because the god dies, the viel between the living and the dead is at it's thinnest, meaning it's the best time to commune with the dead. It is said that on October 31st, our dead ancestors come to feast with us, many pagans have a 'feast of the dead' where they set a place at their table and invite an ancestor to feast with them. This is often accompanied by a ritual. Because the viel is at it's thinnest, this is also the best time for divination (tea leaves, tarot, runes, crystal balls) because the dead will help you to see the future. There are no animal sacrifices, no human sacrifices, nothing of that sort, just plain myths. We hold this a very special holiday because the viel is the thinnest. That makes it a magickal time. We also must prepare for the winter months, and the rebirth of the god at Yule (around Christmas time).
A good place to read more about Halloween, and a lot of the traditions, including Jack o'lanterns and candy giving (trick or treat) is:
http://www.witchvox.com/holidays/samhain.html . That is 'The Witch's Voice' Samhain page. The Witch's Voice is like a pagan newsletter-online. There are many resources other than this, and it also has a lot of information about other pagan holidays.
I hope that you enjoyed my little bit of info. I hope that it might have cleared up a lot for you. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.
My attempt, lame or not. . .
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