One of the biggest Halloween traditions is getting dressed up in costumes and going trick or treating. Where did this tradition come from; this tradition dates back 2,000 years to the Celtic Pagans. These customs went through many changes, just like the sabbat itself. 2,000 years ago the Pagans who lived in Ireland, and Scotland started to notice that the veil between the living and the dead was thinner during the night of Samhain, October 31. Their dead ancestors' spirits would walk among them. During this night the malicious spirits would also waken, and cause havoc. The ancient Celts found that when they would light large bonfires, less damage would be done to their crops. Sometimes the spirits would disguise themselves on Halloween as the living, to prevent this the living would alter their appearance. They would wear animal heads and skins so that the spirits could not take their identities. Even after the Catholic church started to drive out Paganism from the land, they could not take away the people's tradition of honoring their dead. The Catholic Church then added the addition of All Soul's Day, which was their idea of replacing Samhain. They instead leaned on honoring the dead instead of protecting themselves from maleficent spirits. This did not stop those who knew the old ways of wearing masks to protect themselves, because it started to shift to the enjoyment of dressing up. By 1800 the tradition of dressing up in costumes for Samhain was now a family fun activity. Samhain change to Halloween, lighting bonfires changed to trick or treating. By 1930 the costumes started to be more wholesome looking. Halloween became a tradition, not about the dead, but costume parades, candy, and Halloween parties. For those of us who still follow the old way, we combine both the new and old traditions. We still take the time to honor our dead. We still light our fires to ward off harmful spirits. Our costumes are more family-friendly than scary. We do take the time to go trick or treating. Although we always make sure to do it during the day so we run into any sinister spirits. “I was born on the night of Samhain, when the barrier between the worlds is whisper-thin and when magic, old magic, sings its heady and sweet song to anyone who cares to hear it.”
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As a mom of three boys who go to public school I started to notice that some things were not being taught in detail so I decided to create lessons for them. Many of these lessons cover science, history and of information about Paganism. I share crafts for the all different holidays and cultures as ways that they can learn and have fun at the same time.
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