All Saints Day- 11/1

andynap

Senior Insider
A reminder that many places will be closed tomorrow.

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[h=2]All Saints Day Relation to Halloween[/h] Dressed as Dracula or as devils, neighborhood children were happily "trick or treating" last night in the United States and some other countries. But would it surprise you to know that "Halloween" (by that name) started out as a holy Christian celebration?
Hallow, in Old English, means "holy" or "sacred." Therefore, "Hallows' Eve," or "Halloween" simply means "the evening of holy persons" and refers to the evening before All Saints Day, which is this day, November 1 on both Anglican and Catholic calendars. Halloween is a mixture of Celtic religious ideas and Christian martyrology.








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All Saints Day Relation to Halloween

Dressed as Dracula or as devils, neighborhood children were happily "trick or treating" last night in the United States and some other countries. But would it surprise you to know that "Halloween" (by that name) started out as a holy Christian celebration?
Hallow, in Old English, means "holy" or "sacred." Therefore, "Hallows' Eve," or "Halloween" simply means "the evening of holy persons" and refers to the evening before All Saints Day, which is this day, November 1 on both Anglican and Catholic calendars. Halloween is a mixture of Celtic religious ideas and Christian martyrology.



And it still is in Saint Barth where all of the cemeteries will be spruced up with new flowers, fresh and faux, today and tomorrow, with candles lit tomorrow evening - it is quite lovely...

a friend of mine posted this on Facebook today:
All Hallows Eve and All Hallows Day are believed to have originated from pagan harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival of Samhain (celebrated throughout Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). During Samhain (which was the end of the Celtic year), the souls of the dead were said to revisit their homes. Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them. Candles would be lit and prayers were formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this, the eating, drinking, and festivities would begin. Festivities included rituals and games intended to foretell one's future, especially regarding death and marriage. They included apple bobbing, nut roasting, scrying (mirror gazing), dream interpretation and others. Bonfires were lit and their smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers, and were also used for divination. It is suggested that the fires were a kind of sympathetic magick; they mimicked the Sun, holding back the decay and darkness of winter. From about the 16th century, the festival included mumming, which involved people going house-to-house in disguise, usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. In Scotland, youths went house-to-house with masked, painted or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.
All Souls Day is believed to have originated in European folklore from various customs. Similar holidays can be found in other cultures (the Ghost Festival in China, an ancient Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, India’s Pitru Paksha, and the ancient Roman festival of Lemuria among them). The core of these celebrations focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember those who have passed, and to support their spiritual journey. Perhaps the best example of this is Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos.
Regardless of which faith you follow (or don’t), I’d like to think we all want to take the time to reflect on the year completed, offer gratitude for what we have, look to the past to acknowledge our ancestors, and prepare for the coming winter.
 
Ellen, as always, you are a font of knowledge. Thank you for this information.

I am truly moved watching the multigenerational St Barths families as they honor their forbears at the local cemeteries. The glow of candles left at the graves is truly a moving sight.
 
Elle, as always, you are a font of knowledge. Thank you for this information.

I am truly moved watching the multigenerational St Barths families as they honor their forbears at the local cemeteries. The glow of candles left at the graves is truly a moving sight.

I agree, and the multigenerational-ism of the St Barth families is indeed a bit unique... and the beautiful cemeteries are one of the traditions that these families maintain, along with their local neighborhood fetes, local music, food, and dialects... perhaps to be attributed to the fact that they were isolated for a long time, other than boats that sailed into the harbor, and even though they have caught up to the 21st century, it's great that these traditions still prevail...
 
All Saints Day Relation to Halloween... But would it surprise you to know that "Halloween" (by that name) started out as a holy Christian celebration?... Halloween is a mixture of Celtic religious ideas and Christian martyrology.

Burial mounds have been said to constitute one of the early evidences of the emergence of humans. Awareness of mortality, particularly our own individual mortality, seems to be unique to us (granted, it is difficult to get a monkey to weigh in on this...)

A powerful, many feel the most powerful, force in driving religious belief centers around an afterlife and the ability of religion to provide a power over death. This may be particularly true of Christianity.

More than a scientist, Einstein put it this way:
"With primitive man it is above all fear that evokes religious notions—fear of hunger, wild beasts, sickness, death."
 
My mom passed away 20 years ago and my dad last week at 89 we light candles and decorate their graves in Trinidad for all saints day . I remember as a child going and making Candle ball
 
Thank you Ellen....very interesting; and I love The multigenerational-ism of the SBH families, the cemetery with all the flowers and candles lit at night is indeed extremely beautiful and moving.
 
Thank you Ellen....very interesting; and I love The multigenerational-ism of the SBH families, the cemetery with all the flowers and candles lit at night is indeed extremely beautiful and moving.

we went to put flowers on Rosemond's father's grave this morning at the cemetery next to Maya's - we found lots of family and friends already there doing the same, as well as the island's Catholic priest who said a short mass at about 9:30am...

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My mom passed away 20 years ago and my dad last week at 89 we light candles and decorate their graves in Trinidad for all saints day.
Very sorry for recent loss of your Dad. The All Saints Day traditions are a great way of remembering loved ones & reflecting on their lives.
 
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