Halloween... When did it Become Scary?

This morning I read a blog that got me thinking. “Voluptuous Goddess in Training” posted a question regarding Halloween/Samhain:  

When did it become scary and gruesome, 

and why? 

My reply to her post:  

"I absolutely love Halloween/Samhain! I grew up watching spooky movies, from the old back and whites to current... and I enjoy the suspense and the thrills & chills of a good spooky movie (or book). So for me, Halloween has always been fun, and in my adult years fun includes scary, so I have incorporated scary decorations to my Halloween/Samhain. I have no idea at what point in history did it become darker and Horror Movie Characters became popular... in the 80's?... at least that's when I remember seeing more horror-style costumes etc. I think it began happening as the horror movies became more and more popular, which makes sense. Hmm maybe I will do a cross-blog of the subject; you have me thinking! LOL"

After replying to her post, I decided I would do a cross-blog on the subject...

So let's back track... When I was growing up I wanted to be a princess or movie star for Halloween, until I was a teenager... then my costumes included Princess Leia of Star Wars, and face make up like Paul Stanley of KISS; as an adult my fave costume became a Witch; it’s the only time I can dress in full Witch garb and it’s totally accepted LOL, so that’s what I do; however I have been known to occasionally change it up; my past costumes have included a bloody car accident victim, a vampire, a hippy, a Sorceress, a black cat, and a housewife in a robe and slippers, complete with cold cream and rollers in my hair LOL

Most of us know the true history of Halloween, right? Halloween was adopted from the ancient Celts by the Catholic Church but before the Church existed, our ancestors knew it as Samhain (Sowen), a Sabbat to honor our ancestors who came before us, a time to reflect on life’s cycle, and a time to contact the spirit world because on Samhain, the veil between our world and the spirit realm becomes the thinnest, the perfect time to reach out to our loved ones that have passed before us. Samhain was not scary; it was a revered day.

Samhain marks the beginning of the Celtic New Year and is known as the Witch’s New Year; the Earth slowly dies as Autumn temps drop and Winter approaches, the old year has passed, the harvest is gathered up, and the livestock were brought in from the fields. Traditionally Samhain is the day of Novemebr 1^st; celebration began on the Eve of October 31^st lasting through the following day.

So with that in mind, when did it become S C A R Y?  Around the eighteenth century when the Catholic Church came into being, they decided to use November 1^st as All Saints Day to counter act the Pagan day with a Church holiday, as Paganism was considered heresy…  a sin; it became associated with devil worship and of course it was considered as evil. To combat paganism and convert more people to the Church, All Saint’s Day was born and became the festival to honor any saints that did not have a festival of their own; the mass said on that day was called Allhallowmas, a mass for the hallowed (holy); the night before the mass became known as All Hallows Eve. 

All Saint’s Day was followed by All Soul’s Day (November 2^nd), a time to pray for the souls in purgatory. This was when trick-or-treating came into being… or thereabouts anyway. So, Halloween/Samhain first became scary when the Catholic Church was born because it was associated with evil spirits and the devil.

Trick-or-treating began on All Soul’s Day when the not so fortunate people would knock on their neighbor’s door begging and were given Soul Cakes, later this practice went from adults begging to children doing the begging; they went to different houses and were given food. When this holiday came to America, the treats became candy in the belief that giving candy would prevent trickery, and costumes were believed a protection against evil spirits... a disguise, so that the spirits and demons would not recognize them.

But where did jack-o-lanterns come from, you ask? Originally they were made from turnips as lanterns, traditionally in Ireland and Scotland, but later when they made their way to America around the early 1800’s, the settlers began using pumpkins as the vegetable lanterns, but these lanterns were not associated with Halloween until 1866, which eventually evolved into the carved jack-o-lanterns we all know and love around the year 1900.

There is an old Irish catholic tale regarding the jack-o-lantern, about a selfish man named Jack and his run in with the devil…

Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," which  later evolved into "Jack-O-Lantern.”

So we established when Halloween first began associated with evil spirits and the devil, of course the spookiness of the holiday and the fear associated with it was right around the corner, right? Over the generations with all the preaching of evil and foulness, the fascination with fear and all the wickedness and the spookiness associated with it grew and imaginations ran wild; horror stories and eventually horror films were born and quickly became popular; it was only a matter of time before horror became a prevalent part of Halloween. After all, according to the Church, they are interconnected.

Halloween... When did it become scary, and WHY?  
... Just look at our past, it speaks for its self... 

Loud and Clear.

HAVE A BLESSED SAMHAIN

AND

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

10-11-11 3 Cards for Today

Tonight I thought I'd draw 3 Oracle Cards, one from each of my oracle decks; I drew (1) Baba Yaga from my Goddess Inspiration Oracle (2) Archangel Michael from my Healing with Angels deck, and (3) Paravati from my Ascended Masters deck. Amazingly enough, they all coincide with each other, as well as my previous days' cards. Things are a changing.


Baba Yaga is the Russian Goddess of Change; she is an old witch... a Crone and represents life's cycle from birth to death. Her card says:

"Do not fear life's changes no matter how scary they seem."

Archangel Michael is a powerful warrior angel; by drawing this card he is telling me he is with me now to give me courage and to help release me from fear. He wants me to know that as I experience changes in life, I am safe and secure. God and the angels are with me and helping me during these difficult times. I may feel alone, but they are always with me.

Paravati is the Hindu Goddess of mountains, marriage and households. Her card signifies that my likes and dislikes have changed and that I have outgrown, or outgrowing, situations that once appealed to me. These changes are blessings in disguise and are positive developments signaling my spiritual growth. She also tells me that I may feel pushed beyond my comfort level right now as multiple levels of my life are shifting, but assures me it's all good and encourages me to let go. Her card says: 

"Positive Change"

Change, change, change.... sometimes I am fine with change and can be very flexible, easily adjusting, but other times... change is scary for it pushes me beyond my comfort zone... my safe place. 

Being a Codependent, these changes are R E A L L Y scary and uncomfortable. These changes are forcing me to learn to stand  on my own like a big girl; this big girl is being molded into an independent woman, and that is a bit overwhelming. Yes, of course I am afraid! 

Truthfully I should have been here a long time ago, and since I was unable or unwilling to step out on life's escalator to reach new levels of maturity on my own, voluntarily stepping up to plate so to speak, the Universe is now pushing me forward, kicking and screaming whether I want it or not. Life is about change, and I need to stop dragging my feet and get on with it.

Actually if I stop and think about it, I've come a long ways these past four years, so the Divine has actually provided me with stepping stones and enabled me to take this in phases.... but these phases are HUGE! 

• PHASE 1. In 2006 my Dad passed away... major wake up call, that one was! Abruptly coinciding with me breaking up with my abusive long term live-in boyfriend; two major changes occurring simultaneously. These two incidents toughened me up, but honestly I was already growing up during that 6 year nightmare of a relationship; I was already being shaped into a stronger more responsible person. Losing my Dad was the bitter icing on the cake.
• PHASE 2. I invited Mom to move in with me so she could rent out the little house to help with finances. I was not prepared for what happened next. While my sister was deeply mourning Dad, she slipped into a MAJOR depression and cut herself off from the rest of us; it was during this time that Mom's health took a nose dive for the first time. I almost lost her and it scared the holy hell out of me. She went into Congestive Heart Failure and had to be intubated. I thought for sure she was going to join Dad. I was left to deal with the shock, the fear, and the heartache by myself. I had no one to turn to; no one to talk to, no one to cry with. My sister would not answer my calls or emails. It was just me and my 15 year old son... and I was trying so hard to be strong for him. We had just lost Dad... and he was VERY close to his Grandpa; he sunk into a depression as well. Mom recovered, but it was only the beginning of many such episodes. I went through it once or twice more alone, before my sister finally got help and got involved again; she ended up getting a transfer to our little town and moved in with us, and has been a great blessing. Since then, Mom has had many of the same episodes, I think December of 2010 was her eighth or ninth time being intubated... she lost her job that following January due to her health.
• PHASE 3. In April 2011 I had to move out of my long term family home, into a rental of my own so that Mom could prepare the big house for sale. After losing her job, money was quickly running out and none of us could afford the mortgage payments, utilities, nor keep up with the repairs; the house is old and in disrepair. By this time she had moved back into the little house with my sister. Moving out was another huge step for me... going out on my own, signing a Lease, establishing accounts for all my utilities. It took most my savings to pay for all the deposits. This was a major lifestyle change for my son and I... suddenly money became very tight and surviving became a struggle.
• PHASE 4. Present: the family home and property are currently on the market, and my sister is trying to relocate back to the Valley; she hates her job here and wants to transfer back to her old department... taking Mom with her; they plan on getting an apartment together down there. My home and job are here, so I will remain... with my son, at least for awhile; he is 19 and will eventually want his own place. My vehicle is not travel worthy, so if Mom runs into trouble, I have no way to get down to her... unless Deb drives all the way up here to pick me up. That idea, plus them moving away and no longer having them so close... easy to visit, or handy in case Drew or I run into trouble... well it has me a little worried. NO... it has me SCARED. During this time I am also working on my CoDA Steps, which is difficult and bringing alot of old hurts and guilt back up to the surface, and I'm struggling with depression.  I am facing my shadows, and it is not pretty. Although I have been questioning on whether this process is helping me any or hurting me, these cards that I keep pulling... well, I'm thinking it is helping, I just don't recognize it much right now.

So, as you can see... Life is really pushing me out of my comfort zone... right into the twilight zone, and Life's not-so-gentle-nudges are getting closer together... which scares the hell out of me because I'm wondering what will come next, even with the Divine telling me everything is going to be ok and I am not alone. I FEEL alone, and I'm scared.