The word Hallowe'en is a contraction of "Hallowed evening". Hallowed is
an old English word for "holy" — as in "Hallowed be Thy Name", in the Lord's
Prayer.
Why is this evening "hallowed"? Because it is the eve of the Feast of
All Saints — which used to be called All Hallows. Like Christmas Eve and New
Year's Eve, and the Easter Vigil, the Church's celebration of her greatest
feasts begins the evening before. (This follows the ancient Jewish practice of
beginning the celebration of the Sabbath at sundown on Friday evening.)
We
need to begin to re-Christianize Hallowe'en by repairing the broken link to its
Christian meaning and significance. We need to reattach it to All Saints Day —
and to All Souls Day, for it is only in relation to this that we can understand
the original and true significance of the "hallowed eve".
Excerpt from
article by Helen Hull Hitchcock http://www.wf-f.org/Hallow-Saints.html
I printed these out because having grown up in Italy I have a
different view of Halloween. In fact, in Italy we do not celebrate Halloween at
all as a pagan/harvest festival. It is a festivity dedicated to all Saints (and
I believe Christians are all saints) and for Souls Day, we pay respect to those
who have gone before us. We dress up and have fun with “tricks” and games on
Carnival, which comes around February before Lent and Easter.~~This up here is what we printed out and put next to our door outside. We are still inviting the kiddos and the adults to ring the door bell tonite and get some little treats (I got mostly chocolate for some reason!). I never really thought about doing Halloween. We have a few friends who do not celebrate it at all. I was talking to one of them recently. We were at the storytime at the library and they were, in preparation of Halloween, reading books about it and making a "halloween wreath" for craft time. She wished she hadn't come because now she had to explain to her 3 year old daughter why they didn't do it. I am going to dress Jeremiah for a picture, maybe go out to the court square and connect with the community. I do not fear the "evil" and "devil" stuff that is part of this festivity. I am told to only fear God! And He is greater than all that. However, I do not want to associate with that stuff either.
We talked about how nice it is to dress up and all, so I thought about Carnevale, the time before Lent around February, when we dress up in Italy. I think that is what I wish to do with my family, with Jeremiah as he grows up and Lord willing other children he will bring to our family. I always loved Carnevale growing up, it will be a great alternative to Halloween that will give us the opportunity to have fun with dressing up in costumes and connecting with our Italian heritage.
(I do think though that as long as we live in the states I will try and celebrate 'harvest time' as opposed to Halloween so to still have something going on, just like the churches here usually have a 'fall fest' for the kids and families)
I already have an idea of what I want to dress up like for Carnevale. But does anyone else have some neat and unique suggestions for a costume?
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Hallows Eve-- Tutti Santi/All Saints
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4 comments:
Ciao, Miriam!
I'm happy to know that you celebrate All Saints. I have been going to services for All Saints the past several years, especially since losing to death some people very dear to me. I find it such a meaningful way to focus on the bigger picture of what life is about. So unlike Halloween!
I have really mixed feelings about some of the conservative attitudes toward such things as Halloween. We have MANY traditions that are mixed with pagan beliefs...maybe the biggest is a Christmas tree or maybe Easter eggs. Neither of those really has any part of the true meaning of the event. Even Carnival that you mention has been taken to the extremes of drunken orgy in some places. All that said, you can participate with a pure heart and bring meaning to unbelievers.
I hated the thought of buying commercial costumes or making elaborate, expensive ones. I tried to have my kids use their imaginations and little $$$!! Face painting is a good start. One year the girls were mama, baby and papa bear and the forest. They dressed in stuff around the house. Mama wore my house coat, Papa some overalls and baby used a towel for a diaper. The forest was drawn on a big piece of cardboard. Themes were always popular with the girls. Ask Ellen about it!
And think of all these events as a chance to be really creative, in art and in heart!! 8^)
One more thing! That link to the article, I do not agree with what the lady says. Historically only the name "halloween" comes from Christian tradition, but the celebration has other traditions, including celtic and druid ones (it was their new year)
Oh, no! I see my first reply to your comment, dgk, did not make it. I also am apprehensive about making myself too extreme, alienating myself to people by having a 'more holier than thou' attitude. SO, that said I do want to keep celebrating because I want to interact with people, with those 'outside' and share love and hope, so celebrating specific national days, like Halloween, is part of getting out with the people, with the community, and interacting on a personal level. Although Halloween doesn't mean much to me, because I never celebrated it being in Italy (and didn't do much of the Catholic Tutti Santi day too being not Catholic), while I live in the States "be like the United Stateians" said Paul (or something like that:)
Oh, and also, I love the idea of being creative and fun with NO mula involved! That is the way to do it.
And you are right, Carnival started as a pagan celebration, forgot about the orgies part. I think I wont do that!\(*~*)/
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