Halloween Trick or Truth 2

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    HalloweenTrick or Truth?

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    Origins

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    Samhain: Festival for the Dead?Eichler, L. (1924). Customs of Mankind, 434.

    The ancient Druids had a great autumnfestival which commenced at midnight,

    October 31

    st

    , and lasted throughout thefollowing day, November 1st. Among otherthings, they believed that on this night, the

    great lord of death, Saman, called together

    all the wicked souls that had beencondemned, within the past twelve months,

    to inhabit the bodies of animals.

    Because of the wicked spirits thatprowled about on this night, they lit hugebonfires and kept a sharp lookout. Thus itis unquestionably from the Druids that wederive the belief that witches and ghosts

    walk abroad on Halloween...

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    SamhainCeltic Festival of the Dead

    Originally the Feast of the Dead wascelebrated in Celtic countries by leaving

    food offerings on altars and doorsteps forthe wandering dead. Single candles were

    lit and left in a window to help guide the

    spirits of ancestors and loved ones home.Extra chairs were set to the table andaround the hearth for the unseen guest.

    http://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/samhainlore.htm

    Apples were buried along roadsides and

    paths for spirits who were lost or had nodescendants to provide for them. Turnipswere hollowed out and carved to look like

    protective spirits, for this was a night of

    magic and chaos.

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    Do Dead Men Tell Tales?Celtic Mythology, p. 127

    "During this interval [athalloween] the normal

    order of the universe issuspended, the barriers

    between the natural and

    the supernatural aretemporarily removed,

    the sidh [in Irish folklore, ahill or mountain where

    fairies live] lies open andall divine beings and thespirits of the dead move

    freely among men andinterfere, sometimes

    violently, in their affairs.

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    After ones own

    birthday, the two major

    Satanic holidays areWalpurgisnacht (May1st) and Halloween.

    Anton LaVey, Founder of TheChurch of Satan, referencing

    The Satanic Bible, p. 96

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    Terms & Names

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    Former occultist Johanna Michaelsen reveals,"Halloween is also a prime recruiting seasonfor Satanists." (Michaelsen, Johanna. Like

    Lambs to the Slaughter, p. 192)

    Halloween(Celtic Origin: Circa 1000 B.C.)

    The frightened Celts would masquerade asdemons, evil spirits and ghosts, hoping to

    convince the roaming evil spirits, they wereanother evil spirit, and leave them alone.

    The Druids believed, during Samhain, themystic veil separating the dead from theliving opened. The Druids thought theseroaming spirits loosed on Samhain went

    searching for a body to possess.

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    Witches

    A Witchs God...He is...Lord of theUnderworld [Hell]...He is

    named...Baphomet...Lucifer...Baal

    Angeles, Lyde.Witchcraft: Theory and Practice, p. 60

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    The person wearing themask feels internally

    transformed and takes ontemporarily the qualities of

    the god or demonrepresented by the mask.

    Biedermann, Hans. Dictionary of Symbolism, p. 218

    Halloween Masks

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    An interesting symbol,

    the skullis prominentin Witchcraft and

    Demon worship as acelebration of death.

    Burns, Cathy.Masonic and Occult Symbols

    Illustrated, p. 388

    Skulls

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    Bobbing For Apples

    Bobbing for apples was originally a form ofdivination (fortune telling) to learn of future

    marriages. The first person to bite the applewas predicted to be the first to marry in the

    coming yearSantino, J. (1994). All Around the Year: Holidays &

    Celebrations, 26.

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    The Jack O Lantern represented aman caught between

    Santino, J. (1994). All Around theYear: Holidays & Celebrations, 26.

    Jack O Lantern

    Carved and illuminated by a candle, theyare symbolic of death and the spirit world.

    Thompson, Sue Ellen.Holiday Symbols and Customs, p. 25)

    ...the jack-o-lantern is generally presentedin its traditional form as a festive euphemism

    for the deaths-head, the triangular nosehole and rictus grin being the dead

    giveaways.Skal, David J. (2003). Death Makes a Holiday: The

    Cultural History of Halloween, p. 38

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    Trophy, charm, orornament, the human

    head figured prominentlyin Celtic life. Warriors hung

    enemy heads on their

    houses as a show ofprowess, and Druids,

    believing that the head

    harbored the soul, placedskulls in sanctuaries toward off evil.

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    Elementals

    Elementals [spiritssuch as trolls, elves,pixies] are the

    principle agents ofdisembodied butnever visible spirits

    at seances

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    Faerie

    fairies[are]

    creatures whofigure strongly inceremonial magic

    and practices ofnature worship, orWicca.

    Burns, Cathy.Masonic and Occult Symbols

    Illustrated, p p 62, 67-68