Halloween - Harmless or Harmful Fun?

[doppelganger]

Samhain was a festival to satan...the lord of the underworld.

i think they did believe in him.

And Jehovah's Witnesses worship Mammon, the demon lord of money.

Oh! Making up false and offensive things about other peoples' cultures is fun. I see why you enjoy it so much. :yes:

 

[fantome profane]

My people laugh at death. Deal with it.

And that is what Halloween is really all about.

 

[A. T. Henderson]

When the druids celebrated halloween, they roamed the streets with lanterns, and on coming to a house, they demanded money as an offering for Satan.

Untrue: made up as Christian propaganda against Halloween in the 80's.

 

[A. T. Henderson]

Samhain was a festival to satan...the lord of the underworld.

i think they did believe in him.

Untrue: Samhain is simply a celebration of the change in seasons, and a time at which the dead are remembered. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Satan, whom the Druids did not believe in (obviously).

 

[Erebus]

What I love most about Halloween is the virgin sacrifice. I live in Manchester so it's really not an easy task

On a more serious note, Halloween is as harmful or harmless as you make it. I intend to perform a ritual to Eurynomous, god of death, this Halloween. I can assure you though that I'm not going to be asking for anybody to die save parts of myself I no longer need.

 

[A. T. Henderson]

Eurynomous, god of death...

Eurynomos isn't the god of death.

 

[fantome profane]

Tomorrow at church we are celebrating the Day of the Dead with the high school students in Sunday School.

Complete with sugar skulls.

mmm, memento mori :drool:

 

[sojourner]

Samhain was a festival to satan...the lord of the underworld.

i think they did believe in him.

No, it wasn't. I've got 4 graduate hours in ancient Celtic spirituality. I think I'd know if they worshiped Satan.

When Samhain was celebrated as a purely Celtic festival, Satan was unknown to them. Satan was not the lord of the Celts' underworld. It wasn't until the Celts were Christianized that Satan entered the picture. By that time, Samhain had been transformed into a Christian -- not a Satanic -- festival called "All Hallow's Eve, or All Saints' Eve.

Sorry, you're mistaken here.

 

[sojourner]

Tomorrow at church we are celebrating the Day of the Dead with the high school students in Sunday School.

Complete with sugar skulls.

I didn't know sugar had a skeleton...

 

[tariqkhwaja]

Well ... too bad most people here seem to be taking this frivolously. I didn't hope believers in Abrahamic religions to do so.

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad(aba), Fifth Successor to the Promised Messiah(as) and Head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim community provides us most crucial guidance relevant to our time through his Friday Sermons. During a Friday Sermon about Halloween, he said that the reality of Halloween entails the belief in the existence of witches, evil spirts and satanic worship. Whilst people celebrate Halloween on the pretext of having ‘fun’, it is entirely wrong and dangerous to ‘believe in’ things that are supernatural for ‘fun’. Ahmadi children in particular should therefore avoid this. Even until recently some villagers would offer something to children believing that it would save them from sprits. This also emboldens children to commit wrong acts for the sake of fun. For example, rude manners towards elders is becoming common. Movies also give wrong messages and in particular when children are encouraged to watch them by adults—the result is the society will only deteriorate. Hudhur said:

“For us, the biggest matter is the bringing of dead spirits, as if, equal to God and thus committing shirk.”

Hudhur further said, that rituals at Halloween are not limited to wearing scary costumes and going door-to-door; rather, some older children deliberately frighten people in their homes, cause trouble and disturb the surrounding population. Hence, Ahmadi Muslims should avoid this and should instead focus on strengthening their connection with God, in Whose hands rests all real power.

 

[A. T. Henderson]

Well ... too bad most people here seem to be taking this frivolously. I didn't hope believers in Abrahamic religions to do so.

Seriously, you need to lighten up. Ghost stories are not a gateway to Satanism.

 

[lunamoth]

I didn't know sugar had a skeleton...

Traditional Mexican fare for Day of the Dead. Interesting to learn how similar the development of the Latin American tradition follows the Celts.

 

[sojourner]

I understand the Smurfs are, though...

 

[sojourner]

Traditional Mexican fare for Day of the Dead. Interesting to learn how similar the development of the Latin American tradition follows the Celts.

The Celts are ancient and far-flung.

 

[Erebus]

Eurynomos isn't the god of death.

Then enlighten me, who is?

 

[lunamoth]

I didn't know sugar had a skeleton...

 

[doppelganger]

Traditional Mexican fare for Day of the Dead. Interesting to learn how similar the development of the Latin American tradition follows the Celts.

There's a lot of Celtic overlap with the Spanish, centered around the Galicia region in NW Spain (sharing a common source with "Gaelic"). There are many similarities in music and folklore. In fact, if you want to hear some interesting music, The Chieftains put out an album of Galician Celtic music called "Santiago" a few years ago. I saw them live that year in South Texas and they seamlessly integrated famous Latin American folk musicians into their arrangements, including Flaco Jiminez.

 

[lunamoth]

There's a lot of Celtic overlap with the Spanish, centered around the Galicia region in NW Spain (sharing a common source with "Gaelic"). There are many similarities in music and folklore. In fact, if you want to hear some interesting music, The Chieftains put out an album of Galician Celtic music called "Santiago" a few years ago. I saw them live that year in South Texas and they seamlessly integrated famous Latin American folk musicians into their arrangements, including Flaco Jiminez.

Thanks! Checking out Galician Overture now: [youtube]ZQ7Hrch7Quo[/youtube]
Galician Overture. The Chieftains (8' 52'&#39 - YouTube. Nice.

I think the Day of the Dead predated Spanish influence in Mexico, but then combined with Catholic Christianity and ended up on All Saints day after the Christian influence.

 

[lunamoth]

Or this?
[youtube]I3lJKac_Dzo[/youtube]
The Chieftains-Santiago de Cuba - YouTube

 

[GabrielWithoutWings]

Well ... too bad most people here seem to be taking this frivolously. I didn't hope believers in Abrahamic religions to do so.

Why do you care? Your religion and culture isn't descended from this tradition's origin unless you're a convert. In that case, you'd know it was harmless.