Up@dawn 2.0

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Happy Halloween

Take a base if you bring treats to class today.
Today is All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween. The modern holiday comes from an age-old tradition honoring the supernatural blending of the world of the living and the world of the dead. Halloween is based on a Celtic holiday called Samhain. The festival marked the start of winter and the last stage of the harvest, the slaughtering of animals. It was believed that the dark of winter allowed the spirits of the dead to transgress the borders of death and haunt the living.
Eventually, Christian holidays developed at around the same time. During the Middle Ages, November 1 became known as All Saints’ Day or All Hallows’ Day. The holiday honored all of the Christian saints and martyrs. Medieval religion taught that dead saints regularly interceded in the affairs of the living. On All Saints’ Day, churches held masses for the dead and put bones of the saints on display. The night before this celebration of the holy dead became known as All Hallows’ Eve. People baked soul cakes, which they would set outside their house for the poor. They also lit bonfires and set out lanterns carved out of turnips to keep the ghosts of the dead away. WA

6 comments:

  1. The mention of the bonfires brought to mind the opening of Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native, where the reddleman approaches the village as the bonfires are lit by the natives. Hardy is my favorite British writer, and, as an anglophile, must be one of yours as well.

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  2. https://images.app.goo.gl/dKFMfUZGvhLfmUhTA

    An image of a turnip carving! Much scarier than a pumpkin.

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  3. Is that you, Dr. Oliver? That's a great mask! I will definitely bring treats. Happy Halloween!

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  4. I actually didn't know the history behind today or even thought to google it, so thank you for sharing Dr. Oliver. Graham and I will bring some candy today as well!

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  5. Extra fun fact from my Western Civ. class: it was October 31st, 1517 that Martin Luther issues his 95 Thesis, sparking the Protestant Reformation (and the several hundred years of religious war that followed).

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  6. This is very intresting, I never know the history of Halloween!

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