Slitherine

See title!

Is Hallowean, a pagan (Celt) holiday??

I read somewhere that "In Great Britain in particular, the pagan Celts celebrated the Day of the Dead"...

In Mexico they also celebrate (Mayas) the day of the dead!!!

cheers,
Pyros

I think Hallowean is celebrated as it is in the eve of all Saints day. And yeah I heard about that in Mexico a festival celebrating that is featured in that movie with Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas - Assassin. Which incidentally is rather good if you've never seen it.

ste wrote:I think Hallowean is celebrated as it is in the eve of all Saints day. And yeah I heard about that in Mexico a festival celebrating that is featured in that movie with Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas - Assassin. Which incidentally is rather good if you've never seen it.

I think I have seen both the festival and the movie, but now I can't recal anything from them...

cheers,
Pyros

p.s at least from Mexico I have brought some idols made of clay... one "skeleton nurse" and some other figures...

i guess no-one will have time for movies once Legion Arena arrives

Even if someone is watching the old good movie Spartacus while playing the Legion Arena "rebel battles chapter" ?

Seriously... I am currently designing a campaign of the LZ_Xray battle and during the dozens hours of designing, I have seen the movie "We were soldiers once...and young" more than four times!!!

Halloween? Yes it is Holy Eve before all Saints Day, but Catholicism loves adopting pagan traditions. In America Halloween is pagan festival celebrating the Gods of candy and winter squash.

p.s.The dialogue is Sparticus is incredibly hokey. Thanks a lot Dalton Trumbo.

I dont want to spark a religious debate (that can prolly only end in tears), but there was a lad in my girlfriends student halls that took exception to them decorating the place for hallowean due to being a catholic. But you say that Hallowean is borrowed by the Catholics from Pagans?

Every new religion profits from similarities in order to convert the earlier religion to the new one.

I know this from the conversion of the Greek Nationals (Zeus etc...) to Christians, I saw this in the tribes of Mexico and how the mixed their old religion to Christianism...

One of the most common and basic techniques to convert is by destroying the temple of the old religion and building in the same location (using the debris) a new temple devoted in the new religion.

Most of the temples in Mexico are built on top of native's temples.
In Greece in the top of every mountain the used to have a ancient Greek temple devoted to Appolo the God of Sun, now the use to have in the same locations chapels devoted to St. Elias.
Elios is the Greek word for Sun and Elias is a synonym word.

The Mayas used to had a spiritual ceremony connected with the water and the christians have converted this ritual to a kind of baptism... which the Mayas have easily accepted.

cheers,
Pyros

Very interesting stuff, all from a simple Happy Hallowean too... I love this forum!

The name is contracted from All Hallows' Evening (Hallow E'en). Supposedly, the souls of those who died during the year were forced to wander until this date, when they would be sent to the next step on their way to judgement. The "trick or treat" thing is probably similar to the "extortion" of snacks and coins that went on during the "Yule" celebrations, which also served as the basis for Christmas carrolling (sp?), except capitalizing on the fear of the dead to add to the effect.

In the case of Christmas, since the church was unable to stop the peasantry from celebrating their winter solstice holiday, they added a Christian veneer over the occasion, picking an obscure observance with a highly questionable date (Jesus' birthday - the date chosen by an astrologer) as the excuse for all of the revelry. A few of the pagan symbols and traditions continued, such as the fir tree representing life continuing through the winter, and the the candles and ornaments on the tree representing "tree spirits".

thats ace, cheers for that info most interesting