Short History of Halloween
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). It is the time between Samhain (pronounced "SOW-in" in Ireland, SOW-een in Wales, "SAV-en" in Scotland or even "SAM-haine" in non Gaelic speaking countries) and Brigid's Day "the period of little sun." Thus, Samhain is often named the "Last Harvest" or "Summer's End". The Earth nods a sad farewell to the God.
We know that He will once again be reborn of the Goddess and the cycle will continue. This is the time of reflection, the time to honor the Ancients who have gone on before us and the time of 'Seeing" (divination). As we contemplate the Wheel of the Year, we come to recognize our own part in the eternal cycle of Life.
While almost all Celtic based traditions recognize this Holiday as the end of the "old" year, some groups do not celebrate the coming of the "new year" until Yule. Some consider the time between Samhain and Yule as a time which does not even exist on the Earthly plane. The "time which is no time" was considered in the "old days" to be both very magickal and very dangerous. So even today, we celebrate this Holiday with a mixture of joyous celebration and 'spine tingling" reverence.
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their New Year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. They believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to Earth.
In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands.
In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1st as 'All Saints' Day', a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday.
The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
In 1000 A.D., the church made November 2 'All Souls' Day', a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.
posted by Silver Eagle | 8:28 AM
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Of God & Goddess
The Divine, as the Supreme Being, Creator and Preserver of all things, the perfect Moral Ruler of the universe then must be the union of that which is masculine and feminine, enjoined as One.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)
Blessed Lady and Ancient Lord, enjoined as the Sacred One.
Earth Mother and Sky Father united as the Great Mystery.
Now the Judeo-Christian faith originated from a region of the world that is predominantly patriarchal or male dominated society. This dominance is often sited as being Biblical by using Genesis 3:16 to support its claims ... "and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall have rule over thee."
At issue however comes the separation of the attributes of The Divine, The Sacred One, The Great Mystery, into masculine and feminine, of God and of Goddess. Through the ages, non-Judeo-Christian doctrines have identified the Goddess with the Earth and the Moon, and God being identified with the Sun and the life cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. I am not advocating "Feminine Spirituality" here, but rather the simplicity and balance of God and Goddess who are enjoined as The Divine. . In certain beliefs, God is not only the spouse or mate of the Goddess, but also is Her offspring representing unbound fertility and is often crowned with the horns of a wild buck. Just as my left arm and right arm are enjoined as parts of my physical body.
A perfect or complete knowledge of The Divine, of Spirit, is not attainable by the finite rational reasoning of the human kind upon this earth. The completeness of The Divine may be closer understood and revealed by an understanding of the godhead ... Spirit, God, and Goddess. For we cannot completely know Spirit, The Divine, unless we are able to experience Spirit. Yet by experiencing and understanding God and Goddess, as the masculine and feminine attributes of Spirit, we can become closer to the complete knowledge or understanding of Spirit.
As I previously stated, Spirit, The Divine, exists in all things. The Divine created man and woman in its own image, God and Goddess. Thus both God and Goddess are then also in all things, including us humans.
The existence or non-existence of God and Goddess can not be proven by scientific or technological methods any more than can The Divine or Spirit be proven or disproved. Thus the question I must present, "Is not the acceptance of a masculine and feminine, God and Goddess, essence of a Supernatural, Creator and Protector by any name in balance with the Natural Order of All Things? For in order for there to be balance and harmony within nature, do not all living things exist in a male and female? In science are not the flows of energy addressed with a positive and negative polarity?
From the previously quoted Genesis 1:27, does it not stand finite human reasoning that there is both God and Goddess as part of the Divine, of Spirit, if male and female are created in their likeness. In concert or connection to my understanding of Native American and Celtic/Druid teachings that God/Father and Goddess/Mother are aspects of what is called Great Mystery or Sacred One or Spirit.
Some will likely question my statement that all living things exist in both male and female aspects of the species. Most likely citing certain single cell living organisms or certain species of amphibians or reptiles that are capable of asexual reproduction. Well here is where our human existence and definition of life based upon that existence is flawed and in error.
Our human existence and perceived dominion over other life forms in one aspect is flawed. But since we view life from the human perspective, we tend to overlook the existence of asexual reproduction, that which is both masculine and feminine. From my understanding of Toltec teachings, it is the masculine form of life that supplies the creative intent and the feminine form of life that provides the creative reception.
Another apparent flaw in our human reasoning is that when we speak of masculine (male) and feminine (female) our conditioning is on the physical form of life, rather than life itself. We are a species that for the most part only seems to recognize life on the physical or tangible levels of existence. In addition, that existence in the physical form for thousands of years has ascribed to the folly that the male or masculine aspect of the species because of its physical strength is the stronger of the two, male and female.
Therefore when we "buy-into" this societal and historical folly of strength and dominance our perception of reality becomes clouded. This myth or folly of dominance has been propagated through history, especially in teachings that originated in the Middle East, namely those society structures of what I have called Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Repeating myself, this dominance is often sited as being Biblical by using Genesis 3:16 to support its claims ... "and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall have rule over thee." As well as the Bible's New Testament writings by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church; and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." Here I would challenge the reader to find any such instruction given by Jesus of Nazareth.
In review of a few of my commentaries on the verse cited in Genesis, there are portrayed two primary interpretations. One being that the wording to thy husband refers to meeting the desires of the husband, the other being that this wording if compared to the Hebrew usage of the word or proposition 'el is translated "against" in Genesis 4:18, "Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him." Which following the latter would indicate a desire for personal independence?
The point I am trying to make here is that, and I believe history will bear out my theory, that in societies that were primarily patriarchal and those that were primarily matriarchal, the result is not a society of balance and harmony, but rather one of dominance and control. Though some preliminary research tends to indicate that for the most part, matriarchal societies were the more peaceful of the two. For even today in some locations, you can walk into an establishment or event, and the common joke is you could cut the testosterone levels with a knife.
With a balanced blend of masculine (God) and feminine (Goddess) the human race can achieve peaceful harmony. Furthermore if you look at all the various sacred teachings of the prophets and ascended masters, including Jesus of Nazareth, on a global and historical level, I believe that all these teachings are in common agreement. The changes occur in the expansion of these sacred teachings by the so-called followers.
Enter Saul of Tarsus. "At first a vicious persecutor of the new messianic sect, Saul had a mystical experience on the road to Damascus and thereafter became the self-appointed missionary to the gentiles. As Luke records in the book of Acts, Paul has great success in converting gentiles to this odd Jewish sect, and you would expect that the Christians at Jerusalem would be ecstatic about his success. The truth is, they were appalled. For one thing, Paul was teaching doctrines to the gentiles that differed substantially from what James was teaching in Jerusalem, especially as regards the importance of the Law."
Similar extensions or expansions to the sacred teachings of various ascended masters can be experienced and witnessed throughout the world. Yet these extensions or expansions are for the most part limited to the patriarchal societies. In the section titled "Of Sacred Writings and Teachings" I address the issue that to write down an idea, does, indeed, run the risk of isolating and crystallizing a thought until it becomes dogmatic, and not flexible. In addition everyone is all to familiar with the storytelling game where in a group of people, one individual starts out telling a story to the person next to them. Then each person continues to pass the story on to the next person until it returns to the person initiating the story. By the time the story returns, its content and sometimes the intent has changed.
Why address this here under the Of God and Goddess section? Very simply, that over the past two thousand or more years a majority of societies are patriarchal in nature and have become extremely inflexible. The masculine psyche or mind is for the most part extremely logical and rational in its thought process. The male human being is a doer, a fixer and task oriented. As such he is also control oriented. Neither life itself nor the form of life is inflexible, rather it is a fluid blending of both the masculine and feminine. It is this fluid blending represented in God and Goddess that is the creative intent and purpose of The Divine.
Thus in a manner of speaking, the existence of God and Goddess as equal parts or attributes of The Divine provides our finite human reasoning with an image of The Divine that is comprehendible. Lastly I would ask ... Does it truly matter what we call The Divine or it's attributes of God and Goddess? For they truly know who they are, as well as they know to whom we are referring to in prayer and meditation? Do they not?
Mitakuye Oyasin,
A Guardian and Servant of Spirit,
Silver Eagle
The Divine
Growing up in the Roman Catholic faith, then being married to a Southern Baptist woman, the concept of The Divine, of God, of a Supreme Being and Intelligence or Higher Power, was not something that was or is foreign to me. My understanding was along traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs.
It was through rehab, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Narcotics Anonymous that I discovered it was not necessary to consider other's concept of The Divine or Higher Power. All that was necessary was my own conception and understanding of the existence of this Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe, underlying the totality of all things. The Realm of the Spirit is broad, roomy, all-inclusive and never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek it.
As I stated, with a Judeo-Christian background or foundation, I had an understanding of this Divine as a being called God. Throughout the pages that follow because they have been written at various stages along this present Earth-journey, you will find I will frequently use the terms "The Divine" and "God" interchangeably. Yet in some of my latter writings I will use "God" in a different context, and will leave that to your discernment.
Throughout the world there are many names associated with The Divine. All referring to a supreme and inclusive, universal and eternal, essence and energy, visible and invisible, tangible and intangible. The Divine is all that is, and all that is not. It exists in all things, past, present and future. It is organic, as well as inorganic. "It Is" can just as well describe The Divine, as "I Am" is spoken of within the Old Testament of the Bible. The Divine has no beginning and no ending. It has no form or shape, but is present in all things. It can also be called The Source of all things.
As my studies have transcended beyond traditional Christianity by coming to an awareness or understanding of both Native American and Celtic/Druid beliefs, I now personally call The Divine ... "Spirit". The use of Spirit is consistent with all belief systems that have a divine Higher Power. Furthermore it is consistent with my personal awareness and understanding.
Within Biblical scripture, the Infinite and Eternal being is revealed as God. Purely spiritual, Supreme Personal Intelligence, the Creator and Preserver of all things, the perfect Moral Ruler of the universe.
Here is where I depart from traditional Judeo-Christian teachings and doctrine. The Divine in Native American beliefs is known as "Great Mystery" and within the Celtic/Druid beliefs is known as the "Sacred One." For within Judeo-Christian doctrine, The Divine or "God" is often referred to in the masculine tense. Yet the perfection of The Divine transcends masculine and feminine, and is the embodiment or essence of harmony and balance.
At this point I would like to refer to Steps Two and Three of the Twelve Step Program(s). Step Two, "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Step Three, "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him."
As we look at Step Two as part of the process of Twelve Steps, we are already in a state from the first step that we made an admission of powerless over something, whether it be alcohol, drugs, eating, gambling, etc.. "Just resign from the debating society and quit bothering yourself with such deep questions as whether it was the hen or the egg that came first." This step essentially involves a bit of faith and trust in something other than ourselves.
For some this may equate to looking at the big picture of the entire universe as a collective whole. For others it may be the simple understanding of the growth of an acorn into a majestic oak tree. To many people organized religion is full of hypocrisy, for thirty to ninety minutes one day a week, people act one way and for the remainder of the week, they just might tell you where to go as to smile at you.
All too often we picture a higher power as a celestial Santa Claus, granting us our wishes and desires. Thus when a adversity or obstacle comes along in our path we begin to feel as if our Higher Power, celestial Santa Claus, or God has deserted us. We question why infants die of a diseases, why the person of our dreams wants nothing to do with us, why that person got the promotion before we did. We quite often tend to look at the world around us through our limited perspective, and when that perspective and the actions don't match up we feel hurt, slighted, or unworthy.
"This answer has to do with the quality of faith rather than it quantity. This has been our blind spot. We supposed we had humility when we really didn't. We supposed we had been serious about religious or spiritual (italics mine) practices when, upon honest appraisal, we found we had been only superficial. Or going to the other extreme, we had wallowed in emotionalism and had mistaken it for true religious or spiritual feeling. In both cases, we had been asking something for nothing. The fact was we really hadn't cleaned house so that the grace of God could enter us and expel the obsession."
"Therefore, Step Two is the rallying point for all of us. Whether agnostic, atheist, or former believer, we can stand together on this Step. True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith, and every A.A. meeting is an assurance that God will restore us to sanity if we rightly relate ourselves to Him."
Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." "Practicing Step Three is like the opening of a door which to all appearance is still closed and locked. All we need is a key, and the decision to swing the door open. There is only one key, and it is called willingness. Once unlocked by willingness, the door opens almost of itself, and looking through it, we shall see a pathway beside which is an inscription. It reads: 'This is the way to faith that works.'"
The problem is that we want to be in complete and total control of our lives and not be dependent upon anyone or anything. "How persistently we claim the right to decide all by ourselves just what we shall think and just how we shall act. Oh yes, we'll weigh the pros and cons of every problem. We'll listen politely to those who would advise us, but all the decisions are to be ours alone. Nobody is going to meddle with our personal independence in such matters. Besides, we think, there is no one we can surely trust. We are certain that our intelligence, backed by willpower, can right control our inner lives and guarantee us success in the world we live in. This brave philosophy, wherein each man plays God, sounds good in the speaking, but it still has to meet the acid test: how well does it actually work?"
Note the last clause in Step Three, "as we understood him." As I stated previously, "For some this may equate to looking at the big picture of the entire universe as a collective whole. For others it may be the simple understanding of the growth of an acorn into a majestic oak tree."
This is the critical caveat, our understanding of The Divine, Of Spirit, Of God, or whatever we individually choose as our Higher Power, must be based in reality. How then is an oak tree, majestic as it may be then to be considered as a Higher Power? This is an instance where the actual oak tree is symbolic of that Higher Power, through the representations of its life cycle and biological and physical functions.
The acorn represents the seed of knowledge and understanding. The young sapling represents the growth of that knowledge and understanding as a new creation, still somewhat subject to its surrounding environment. The mature oak tree represents the strength and faith in the knowledge and understanding, as well as beginning to share its knowledge and understanding through the dropping of acorns. Also becoming a home to a diverse realm of other life forms, providing food and shelter.
In summary, restating what was said near the beginning of this section, The Divine is supreme and inclusive, universal and eternal, essence and energy, visible and invisible, tangible and intangible. The Divine is all that is, and all that is not. It exists in all things, past, present and future. It is organic, as well as inorganic. "It Is" can just as well describe The Divine, as "I Am" is spoken of within the Old Testament of the Bible. The Divine has no beginning and no ending. It has no form or shape, but is present in all things. It can also be called The Source of all things.
Mitakuye Oyasin,
A Guardian and Servant of Spirit,
Silver Eagle
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