Joshua Dowidat

All Saint’s Day: A Wrap up for Halloween

 

Hello Everyone,

Thought I would use another place this week to kind of wrap up the Halloween blogs with a holiday that coincides. That would be All Saint’s Day. As some of you already know, whether you learned it form my blogs or from previous sources, All Saint’s Day is a part of the original three day celebration.

All Saint’s Day:

The holiday is usually celebrated on the 1st of November yet this date can change from the different Christian traditions. It is basically a day reserved for praying for the souls in heaven and acts as a date to commemorate the deceased and their lives. Saints of the Christian faiths are particularly observed on this day, hence the name all Saint’s day.

Traditions of Celebration:

Many traditions change in their ways of celebrating the holiday and observing the deceased. Most customs that share similarities are the nagging Continue reading →

Halloween: Jack-o’-lanterns

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to address the Halloween subject of carving pumpkins or also known as Jack-o’-lanterns. It is not often we hear the term, Jack-o’-lanterns, anymore but I guess times change.

Origin of Jack-o’-lanterns :

Well before they were Jack-o’-lanterns they were called will-o’-the-wisp. At least in the old folklore’s of England and other parts of Western Europe. This started around the mid to late 1600s. The term “Jack” just replaced “Will” but they meant virtually the same thing. One was of the torch. Will of the torch, and the other of the lantern, Jack. It was based off the lighting phenomenon that occurs but the will-o’-the ‘wisp was most commonly just a torch. I know it’s confusing but it slowly grew from a standard torch, a bundle of sticks and what not, to the surrounding vessel that contained the flame.

The carvings from the pumpkins was not original Continue reading →

Samhain: A Festival, a Tradition

Hello Everyone,

Since I have been mentioning it in several of the last blogs I thought I would share a little information about Samhain. As many people know, because they have heard it before or read some of my previous posts, Samhain has a lot of relevance to Halloween. A topic I have been focusing on this month.

What is Samhain?

Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and celebrating the beginning of the darker half of the year. It is traditionally celebrated from sunset of October 31st to the sunset of November 1st. This marks a Gaelic day in full cycle.

It is one of the four seasonal Gaelic festivals that also include Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh. All of which celebrate or mark the beginning or ends of seasons in the Gaelic cycles. Samhain just happens to fall on Halloween or Continue reading →