Trick or Treat thru J-Land

  

Blinkie J-Land tag made by Mandy of  http://journals.aol.com/mmartinez07/UnhappilyEverAfter

 

Have you ever asked yourself: What is Halloween and why do people celebrate it?!  Many people think Halloween is the day of the devil, that it is evil, and that we have no business celebrating it, because the devil is bad and we should stay away from bad things!!

Actually, "hallow" means a saint or a holy person. In 835 AD, the Catholic Church declared November 1st as Hallow's Day or All Saints Day. Thus, the evening before was known as Hallow's Eve, or Halloween as we know it today. The day after All Saints Day was known as All Souls Day (November 2), which is now known as the Day of the Dead. Although most people only celebrate Halloween, it is actually a three day celebration and an example of superstition struggling with religion.

The Celts celebrate their new year on October 31st instead of January 1st. The reason for this is that the weather changes from fall into winter and the hours of darkness are longer. The Celts believed that on October 31st, the spirits are at their weakest and somehow find themselves coming back to earth, so to scare them away, they would build fires and dance around them, believing that fire and the noise would protect them from witches and evil spirits.

They would also disguise themselves with masks and attire to trick the witches and the evil spirits into believing that they were one of them so as to escape their evil intentions or being put under their spell.

  The Irish would make lanterns by hollowing out a pumkin, turnip or potato and put a candle in it. Here, again, is the belief of fire for protection. The legend is that the jack-o-latern was named after a man called Jack who could not enter into heaven but could not enter into hell, because he would play tricks on the devil. Thus the nursery rhyme: Jack be nimble, Jack be quick. Jack jump over the candle stick. It was believed that Jack had to go to purgatory, because he couldnt go to either heaven or hell, so he was sent to purgatory to pay for his sins before his soul could go to heaven. Some people still jump over a lit candlestick (fire) for luck.

Some people would hold a lit candle from 11:00 to midnight. They believed that if the candle burned steadily, they would be protected for the season, but if the witches blew the candle out, the omen was very bad indeed.

 Ever since Adam and Eve, the apple has long been regarded as the fruit of love. For the unmarried, the apple became a tool of divination for a future spouse. The apple was carefully peeled (without breaking up the peel) and then, the peel was thrown over the left shoulder. The peel was believed to show the initial of the future spouse. Another variation was to look into a mirror at midnight, while eating an apple and holding a lit candle, and if fate allowed, they would see the reflection of their future spouse in the mirror. Still another variation of the apple was to sleep with an apple under your pillow so that you could see your future spouse in your dreams.

Another variation of the mirror was to carefully walk backwards on a flight of stairs while holding a lit candle and looking in a hand mirror. It was believed that the face of the future spouse would appear in the mirror. So if you are looking for love, make sure you have your mirror, your lit candles, and your apples handy and make sure you can do a balancing act with all of them!!!

                   

As for tricks, Halloween was also known as mischief day, although in England, Mischief Day is celebrated on November 4th. It was a day when boys would mischieviously whitewash doors, take off door hinges, and play other tricks on the vendors.

As for treats, instead of going caroling as in Christmas, the poor would go "souling." Because they had no money, they would bake small cakes called "soul cakes," because they would offer people little cakes in exchange for prayers, to get others to pray for the souls of their deceased relatives.

This is a little bit of trivia that you may or might not know. I hope it puts a little more perspective on the holiday that Halloween has nothing to do with the devil.

I had never seen how much the Day of the Dead is celebrated by the Mexican people, until I came to the Valley, but I will talk more about that later.

So for now, happy haunting and happy dreams! I hope you see the image of your lover in the mirror on Halloween.

P.S. I never expected my "I hear voices and they dont like you" shirt to attract anybody. I dont normally wear T-Shirts out in public, but I thought it would be fun to wear it today. So I am looking for a book called "The Alchemist" at Barnes and Noble to read to my Reading Clubs, and this guy makes a comment about my shirt. Today, I met Tony.

 

P.S. I found this in another journal. See directions below!!!

Make a journal entry titled "Trick Or Treat Through J-Land" and copy these instructions so others can play along.
Visit as many journals as you can with the "Trick or Treat Through J-Land" title and leave them your link. 
Please always leave your link anyway when you visit a journal. Hopefully all those who actively participate will get many trick or treaters and meet some new J-Land pals!

Happy Haunting! 

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