Halloween Hodgepodge

 The history of Halloween is steeped rich in pagan customs, traditions and rituals. While the roots of this holiday can be dated back to the 5th century BC and Celtic legends, the seed of the holdiay was planted in Greek mythology through the portrayal of the goddesses invoking the Samhain.

 

The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture and was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for the winter season. 

 

Brief History of Halloween:

The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.

One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.

Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish outfits (similar to today's Halloween Costumes, and noisily parade around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess.

For more explanations and legends, please visit: http://wilstar.com/holidays

Halloween Superstitions:

Halloween superstitions are fairly modern concepts with a trace of ancient inferences. The following superstitions are mainly recognized during the Halloween holiday:

• Black Cats - Often used as symbols of bad luck, black cats grace many Halloween decorations. The black cat's bad reputation dates back to the Dark Ages, when witch hunts were commonplace. Elderly, solitary women were often accused of witchcraft, and their pet cats were said to be their "familiars," or demonic animals that had been given to them by the devil.
• Bats - Medieval folklore also described bats as witches' familiars, and seeing a bat on Halloween was considered to be quite an ominous sign. One myth was that if a bat was spotted flying around one's house three times, it meant that someone in that house would soon die. Another myth was that if a bat flew into your house on Halloween, it was a sign that your house was haunted because ghosts had let the bat in.
• Witches - The stereotypical image of the haggard witch with a pointy black hat and warty nose stirring a magical potion in her cauldron actually stems from a pagan goddess known as "the crone," who was honored during Samhain. The crone was also known as "the old one" and the "Earth mother," who symbolized wisdom, change, and the turning of the seasons. Today, the kind, all-knowing old crone has morphed into the menacing, cackling witch.
• Halloween Colors - The traditional Halloween colors of orange and black actually stem from the pagan celebration of autumn and the harvest, with orange symbolizing the colors of the crops and turning leaves, while black marks the "death" of summer and the changing season. Over time, green, purple and yellow have also been introduced into the color scheme of Halloween decorations.
• Candy Corn - The candy most synonymous with Halloween, candy corn was invented in the late 1880s and began to be mass-produced in the early 1900s. The original process for making candy corn was cumbersome and time-consuming, as each color of syrup had to be heated up in large vats and carefully poured by hand into specially shaped molds. But the yellow, orange and white candy — meant to resemble a corn kernel — was a huge hit and remains a popular part of Halloween to this day.    

 

 

For more information about Halloween Superstitions, please visit: http://www.livescience.com/16677-halloween-superstitions-traditions.html

 

Halloween Legends:

 

There are various legends associated with the holiday known as Halloween and many believe certain things can transpire if precautions are not taken. Here are just a few of those legends:

 

• A burning a candle inside a jack-o-lantern on Halloween keeps evil spirits and demons at bay.

• Gazing into a flame of a candle on Halloween night will enable you to peer into the future.    
 
• Girls who carry a lamp to a spring of water on this night can see their future husband in the reflection.

• If a candle suddenly goes out by itself on Halloween, as though by breath or wind, it is believed that a ghost has come to call.

For more information on Halloween legends, please visit http://www.theholidayspot.com.htm

 

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

 



 Today, Halloween is mainly recognized by Western Christians, but is celebrated worldwide by many non-Christians as well. From trick or treating to eerie adult activities, Halloween - which is relatively new to America, becoming popular in the early 1900's -  is commonly the most celebrated holiday, next to Christmas. This holiday, which received its beginnings from paganistic ideals, has been converted into a day filled with pranks, satisfying the sweet tooth and a fun-filled expectation of celebrating in disguise.

 

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

Religion of the Pagan

Paganism typically refers to religious traditions which are polytheistic or indigenous and dates back almost to beginning of historical mankind. The Christian perspective of Paganism historically encompasses all non–Abrahamic religions. The term pagan is a Christian adaptation of the "gentile" of Judaism, and as such has an inherent Abrahamic bias, and pejorative connotations among monotheists, comparable to heathen and infidel. Words such as kafir and mushrik are similarly used by Muslims.  

(The following excerpts below were taken from theurbanpagan.com)  

"Pagan" means different things to different people.

At its broadest, Pagan religion can be defined as any religion that is neither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslim, or even irreligious or hedonistic. (Dictionary.com). However, through common usage, the term has come to mean a practitioner of any earth-based or polytheistic religion. The less used (and marginally more accurate) term for this is "Neopaganism" or the "Neopagan Movement".  

"Pagan" is closely associated, and often used interchangeably, with "Wiccan". However, the two words do not have exactly the same meaning. Wicca is a slightly more specific term, and has been in the news and public eye a fair amount in the past several years. Wicca is a somewhat formalized system of religion that follows a Neopagan framework, but not all Pagans are Wiccan.  

 

I define Paganism as a religious or spiritual faith, primarily defined by respect for the Earth and the cycle of nature, with an understanding that mankind is an integral part of the natural order. A Pagan is someone who follows the beliefs of Paganism. These are fairy broad definitions. Each Pagan tradition varies in the way it treats these basic doctrines.  

Traditions are the various "churches" of Wicca and many other Pagan religions. Each Tradition has its own rituals, initiations and opinions about how things "should" be done.

Brief History of Modern Pagan Religion:  

The Wiccan religion was first openly practiced in England in the 1954 by Gerald Gardner. It was spread into the US in the 1960s by Raymond Buckland, founder of Seax-Wicca. Anyone interested in the details of the history of Wicca can read more about it here. Those who claim to be a Pagan, rather than strictly Wiccan, would not want to speak too strongly on this matter.

There are two major branches of Wicca: Traditional and Eclectic. Traditional Wicca is a Mystery Religion, meaning that the deeper meaning of rituals and certain practices are hidden from the outside world. Most of the Traditional Wicca groups include a decreed initiation system, perform rituals skyclad, and worship both God and Goddess. Eclectic Wicca is harder to define, since the beliefs and practices are always subject to interpretation and alteration. However, Eclectic Wicca is basically an all-purpose term applied to Neo-Wiccan traditions that generally do not fit into any specific category. Eclectic Wiccans generally follow a solitary path, but there are some covens that proclaim to be of this elusive group.

The biggest issue early Wiccans faced was a complete lack of knowledge of their faith by the general public. In the western world of the day, it was generally believed you where Christian, or you were wrong. Other faith generally didn't even enter into the equation. Even the Jewish faith was barely tolerated in most communities. The general public not only didn't know about faiths other than their own, they didn't want to know, and weren't given any reason to need to know.  

Today's Pagan faces a different challenge. Rather than the uniformed ignorance of years past, today there is a massive amount of false [and partly true] information about the Pagan Religion in the media. I'm not talking about slanted documentaries that can be found on educational TV, although those can be bad enough. I'm talking about what movies and popular television are "teaching" people about Paganism through movies like The Craft and Practical Magic, and through TV shows like Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I often say the trying to learn Magic or Paganism from these stories is like trying to learn Catholicism from The Exorcist and John Carpenter's Vampires. The image of Magic, Wicca and Paganism presented by Hollywood is very different than the way it is in the real world.  

For more information about Paganism, please visit the following links: 

Wikipedia: Paganism,
BBC Religions: Paganism,
Religious Tolerance: Paganism

 

Pre-Historic Mankind

While the scientists geologically proclaim the planet to be billions of years old, the timeline of mankind purports to be anywhere from 100,000 to 500,000 years old. According to pre-historic chronologies, the historical aspect of mankind reports about 6,000 years. It is a known fact that history can sometimes cause contradiction and confliction, such as the creation/evolution debate that has been going on for some time now, so actual facts are lacking when researching pre-historic mankind.
 

Stone-Age man

When researching the aspects of pre-history it is restricted to material processes, remains and artifacts rather than written records, which makes the findings of pre-history somewhat anonymous. In addition, human pre-history differs from history (the written form) because it deals with the activities of archaeological cultures instead of  nations or individuals. Pre-history is commonly divided into three  consecutive time periods - Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age - which are named for their respective predominant tool-making technologies. The terms are modern labels that are often subject to debate. It is interesting to note that marking the end of pre-history varies according to culture and region [ie: in Egypt it is generally accepted that pre-history ended around 3200 BC, whereas in New Guinea it is set much more recently at around 1900 AD]. 

However, the Bronze Age is reported to begin around the third millennium BC, after the creation of historical mankind [Adam and Eve] and the Iron Age is reported to begin after the Bronze era. These Ages of Man brought about the period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacturing of some implements and weapons. Besides the widespread use of bronze tools and weapons, this  period continued development of pictogramic  or ideogramic symbols and proto-writing.      

Form of Cuneiform

Although the Iron Age (which was marked by the prevalent use of iron and steel)  generally followed the Bronze Age, in some cultures it is believed the Iron Age intruded directly on the Neolithic period, bypassing the Bronze Age completely. The controversy states that some cultures differed in their development of the first writing. According to archaeological evidence, certain cultures in Egypt (hieroglyphs), the Near East  (cuneiform)  and the Mediterranean (Linear B) had viable writing systems. The Bronze Age is the earliest period for which we have direct written accounts, since the invention of writing coincides with its early beginnings. Hence, the Historical period was ushered in.

STONE AGE

 

Neanderthal Man

The Stone Age is divided into three periods: Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. The Paleolithic is the earliest period of the Stone Age and begins with the first use of stone and bone tools. The earliest known human-like creature, Homo Erectus, appeared during the early part of the Paleolithic era about 500,000 to one million years ago. The next pre-historic man was called the Homo Sapiens originated some 200,000 years ago and it is believed that the modern language capacity was born during this time period. During the latter part of Paleolithic, the Neanderthal (who were reputed to live in caves and make cave drawings) and Cro-Magnon man (who made houses from animal skins, made cave drawings and used clay to make pots) made an appearance between 100,000 and 40,000 years ago. Both pre-historic humanoids were credited with the systematic burial of the dead, making music and creating art. They were known as a small nomadic race of hunter-gatherers whose society had an abundance of resources and food-storage techniques. 

 

The Mesolithic period (c/18,000-9,500 BC) began at the end of the Pleistocene epoch and was a time of primitive technology exploration. This time period was credited with the invention of flint tools, fishing tackle and objects made from wood (ie: bows and canoes). It was during this era that the transition from hunting and gathering food to growing crops transpired. Remains and artifacts from this time slot is few and far between and often limited to middens.

 

The Neolithic period (c/8,000-4,500 BC) was the last period of the Stone Age and saw development of primitive technology and social behavior. During this era of time villages, agriculture, and the earliest recorded incidents of warfare were introduced.  The use of farming animals and copper tools were also utilized. The Sumerians were said to be one of the earliest race of people during the last period of the Stone Age.



The Sassi di Matera (meaning "stones of Matera") are prehistoric cave
dwellings in the Italian city of Matera, Basilicata
 

French archaelolgist Paul Tournal originally coined the term "ante-historique" in describing the finds he had made in the caves of southern France in 1830; the word "prehistoric" was later introduced into the English language in 1851 by Sir Daniel Wilson (Canadian archaeologist, ethnologist and author.). With the occurence of written materials, ideals on prehistoric mankind generally varies in cultures and classified within either the late Bronze Age or the early Iron Age.

 

 Many historians do not restrict themselves to evidence from written records; they rely on evidence found within natural and social sciences. In doing so, the destinction between the terms "history" and "pre-history" are sometimes blurred. While pre-history has many scenarios and theologies about the timeline of pre-historic mankind, most scholars agree that pre-history refers to the vast span of time since the beginning of the Universe and the  time preceding modern human existence and the invention of writing. 

 

The Lukewarm Church

The following excerpt was taken from the blog:  "Bible Prophecy - Signposts of the Times"

http://signpostsofthetimes.blogspot.com/2012/03/12000-relate-to-osteens-pep-talk.html

12,000 relate to Osteen's pep talk

Prophecy Sign: The lukewarm Church of the last days

One of the major signs of the end will be the wishy washy lukewarm apostate form of Christianity which will be the hallmark of the last days. Case in point is the feel good seeker friendly prosperity gospel of such Christian leaders as Joel Osteen.

While we would never question anyone's faith who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ, (that is the job of Christ himself when he judges us all), we will however make light of the unbiblical nature of their teachings.

Olsteen at his Lakewood Church in Houston, TX

In Joel Osteen’s case, he preaches a prosperity theology that says that you can have it all when you subscribe to Osteen’s gospel message. However Jesus Christ warned that such teaching only produces a form of Christianity that is despicable to Christ himself. In the book of Revelation, the last day’s church of Laodicea was warned that due to its lukewarm state of riches and wealth, Jesus would spew out those Christians from his presence. Jesus knew that these prosperity material wealth seeking Christians were spiritually bankrupt and needed more than worldly wealth.

It would be interesting to know if Joel Osteen has ever given an altar call at any of his massively sold out motivational seminars, (notice we don't call them Christian evangelism meetings). Would Joel Osteen even know how to pray for a group of people seeking personal salvation?


To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Revelation 3:14-17 NIV

From the article:

For more than two hours, Pastor Joel Osteen wrapped 12,000 people in a warm embrace at the Times Union Center with his massively successful brand of feel-good "prosperity theology." He declared that the event, his first visit to upstate New York and a near sell-out with an end-of-arena stage configuration, was meant to "throw out seeds of hope that will take root in your heart." Backed by a rock band and a heavily produced show that was more Broadway than tent revival, his message traded fire and brimstone for the equivalent of a corporate motivational speech. He was all praise and no damnation. The 49-year-old pastor of the non-denominational Lakewood Church in Houston delivered a high-energy spiritual pep talk that had the audience — many came in large groups and wore matching colorful T-shirts with the names of their local Christian churches — swaying, dancing, extending a raised palm in a gesture of praise and shouting "Amen!"

12,000 relate to Osteen's pep talk
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/12-000-relate-to-Osteen-s-pep-talk-3414083.php

Posted byDuane/Shelley Muir at 7:57 PM 
Labels: Apostate Church

comments:


Kelstal April 27, 2012 2:56 PM

I will agree, the charsmatic persona of this "motivational speaker" defines a 'Lukewarm' church. I lost all respect for this American Christian leader when he was interviewed by Larry King and Mr. King asked, "Was you named for the prophet Joel?" and Mr. Osteen flippantly replied, "You know, Larry, I have been asked that before and never knew there was a 'prophet Joel' in the Bible." whatever else Joel Osteen said, I cannot remember as I was in total shock that THIS man had NEVER heard of the prophet Joel from the Old Testament? Sad world we live in. I would like to invite you to view my Blog, Who's ? Right. Although, I am just beginning my Blog, I think you may find it interesting.

www.whos-right-kelstal.blogspot.com

Duane/Shelley Muir May 2, 2012 8:56 AM

Yes, we did visit your blog, and did find it very informative and interesting. Do keep up the good work. May God richly bless you.