Hi Mike


>  Hallowed is the 'Olde English" word for "Holy."
> October 31st is probably the most famous usage of the word.  All Hallows
> Eve, or Halloween as the day came to be known, was originally known as
> the eve of All Saints Day, a day celebrating the life of all people of
> the Christian faith.  I don't think paganism originally had anything to
> do with the date.  Right, Trish?
>
        Sorry Mike, Halloween has a purely Pagan begining. It is our "New
Year" Celebration, the third and last harvest, and the day we honor our
beloved dead. It is the New Year because it is the end of the growing season
for that cycle. It is the last harvest, so there are bon fires and feasting,
and it it the day the veil is thinnest between the workds and we can contact
the dead - the table is set withtheir pictures and they recive plates of
food and their pictures are put out and tales of them are told. It is a good
night to do magic. Last Halloween - all the Pagans in the US and the world
that wanted to participate - spent Halloween - helping the dead from 9/11
cross-over and did binding spells on Ben Laden. I have included 2 write ups
from pagans about Halloween. I must also share Fundementalist Christians are
trying to do away with Halloween - go to local Christian bookstore and look
on the shelves and you will at least one chapter in at least one book
decrying the Holiday as pure evil. Truth - Amber and I went into the Jesus
Bookstore to get a gift for one of her friends - and browsed thru the books
- Amber was truly shocked when she read the part about Halloween and stuff
about Pagans. She didn't understand how they could lie like that. I pointed
out to them that was the truth and what they believed, and are not to try to
change their view becasue that is considered harming them. She wanted to
write the authors!! LOL

        I must apologize here for talking about Pagans stuff, but Mike ask -
I recieved a very nasty letter the last time I mentioned Pagan. And was told
basically to never mention it agian and just frankly my very persence would
upset you guys and I was not to upset ya'll. Was completely shocked. I let
Amber read the note and she said - this is stupid and untrue, and then I
thought about all the things I knew about his person and how they speak ill
behind peoples backs and constantly get rid of their friends becasue the are
"forcing" them to things - the whole rant thing suddenly became very clear.
Hence the apology to those who will offended both by the stuff about
Paganism and my very presence.

                                                    Goddess Bless - Trisha
        From Isaac Bonewits
-http://www.neopagan.net/Halloween-Origins-text.html
        Samhuinn, from 31 October to 2 November was a time of no-time.
Celtic society, like all early societies, was highly structured and
organised, everyone knew their place. But to allow that order to be
psychologically comfortable, the Celts knew that there had to be a time when
order and structure were abolished, when chaos could reign. And Samhuinn,
was such a time. Time was abolished for the three days of this festival and
people did crazy things, men dressed as women and women as men. [This
happened at Beltane too - IB] Farmers' gates were unhinged and left in
ditches, peoples' horses were moved to different fields, and children would
knock on neighbours' doors for food and treats in a way that we still find
today, in a watered-down way, in the custom of trick-or-treating on
Hallowe'en.
        But behind this apparent lunacy, lay a deeper meaning. The Druids
knew that these three days had a special quality about them. The veil
between this world and the World of the Ancestors was drawn aside on these
nights, and for those who were prepared, journeys could be made in safety to
the 'other side'. The Druid rites, therefore, were concerned with making
contact with the spirits of the departed, who were seen as sources of
guidance and inspiration rather than as sources of dread. The dark moon, the
time when no moon can be seen in the sky, was the phase of the moon which
ruled this time, because it represents a time in which our mortal sight
needs to be obscured in order for us to see into the other worlds.
        The dead are honoured and feasted, not as the dead, but as the
living spirits of loved ones and of guardians who hold the root-wisdom of
the tribe. With the coming of Christianity, this festival was turned into
Hallowe'en (31 October), All Hallows [All Saints Day] (1 November), and All
Souls Day (2 November). Here we can see most clearly the way in which
Christianity built on the Pagan foundations it found rooted in these isles.
Not only does the purpose of the festival match with the earlier one, but
even the unusual length of the festival is the same.
The Christian Church was unable to get the people to stop celebrating this
holiday, so they simply sprinkled a little holy water on it and gave it new
names, as they did with other Paleopagan holidays and customs. This was a
form of calendrical imperialism, co-opting Paleopagan sacred times, as they
had Paleopagan sacred places (most if not all of the great cathedrals of
Europe were built on top of earlier Paleopagan shrines and sacred groves).
So when Fundamentalists come to your local school board and try to get
Halloween removed from the public schools because "it's a Pagan holiday,"
they are perfectly correct. Of course, Valentine's Day/Lupercalia,
Easter/Eostre, and Christmas/Yule also have many Paleopagan elements
associated with their dating and/or symbols, as the Jehovah's Witnesses and
others have pointed out for decades. So if we decide to rid the public
schools of all holidays that have Pagan aspects to them, there won't be many
left for the kids to enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_np.htm
Celtic Celebration of Samhain in Ancient Times
Samhain (or Samhuinn) is pronounced "sow-in" (with "sow" rhyming with
"cow"). It formed the dividing day between years. It was a time that was
neither in this year or the next. Bonfires were lit - often on the tops of
hills. Samhain was:
        Seen as the beginning of the cold season. It is balanced by the
corresponding seasonal day of celebration called Beltain (or Bealtaine,
Beltaine, etc) which signals the start of summer, 6 months later. Both of
these are fire festivals. The ancient Celts probably held them exactly
mid-way between an equinox (when day and night were equal) and the following
solstice <rel_info.htm> (when the nighttime was shortest or longest). In
ancient times, Samhain would probably have been centered between the Fall
equinox and the Winter solstice <w_solsti.htm>, celebrated about NOV-5 to
NOV-7.
 <<...OLE_Obj...>>      A time when the veil between this world and the next
was at its thinnest. The Celts believed that upon death, everyone went to a
beautiful place free of hunger, pain and disease. It was called "Tir nan
Og", sometimes translated as "Summerland". They had no concept of Heaven and
Hell <heav_hel.htm> like that seen in Christianity. Many believed that two
separate and nearly identical worlds existed. When a person died, they were
transferred to the "ghostworld"; when they were born, they were transferred
from the ghostworld to the mortal one. "The pagan idea used to be that
crucial joints between the seasons opened cracks in the fabric of
space-time, allowing contact between the ghostworld and the mortal one." 2
The Celts celebrated rituals at this time to make contact with their
ancestors who had died before them. This contact was not made in an
atmosphere of dread, fearing some retribution from the dead. Rather it was
done in a spirit of expectation, in the hopes of obtaining guidance from
those in the next world. "The spirits of dead friends sought the warmth of
the Samhain fire and communion with their living kin." 3
        A time when the veil between the present and the future was at its
most transparent. Rituals were performed to foretell future events, through
various methods of divination. The Celts believed that the future could be
predicted most effectively at this time.
        A time when the herds of domesticated animals were brought down from
their summer pasture and culled for the winter. The Celts slaughtered their
weak animals that could not be expected to survive the winter. They reduced
the size of the herds to match the available food supply.
        A time of uninhibited feasting.
 <<...OLE_Obj...>>      A time of increasing nervousness as the days
continued to shorten and as winter approached. There were often questions
whether the food would last until the next harvest.
 <<...OLE_Obj...>>
Neopagan Celebration of Samhain in Modern Times
After the arrival of the Gregorian calendar, Pagans are believed to have
moved Samhain back about a week to OCT-31.
Most modern day Wiccans and Druids have attempted to reconstruct as
accurately as possible, Celtic beliefs, rituals, and other practices. A
Wiccan, or other Neopagan, may celebrate the Sabbat alone, as a solitary
practitioner. Or they might gather with others in a coven, which typically
might include 6 or more adults. A typical celebration of Samhain might
involve:
        Scheduling the celebration to a day near October 31. Wiccans often
avoid Halloween, because of the interruptions from "trick or treaters."
        Decorating their altar with autumn flowers, pine-cones, small
pumpkins, decorative gourds, etc.
        Ritual purification of each participant; they take a solitary bath.

 <<...OLE_Obj...>>      Casting (creating) a sacred circle within which
their ceremonies are conducted. The circle is usually marked with four
candles of various colors aligned at the four cardinal directions. The
purpose of the circle is to confine the Wiccans' healing powers within it.
It is not created to provide protection against demonic powers as some
Cowans (non-Wiccans) have suggested.
        Performing rituals of divination to predict the future. This may
involve tarot cards, runes, I Ching, etc.
 <<...OLE_Obj...>>      Performing rituals to contact loved ones who have
died. ''There is a recognition of our close ties with our ancestors and a
recognition that the veils between the worlds are thin at this time of
year." 9 They do not perform séances, as do Spiritualists. They do not
summon or order back the dead. "They do, however, believe that, if the dead
themselves wish it, they will return at the Sabbat to share in the love and
celebration of the occasion." 4
        Consecrating and sharing cakes and wine (or perhaps muffins and
cider)
        Banishing (or closing or grounding) the circle.
Because of the fear of attacks from misinformed Cowans these rituals had
been rarely performed in public. However, in recent years, an increasing
number of Neopagans have been coming out of the (broom) closet and
performing public rituals for all to enjoy.