Halloween...and Me

Being that the majority of my family weren't born here we never really knew what halloween was until we got to the U.S. We don't celebrate thanksgiving, 4th of July, Halloween or any of those other "American" holidays because well we aren't American. Now Halloween isn't really mentioned in my family at least not in Peru but to some latin americans and Mexicans its known as "El Dia de Los Muertos" ("Day of the Dead"), I remember my grandma told me we shouldn't celebrate it because it's the devils holiday and participating in it would be celebrating the devil...all that was forgotten once entered the school system and adapted to the American life. I went out trick or treating and as I got older did whatever else people did on Halloween depending on your age, I stopped thinking so much of what it meant and stood for and looked at all the fun and events that happen on that day...so in a way to me it wasn't that I was celebrating the devil it was more that I was just participating in extra activities that happen on that day much like events that happen on the 4th of July.
As I got older, like with every other holiday, I didnt pay too much attention to it nor did I do much to participate in it. This year how ever I am torn. My grandma passed away and she always wanted me to be more religious and for a long time I have gone back and forth about attending church and taking that big step and being committed. Well now that Halloween comes a long...I am at a crossroads. As I was telling a friend about a halloween party I MAY throw together, she tells me she's sorry she won't attend bc of her religious beliefs...she pretty much said everything my grandma said to be years before. For the rest of the day I thought about it. I read up on the origins of Halloween... so far here are some highlights...

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
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. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

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 1 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. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make 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.
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