The History of Halloween or Samhain, Day of the Dead

Halloween or Samhain had its beginnings in an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of the dead. The Celtic peoples, who were once found all over Europe, divided the year by four major holidays. According to their calendar, the year began on a day corresponding to Nov. 1 on our present calendar. The date marked the beginning of winter. Since they were pastoral people, it was a time when cattle and sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored. The date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle. Samhain The festival observed at this time was called Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween). It was the biggest and most significant holiday of the Celtic year. The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain, more so than any other time of the year, the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living, because at Samhain the souls of those who had died during the year traveled into the otherworld. People gathered to sacrifice animals, fruits, and vegetables. They also lit bonfires in honor of the dead, to aid them on their journey, and to keep them away from the living. On that day all manner of beings were abroad: ghosts, fairies, and demons--all part of the dark and dread. How Samhain Became Halloween Samhain became the Halloween we are familiar with when Christian missionaries attempted to change the religious practices of the Celtic people. In the early centuries of the first millennium A.D., before missionaries such as St. Patrick and St. Columcille converted them to Christianity, the Celts practiced an elaborate religion through their priestly caste, the Druids, who were priests, poets, scientists and scholars all at once. As religious leaders, ritual specialists, and bearers of learning, the Druids were not unlike the very missionaries and monks who were to Christianize their people and brand them evil devil worshippers. Pope Gregory the First As a result of their efforts to wipe out pagan holidays, such as Samhain, the Christians succeeded in effecting major transformations in it. In 601 A.D. Pope Gregory the First issued a now famous edict to his missionaries concerning the native beliefs and customs of the peoples he hoped to convert. Rather than try to obliterate native peoples customs and beliefs, the pope instructed his missionaries to use them: if a group of people worshiped a tree, rather than cut it down, he advised them to consecrate it to Christ and allow its continued worship. In terms of spreading Christianity, this was a brilliant concept and it became a basic approach used in Catholic missionary work. Church holy days were purposely set to coincide with native holy days. Christmas, for instance, was assigned the arbitrary date of December 25th because it corresponded with the mid-winter celebration of many peoples. Likewise, St. Johns Day was set on the summer solstice. Good Vs Evil - Druids, Christians, and Samhain Samhain, with its emphasis on the supernatural, was decidedly pagan. While missionaries identified their holy days with those observed by the Celts, they branded the earlier religions supernatural deities as evil and associated them with the devil. As representatives of the rival religion, Druids were considered evil worshippers of devilish or demonic gods and spirits. The Celtic underworld inevitably became identified with the Christian Hell. The effects of this policy were to diminish but not totally eradicate the beliefs of the traditional gods. Celtic belief in supernatural creatures persisted, while the church made deliberate attempts to define them as being not merely dangerous, but malicious. Followers of the old religion went into hiding and were branded as witches. Feast of All Saints The Christian feast of All Saints was assigned to No. 1. The day honored every Christian saint, especially those that did not otherwise have a special day devoted to them. This feast day was meant to substitute for Samhain, to draw the devotion of the Celtic peoples, and, finally, to replace it forever. That did not happen, but the traditional Celtic deities diminished in status, becoming fairies or leprechauns of more recent traditions. The old beliefs associated with Samhain never died out entirely. The powerful symbolism of the traveling dead was too strong, and perhaps too basic to the human psyche, to be satisfied with the new, more abstract Catholic feast honoring saints. Recognizing that something that would subsume the original energy of Samhain was necessary, the church tried again to supplant it with a Christian feast day in the 9th century. This time it established November 2nd as All Souls Day -a day when the living prayed for the souls of all the dead. But, once again, the practice of retaining traditional customs while attempting to redefine them had a sustaining effect: the traditional beliefs and customs lived on, in new guises. All Saints Day - All Hallows All Saints Day, otherwise known as All Hallows (hallowed means sanctified or holy), continued the ancient Celtic traditions. The evening prior to the day was the time of the most intense activity, both human and supernatural. People continued to celebrate All Hallows Eve as a time of the wandering dead, but the supernatural beings were now thought to be evil. The folk continued to propitiate those spirits (and their masked impersonators) by setting out gifts of food and drink. Subsequently, All Hallows Eve became Hallow Evening, which became Halloween--an ancient Celtic, pre-Christian New Years Day in contemporary dress. Many supernatural creatures became associated with All Hallows. In Ireland, fairies were numbered among the legendary creatures who roamed on Halloween. An old folk ballad called Allison Gross tells the story of how the fairy queen saved a man from a witchs spell on Halloween. Allison Gross O Allison Gross, that lives in yon towerthe ugliest witch int he North Country...Shes turned me into an ugly wormand gard me toddle around a tree...But as it fell out last Hallow evenWhen the seely [fairy] court was riding by,the Queen lighted down on a gowany bankNot far from the tree where I wont to lie...Shes change me again to my own proper shapeAnd I no more toddle about the tree. In old England, cakes were made for the wandering souls, and people went a soulin for these soul cakes. Halloween, a time of magic, also became a day of divination, with a host of magical beliefs: for instance, if persons hold a mirror on Halloween and walk backward down the stairs to the basement, the face that appears in the mirror will be their next lover. Halloween - Celtic Day of the Dead Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To this day, witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the favorite disguises. Halloween also retains some features that harken back to the original harvest holiday of Samhain, such as the customs of bobbing for apples and carving vegetables, as well as the fruits, nuts, and spices cider associated with the day. Modern Halloween Today Halloween is becoming once again and adult holiday or masquerade, like Mardi Gras. Men and women in every disguise imaginable are taking to the streets of big American cities and parading past grinningly carved, candlelit jack olanterns, re-enacting customs with a lengthy pedigree. Their masked antics challenge, mock, tease and appease the dread forces of the night, of the soul, and of the otherworld that becomes our world on this night of reversible possibilities, inverted roles, and transcendency. In so doing, they are reaffirming death and its place as a part of life in an exhilarating celebration of a holy and magic evening.

Stem Education ( Science, Technology, Engineering And...

STEM Education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is one of the most profound aspects of education today and it is moving the world forward in research. However, in the STEM occupations, there is a gender gap and underrepresentation of women in the field. For this research, the gender gap (with women) in STEM education/careers and how it can be reduced will be examined. Furthermore, it has been hypothesized if teachers encourage and support girls who want to go into STEM education, it will promote more women to go into STEM careers in the future. Moreover, the following ten literature reviews will strive to support the hypotheses. In a journal article, it discusses the progression of STEM, a study that was conducted that focused on the conceptions of STEM from faculty members and how the faculty members perceived STEM. For the methodology of the study, the researchers conducted a quantitative study by emailing the faculty members two survey questions: â€Å"What is S TEM? How does STEM influence and/or impact your life† (Breiner, Harkness, Johnson, Koehler, 2012, p. 4). For the analysis, each researcher independently read the responses and coded them according to their own schematic (null relationship, personal reasons, and societal issues) (Breiner et al., 2012, p.5). As a result, â€Å"in response to research question #1, What is STEM? 72.5% (161 of 222) of the respondents described STEM as it related to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, yet theShow MoreRelatedStem Education : Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics1220 Words   |  5 Pages Most schools now are pushing for students to have a STEM education only believing that it prepares them for the world that’s becoming highly competitive and complex. When coming across STEM education what your thoughts? Why do people like STEM and what’s the objective of STEM? STEM is based on four curriculums – science, technology, engineering, an d mathematics. STEM integrates the four into an organized learning template based on real-world applications. It’s showing students how to apply theRead More100kin10 Goals798 Words   |  4 Pageswell-qualified mathematics and science teachers in ten years. Through the efforts of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Opportunity Equation, 100Kin10 was launched to meet the President’s challenge. The 100Kin10 goal was to help train and retain STEM teachers by bringing together various sectors (i.e. federal, corporate, universities, and nonprofits). By August 2013, 100Kin10 had raised over $53 million and was committed to train 40,000 teachers by 2016 (National Science Board, 2014). TheRead MoreStudents Should Not Be A Cause For Student Boredom846 Words   |  4 PagesMany students in the United States lack the motivation to be engaged or involved in STEM programs such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In today’s high schools, the major ity of students are losing interest in the curriculum since they are becoming bored and uninterested in classrooms; therefore, this may result in a negative classroom environment where students are not paying attention or are doing other things besides classwork. There are multiple reasons that can be a causeRead MoreWomen : A Modern Day Revolution1483 Words   |  6 Pagesare independent breadwinners for their families. In education, modern day young women have pushed through boundaries and are doing just as well if not better that their young male counterparts in educational achievements and earn advanced degrees. Regardless of these advancements, women still trail behind their male peers with respect to education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The support of women STEM students is imperative not only for our nation to growRead MoreThe Education Of The Public Education763 Words   |  4 PagesAbstract Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum in schools is undergoing a revolution in public education. This revolution is sparked by an increase in federal funding over the last decade. Between the years of 2011 and 2015, the federal government alone invested between three and 3.7 billion dollars yearly for STEM education (Johnson, 2012) (White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2014) and new STEM educational instructional strategies (Bruce-Dacis, GubbinsRead MoreInvestigation Based Stem Professional Development For Elementary Teachers1461 Words   |  6 Pages, Pfiester, J. (2013). Teacher STEM perception and preparation: Inquiry-based STEM professional development for elementary teachers. The Journal of Educational Research, 106(2), 157–168. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher attitude, efficacy, and knowledge of STEM integration at the elementary level. During the study, professional development was provided . . . to increase and improve teacher perceptions and understanding of STEM curriculum and instruction. RelatedRead MoreDisparity Between Males And Women In The Education System1731 Words   |  7 Pages Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) job industries are clearly a minority group as opposed to males. And each of these statistics above has been used to analyze and raise awareness about the discrepancy between genders within STEM occupations. However, there seems to be lesser research on the education system that feeds into these work opportunities. It is vital to note that the disadvantage for women in STEM starts well before they enter the workforce; it starts whenRead MoreWhy Are There So Few Women Of The Math And Science Professions? Essay1532 Words   |  7 Pagesthere so few women in the math and science professions? Sommers’ reviews the history of women’s involvement in science. In the nineteenth century, women’s accesses to education and opportunities for employment in science had greatly improved. (2009: 61) The systematic and differential filtration of women in STEM careers has received a great deal of attention from leading theorists and researchers who are trying to understand why women are not participating in STEM activities as compared to men. (FouadRead MoreToys : Toys Affect Their Gender1073 Words   |  5 Pagesexample, The STEM fields or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education fields have been predominately dominated by men, and the number of women in these fields is not growing. A 2011 report from the Economics Statistics Administration found only one in seven engineers is a women. The US Department of Commerce found, women today hold only twenty seven percent of all computer science jobs, which means men hold seventy three percent of all comput er jobs, and women with a STEM degree are lessRead MoreThe Popular Celebration Of Pi Day1208 Words   |  5 Pagesactivity, but it contributes to a celebration that feeds into an imbalance in the American education system. The existence of this math-centered holiday shows that schools revere STEM, a catch-all acronym for science, technology, engineering and math, but other uncelebrated subjects may not be regarded so highly. The popular celebration of Pi Day in American schools reflects how increased emphasis on STEM education is linked to the de-emphasis of the visual arts in U.S. public school systems to the detriment

A Comparison between ‘Second Wind’ and ‘Alive!’ Free Essays

I have been working on a piece of Drama called ‘Alive! ‘ based on the story of a South American team being stranded in the Andes for days desperately trying to stay alive, living on little rations and hope with the group having many mixed emotions in the dilemma at hand. I will be comparing this with the novel ‘Second Wind’ which is a thrilling novel about two BBC meteorologists wanting to go into the heart of a hurricane in the States but crash on a isolated Caribbean island. The Historic period of both pieces is very similar as both are quite contemporary being set in the 1970’s, we can see that it is very contemporary in ‘Alive! ‘ through the clothes we wear. We will write a custom essay sample on A Comparison between ‘Second Wind’ and ‘Alive!’ or any similar topic only for you Order Now But there are differences like ‘Alive! ‘ being set in the Andes and ‘Second Wind’ being set in the Caribbean. Our piece is set over a period of a few months but ‘Second Wind’ is set over many months, possibly a year or so. The Society in the two pieces is very different but do have a few similarities with ‘Alive! having young inexperienced youths trying to survive in a desolate mountain range, for example we have the characters that have very different views, people who want to survive like Antonio and escape the mountains and then there are other pessimistic views like Eduardo who think that they are already doomed and there is no hope at all of them surviving, we se this in the scene when the group decide that no one is coming to rescue them and he declares he knew this all along. And in ‘Second Wind’ we have characters like Michael and Perry who want to escape the Island while helping other people to survive this is very similar to Antonio taking the lead of the group and helping others to survive until help arrives. But like Eduardo Kathy in ‘Second Wind’ she to thinks that they are all doomed. In ‘Second Wind’ the characters are split with the meteorologists and the rest of the crew and the entrepreneurs on the other side. In our piece there is some division between within the group but they manage to stick together and get rescued. There are many similarities in the style of both pieces, firstly the most obvious is the tragedy of being wrecked in an abandoned place where no one ever visiting meaning less chance of survival. Both pieces show naturalism within them as both pieces reflect the effect on a deserted island or mountain range, as in ‘Alive! there is lots feelings of lost hope, but in ‘Second Wind’ there is a lot calm reflection we can see this as lots of times we have Perry thinking back to when he was young and playing with his grandmother this reflection can also be seen in ‘Alive! ‘ as there monologues that refer to the thoughts and memories to the stranded victims, this made him happy and forget his dilemma, but he would also come back to realisation. But we must take into account that ‘Second Wind’ is a novel so lots of creative techniques like reflection would help the reader feel the effect of the crash, but in ‘Alive! we use sound and lighting effects this helps visualize the piece, also with a dramatic piece you can see the characters and be drawn into them and feel part of the scene. To conclude there are many similarities between the two pieces such as the historic period, a bit of society and the style. There is also the huge similar theme of a tragedy due to a plane crash on an unfamiliar place. But there still is the difference on ‘Alive! ‘ being a dramatic performance and ‘Second Wind’ a novel so it is difficult to compare. How to cite A Comparison between ‘Second Wind’ and ‘Alive!’, Papers

One flew over the cuckoos nest Argumentative Essay Example For Students

One flew over the cuckoos nest Argumentative Essay In the book One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey the use of Christ imagery is overall effective. One of the first images was the fishing trip planned by McMurphy because only twelve people went and Jesus took twelve disciples with him on a fishing trip. Billy Bibbits turning on McMurphy near the end by admitting that he was involved in McMurphys plan was like Judas admitting he participated with Jesus. Towards the end of the story McMurphy is a martyr just like Jesus because the patients arent free until he dies. Those are a few examples of how Kesey uses Christ imagery in his book. On the fishing trip that McMurphy planned twelve patients went. Those patients were Martini, McMurphy, Bibbit, Bromden, Harding, Frederickson, Scanlon, Tadem, Sefelt, George, Gregory, and Dr. Spivey. By sitting back and allowing the others to handle the storm on their own, McMurphy helps them prove they are worth something to themselves. Just the way Jesus taught his disciples to be self-sufficient in preparation for his own death. When Billy Bibbit was caught by Nurse Ratched with candy the prostitute he blamed McMurphy for forcing him to do that because he was scared the nurse would tell his mother. What worries me, Billy, she said I could hear the change in her voice-is how your mother is going to take this. (Kesey pg.301) Duh-duh-dont t-tell, M-M-M-Miss Ratched. Duh-duh-duhBilly, I have to tell. I hate to believe you would behave like this, but, really, what else can I think? I find you alone, on a mattress, with this sort of woman. No! I d-d-didnt. I was (Kesey pg.301) Billy this girl could not have pulled you in here forcibly. She shook her head. Understand, I would like to believe something elsefor your poor mothers sake. (pg.302) She d-did. He looked around him. And M-M-McMurphy! He did And Harding! And the-the-the rest! They t-t-teased me, called me things!(Kesey pg. 302) They m-m-made me! Please, M-Miss Ratched, they may-may-May!(Kesey pg.302)McMurphy is shown as a martyr like Jesus was because the pa tients really dont become free until he dies. Before the treatment is administered to him McMurphy climbs on the table without help and spreads his arms out to hit the shadow. A switch snaps the clasps on his wrists, ankles, clamping him into the shadow (Kesey pg. 272) When the graphite salve is put on his temples and they tell him its a conductant he says Anointest my head with conductant. Do I get a crown of thorns? (Kesey pg. 272) They also give him a rubber hose to bit on, just as Christ was given a sponge soaked in vinegar to suck on. As Christ saved mankind from sin and taught them to have hope in an eternal life. McMurphy saves the patients from the repressive society and teaches them to have hope in themselves. In conclusion, those were my reasons of why I think that the Christ imagery in this book is effective. Firstly, when the fishing trip was planned and McMurphy went with 12 people was the same as Jesus going with his twelve disciples. Secondly, Billy Bibbits turning on McMurphy near the end by admitting that he was part of McMurphys plan was like Judas admitting that he was involved with Jesus. Thirdly, towards the end of the story McMurphy is a martyr just like Jesus because the patients arent free until he dies. That is how Christ imagery is effective in One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest.Words/ Pages : 583 / 24