Halloween and Zombie - A Date with Evil Spirits

Halloween and Zombie   -   A Date with Evil Spirits 

C A U T I O N

The Bible says: “I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too.”—New International Version

Many Americans celebrate Halloween on October 31. Celebrations include costume parties and trick-or-treating.

Ghosts, vampires, bats, black cats, cobwebs, werewolves, witches, and zombies: These have long been associated with the evil spirit world.

It is agreed that you do not like horror and would like to keep away from anything that sounds horror.  However, the horror strikes sometimes without your knowledge or anticipation.  There are the above symbols that terrify us as the sun sets.  The darkness is always scary in life.  As a child you must have pulled the blanket over your head to avoid the scary night.

Zombie is a person or reanimated corpse that has been turned into a creature capable of movement but not of rational thought, which feeds on human flesh: a world overrun by zombies a horde of mindless zombies craving brains. One can become inflicted with this malady by being bitten by zombies. .

 

What is common in Dracula and Zombie ?  Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula unscrew the coffin nails and emerge out of the grave in the misty, foggy moonlit nights amidst the howling of werewolves and bites its victim to bleed with his compass tooth inflicting deadly injury to the victims neck and bitten victim turns as another  member of Dracula community.  The Zombies too multiple its group by its bite and hunger for human flesh.

Some of the horror genre movies send the shivers down your spine and it plays with audiences primal fears.

Friday, the 13^th,  Poltergeist, Nightmare on ELM Street and Exorcist are some of  the Hollywood horror movies.  The Bollywood also  has its own share of horror movies.  The Jadu Tona, Bees Saal Baad, Red Rose, Haiwan, Raaz the Mystery Continues and Purana Mandir, Tahkhana and several other Ramsay Brothers  horror movies found the horror film loving Bollywood audience at their spine chilling best. Hindi films Nagin and Jaani Dushman are fantasy horror movies too. 

Beginnings of Halloween celebration; First originated from the Festival of the death practice in Europe and all surroundings by Catholics of that time.

                                                                                                                                                                                 

HALLOWEEN  : The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows                  Halloween 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 November 1st 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. The festival observed at this time was called Samhain. 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. 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. 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 worshipped 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. John's Day was set on the summer solstice. 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 religion's 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 in 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. The Christian feast of All Saints was assigned to November 1st. 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, 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 Hallowe'en--an ancient Celtic, pre-Christian New Year's 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 witch's spell on Halloween. O Allison Gross, that lives in yon tower the ugliest witch int he North Country... She's turned me into an ugly worm and gard me toddle around a tree... But as it fell out last Hallow even When the seely [fairy] court was riding by, the Queen lighted down on a gowany bank Not far from the tree where I wont to lie... She's change me again to my own proper shape And 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 backwards down the stairs to the basement, the face that appears in the mirror will be their next lover. 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. Today Halloween is becoming once again an 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 o'lanterns, 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.

Halloween fun on the internet, the one source for all things Halloween. Including costumes, pumpkins, monsters, vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts, scary.

Welcome Halloween Fans to Halloween.com!!!

The updated Halloween.com is here and now more than ever our mission is to help you enjoy Halloween as much as we do! Since 1994 Halloween.com's objective has been to help people find useful information about the holiday, while at the same time help those with the information find the people. Halloween.com and the Halloween.com list of Halloween sites will now help you find everything from the History of Halloween, Halloween food, Zombie Makeup for Costumes, Halloween Costumes, pumpkin carving, trick or treating,  to Halloween Around the World Plus Halloween greeting cards, Halloween screensavers, Halloween jokes, costumes for kids, costumes for adults, costumes ideas for the physically challenged, Halloween Movies, last minute costume ideas. From Halloween games, to Halloween safety to trick or treating information to Halloween events, and everything in between.  Halloween discussion in the Halloween.com forums lets you exchange ideas, comments and fun about our favorite holiday. Halloween.com is ghouly your one source of all things Halloween! Our complete sitemap shows all the Halloween sections.

Halloween in United States

Many Americans celebrate Halloween on October 31. Celebrations include costume parties and trick-or-treating.

 Trick-or-treating is part of the Halloween fun.©iStockphoto.com/ sjlocke

Halloween is usually celebrated amongst family, friends and, sometimes, co-workers. However, some areas hold large community events. Parties and other events may be planned on October 31 or in the weekends before and after this date. Adults may celebrate by watching horror films, holding costume parties or creating haunted houses or graveyards.

Many children dress up in fancy costumes and visit other homes in the neighborhood. At each house, they demand sweets, snacks or a small gift. If they do not get this, they threaten to do some harm to the inhabitants of the house. This is known as playing 'trick-or-treat' and is supposed to happen in a friendly spirit, with no nasty or mean tricks being carried out. However, if your children take part, it is important to accompany them and to check their 'treats' to make sure they are safe to eat or play with.

Some families carve lanterns with 'scary' faces out of pumpkins or other vegetables or decorate their homes and gardens in Halloween style. These were traditionally intended to ward off evil spirits. If you are at home on Halloween, it is a good idea to have a bowl of small presents or sweets to offer to anyone who knocks on your door. This will help you to please the little spirits in your neighborhood!

One cause that ties with Halloween is collecting donations for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). As children trick-or-treat on Halloween night, some of them might carry small cardboard boxes with the UNICEF logo on them and collect coins instead of the usual candy. The money collected is then given to UNICEF and used to help needy children worldwide.

Halloween is not an official holiday. Government offices and businesses are open as usual and public transit services run on regular schedules. If you drive around in late afternoon or evening, it is important to keep a careful lookout for children who are unaccustomed to being out on the street after dark. If they are wearing dark costumes or masks, they may be less easy to see than normal. They may also be excited and dart out unexpectedly from between vehicles or behind bushes.

Halloween originated as a pagan festival in parts of Northern Europe, particularly around what is now the United Kingdom. Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is a time when magic is most potent and spirits can make contact with the physical world. In Christian times, it became a celebration of the evening before All Saints’ Day. Immigrants from Scotland and Ireland brought the holiday to the United States.

The commercialization of Halloween started in the 1900s, when postcards and die-cut paper decorations were produced. Halloween costumes started to appear in stores in the 1930s and the custom of 'trick-or-treat' appeared in the 1950s. The types of products available in Halloween style increased with time. Now Halloween is a very profitable holiday for the manufacturers of costumes, yard decorations and candy.

There are various symbols associated with Halloween. These include the spooks, ghosts and walking skeletons that represent the contact between the spiritual and physical world and between the living and the dead. Human figures that are often represented on Halloween are witches and wizards, who are seen to have the power to contact the spirit world. Bats, black cats and spiders are often connected with this holiday. These animals are associated with the night and darkness and often accompany witches and wizards.

There are also a range of objects associated with Halloween. These include blood, fire, gravestones, pumpkins, bones and skulls. They all have connections with death, the spirit world or protecting property from evil spirits. Many of these objects are now available in stores as decorations for the Halloween season.

Halloween pumpkins, or jack-o’-lanterns: In medieval Britain, “supplicants moved from door to door asking for food in return for a prayer for the dead,” and they would carry “hollowed-out turnip lanterns, whose candle connoted a soul trapped in purgatory.” (Halloween—From Pagan Ritual to Party Night) Others say that the lanterns were used to ward off evil spirits. During the 1800’s in North America, pumpkins replaced turnips because they were plentiful as well as easy to hollow out and carve.

   

                          

               

While discussing the genre of horror films , it reminds me of the “Mallu”  nightmare demon  the beautiful , long haired and clad in white saree the “YAKSHI”  who seduces the men and kill them .   The Yakshi is also known  as “Yakshini “  in some parts of India.  The victim will be attracted by the beautiful back with long hair and her haunting song and jasmine flower intoxication to  follow the Yakshi to a deserted wood forest  and  then turn towards the victim to show her horrific claws and skeleton face to scare him to death.   

                                                                     

               

In my childhood days visiting a graveyard in the night used to be a greater challenge to meet.   In the moonlit nights it was believed that the accidental death or suicidal death souls will be wandering in the grave yard and they will consume the human body.  People used to go nearby areas of the graveyards with others company and fire torch in their hands.  When you hear about  a particular bungalow without any human life in it will be infested by ghosts and there are evil spirits as inhabitants in those haunted houses and will be pelting stones,  one was advised to carry a cross to frighten and make the evil spirits at bay.

Though I never believed in black magic, the tantriks or priest of evil spirits use to make a moolah for themselves from the innocent neighborhoods.

There is an upcoming Lunessence festival starting from 24^th July 2015 and ending on 27^th July, 2015 in Tres Piedras,  New Mexico.  One of the program in that is called “Zia Zombie”.

It is slated to be great fun, art, horror and topped with excitement for the participants and an event not to forget in the near future.

Even though I personally do not believe in evil spirits and black magic, it is an exciting feeling to develop goosebumps and butterflies in your tummy.

I was tossing with the idea of writing a Blog about Halloween for quite some time and now the dream has materialized.