Samhain is a Celtic holiday that was adopted by the Wiccans.
Wicca is Neopagan...it's only been around about 50 years.
The Celts were around a very long time before that...
Hallowe'en is an example of the Church's policy of "If you can't beat them, subvert them." Since the Celts had been celebrating Samhain for 2000 years, give or take, and weren't about to stop, the Church declaired Nov 1st to be All Saint's Day. They later tried to reinforce this naming Nov 2nd All Soul's Day.
The Day of the Dead (Dia de las Muertos) is an adaptation of the festival for the Aztec goddess of death, Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead. It was traditionally a two-month long festival. They figured they already had done pretty well with the whole All Saint's/All Soul's thing, so they traded em two days for their two months and called it even. Proof that pagans have more fun, if you ask me...*Grin*
Wicca is Neopagan...it's only been around about 50 years.
The Celts were around a very long time before that...
Hallowe'en is an example of the Church's policy of "If you can't beat them, subvert them." Since the Celts had been celebrating Samhain for 2000 years, give or take, and weren't about to stop, the Church declaired Nov 1st to be All Saint's Day. They later tried to reinforce this naming Nov 2nd All Soul's Day.
The Day of the Dead (Dia de las Muertos) is an adaptation of the festival for the Aztec goddess of death, Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead. It was traditionally a two-month long festival. They figured they already had done pretty well with the whole All Saint's/All Soul's thing, so they traded em two days for their two months and called it even. Proof that pagans have more fun, if you ask me...*Grin*
-Jn-
Efreeti Sophist