The History of Halloween!

This is your Empath Energy Exchange. I'm Christine J Gold, your spiritual guide and mentor, and I channel the messages, pull cards, and feel the overall theme for the week. Welcome! Hi everyone, looks like, oh, we have a little bit of an oops in regards to the show. How are you? And hey ¡Hey! I'm in Mexico. Where are you? Welcome empowered empaths to the Power of Healing Your Energy Show. This show is all about your unconditional love, your light, your intuition, your soul's purpose. And depression and anxiety are a side effect of not living intuitively, not trusting your gut, the lost connections with your higher self and others. Your soul's purpose is here. Hello and welcome to Season 2, Episode 9, and this is all about the history of Halloween. Yeah, we're a couple days early, but you know what? I don't care. I'm throwing everything out the window. The dishwater, the bath water, whatever. Everything's going out. So hi, I'm Christine J Gold with 24 Karat Healing. I'm a spiritual guide, intuitive energy coach, and old soul healer. And yeah, you know what, I just put everything on. Um, if you're listening on podcast, I've got the hat, the glasses, you know, I feel like I'm in Hawaii, I'm in Mexico. I've got all the beads you know, I feel like I'm at the Mardi Gras. I've got, you know, the Calgary Stampede here. I've got a little bit of Halloween going on, so I'm on a beach somewhere. I don't know about you guys, but, um, in the Northern Hemisphere, uh, we are rapidly coming into winter, so I wanted to dress up a little bit. And, you know, Halloween's around the corner, so let's have fun with this. Why not? Life is too short. So if you're just tuning in and you've never been here, welcome! Say hello, let us know where you're from, and let us know what you're doing for Halloween, or what do you think of Halloween, or, you know, think about, you know, maybe your childhood as well. I, I know there, for me, there were a couple costumes that really stood out. Um, I wanted to be a punk rocker. I'm trying to remember, I think it was grade 8, and I put sugar water in my hair. Can you imagine? So it was a mohawk. I put all the work and effort to have a mohawk, and then I spray painted it with, uh, with white paint. And oh man, trying to get that out, oh geez, that was days. I mean, I know people that put mayonnaise in their hair. They— the things that we would do to dress up and have fun. I remember I was the Queen of Hearts, like an actual card, Queen of Hearts. I was a gypsy. And yes, you know what, I will say it because I thought she was terrific and fun. I was Aunt Jemima. Yes, I was. Yes, I was. No shaming here, guys. You know what, when you're a kid, you just, you have fun with it. So tell me in the chat what some of your costumes were, or even in the comments on your podcast. Uh, you know, leave a review, um, share away, uh, spread the love, guys. Share the love. That's why we're here. So Halloween is always a time to play, and I always— you know, that's part of my mentorship with my clients is tap into the inner child. Let's have fun. Who's having fun? Anybody? Anybody? Let me know. I'm having fun. I don't care. And then I got my little skeleton earrings. I've had these for a while. He lost his bow, this little guy, but there he is, right? Um, ah, yeah, Halloween is just— it's a time of magic and play and wearing costumes and all about that dream part, you know, the, the dreaming, the fun. And the veil is very thin in Halloween as well. So this is a great time for all of us to tap in, tap into, um, you know, the spirit world essentially. So maybe you're not sure how to do that. Let me know, I can help you with that. Uh, let me know what you're doing on Halloween. It's October 31st, it's on a Saturday. And it's also a very rare event, um, the rare blue supermoon, October 31st, 2020. This has not happened on Halloween since 1944. Isn't that amazing? So, you know, there's lots of ways that you can welcome in Halloween and spirit. First and foremost, lighting a candle. Lighting the candle is the easiest way to connect with spirit and with yourself. Looking at a candle, you know, it's, it's a meditation. You know, you're daydreaming and then all of a sudden things come in because you're not in an ego state. You are out of self channeling. You know, this is not a— this is not a secret. Um, everyone is able to do it. Hi, Lynn, nice to see you. Hope you're doing well. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you. So yeah, so we're just gonna do a little history on Halloween. So, um, you know, it actually originated um, from the Celtics, and it's Samhain, Samhain, right? So maybe you're a practicing witch and you know all about that, but for me, I knew a little bit. All right, so it's— it was ceremonial. So when people would light bonfires and wear costumes, that was to ward off ghosts and, and ghosts, basically. You know, there were a lot of, um uh, tall tales, I guess. And they always thought spirit was evil. There, there was that connotation as well. At least that's what I was told. What about you, right? But, um, in the 8th century— now we're going way back— Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as a time to honor all saints. Interesting how it got flipped to the 31st. How did that work? How'd that happen? So, or All Saints' Day incorporates the traditions of the Samhain. So the evening before was known as All Hallows' Eve. Ah, here we go. So over time, and like us humans tend to do, we involved it into, oh, it has to be activities and trick-or-treating and candy and carving, you know, pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns and festivities, and then the costumes and eating treats. And then it just turned into a whole marketing machine, really. I mean, if that's what we want to call it, that's what we want to call it. Because yeah, I, you know, it would have been fun to dress up, but to actually go out to people's houses and get free candy, or what? You know, that used to spend hours out there and see how much we could collect, right? Um, so the, the Celtics who lived 2,000 years ago, and mostly in Ireland and United Kingdom and northern France, they celebrated their new year on November 1st. So it's like a solstice as well, right? A lot of tradition around this. And, um, you know what, the reason I wanted to do the show is because obviously there's a lot of past lives and ancestral stuff and intergenerational trauma and clearing timelines and ascension and all of this stuff, waking up, right? We need to know about all these things, the origins, so we can clear everything. So that day was marked at the end of summer and harvest, the beginning of dark and cold and winter, and it was often associated with human death. So they believed on the night before the New Year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. Or I'd say there's no veil, you know, no veil, just like it is waking up between 3 and 5 AM. You're wondering why you're waking up at that time. Let's, let's think about this, right? Your, your spirit is coming to you, um, your guides, your angels, your loved ones, God, whoever. You're, you're being called to awaken and wake up. So on the night of the 31st of October, they celebrated Samhain, which is believed that the ghosts of the dead return to Earth. Oh, you know, it just seems to be very ominous as well. Um, there was some trouble, you know, with the presence of otherworldly spirits. Made easier for the Druids or the Celtic priests to make predictions about the future as well. So they worked with that energy. But, you know, people who are dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort during the long dark winter. Yeah, I can see that because, yeah, you Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we have to buy happy lights or sad lights. We get seasonal affective disorder. We need our vitamin D. That's why, you know, I go outside every day because your body needs that. So I can see how this would be very important. So, you know, they built these sacred bonfires and people would burn crops and animals as sacrifices. Oh goodness. To the Celtic deities. So the Celts wore costumes, basically they consisted of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. Very interesting. So when the celebration was over, they relit their, their fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to protect them during the coming winter. So it's just like, in a way, you know, when we do the full moon, we, we we have a ritual around that. Or when we're going to prepare a meal, it's a ritual. Let's, you know, when we draw a bath, it's a ritual. When we work with our cards or crystals or divination tools, it's a ritual. Um, when we're cleaning the house, it's a ritual. When we're purging things, it's a ritual. It's, it's— you're welcome. You're getting rid of— you're purging. This is what this is. And then welcoming in the new and the beautiful and the lovely and giving gratitude and thanks. Oh, thanks, Lynn. I appreciate— oh, that's so very nice. I appreciate you as well. Very sweet, very sweet. So, and this is funny, um, you know, when they talk about the Celts and, and, um, what they were doing, um, then of course the Roman Empire. And I, I see this as ego. Here comes ego. You know, comes in and conquered the Celtic territory. My goodness. So in the course of 400 years, they ruled the Celtic lands. Two festivals, you know, become— it's just very interesting. It's interesting that the Romans, they seem to, you know, pop up a lot. You notice that in history? I mean, I'm not a history buff, but I noticed that they seem to come up quite a bit. So, um, yeah, and then All Saints' Day— I mean, we're bringing this back to very, um, it was an observance for martyrs and saints. Then there was a 9th century where Christianity came in. Um, gosh, there's just so much history behind all of, all of Halloween here that, you know what, I'm just gonna have a a toast here too. I've got my drink. Do you got— you got your drink? We're gonna say cheers. Cheers to, you know, the past. We, we thank our ancestors, we thank our loved ones. Cheers to the present because we are grateful for all— everything that's happened. And now we're looking towards the future. We have cleared, we know we're doing the work, or we're in the mud The lotuses are in the mud, so we're clearing all timelines. Thank you for everything. Ah yeah, that's my flavored water, true story. All right, so I'm going to take these off. Ah, there you go. So, um, wow, what a— if those glasses are polarized, so it's like, whoa, it's so bright in here now. Tell me, I guess, what do you do for Halloween? How do you celebrate? How How did you celebrate before? Is it changing now? Did you dress up or do you hide? I mean, we used to do it sometimes. We would hide and we didn't want to hand out candy some years. We were just so overworked and overwhelmed, we didn't want to participate in anything. So now that we are kind of being told that there is no Halloween this year, or you can only have so many people and stay safe and stay well. Um, we are definitely missing all of our, um, freedoms that we, uh, we took advantage of or we took for granted. I don't know about you, but that's how I feel in a way. So there is still a lot of loss. I mean, what about Christmas? You know, what, what about Christmas? Well, hi Mark, and you're asking— oh, you came in late. Well, thank you very much for coming in. And why is Halloween celebrated in your country? You know what, I, I talked about it earlier in the podcast, you know, about the 5-minute mark, that it's— to me, it's just to have fun and to dress up and to play and to tap into the inner child. But I also, um, like I said, thank our ancestors, our guides, and our loved ones that came before us, right? We're honoring them in a way, but I'm not feeding the marketing machine because that's how I see it. That's how I see it. Let me know your thoughts on that. And Lynn is saying, as a kid, we would get taken into town and we would go to as many houses as possible. Then it was the Halloween parties and handing it out, and now nothing. Yeah, it's like, it was like so much, so much, so much, so much, and now it's like, it's perceived as nothing. Or people are building these little contraptions, I think they're little pipes feeders. So you put the candy in because it's 6 feet apart, or they're using those, um, those long hand— I don't know what they're called— those hand grabbers or whatever. Those, yeah. So I just, um, it's really making us look at, um, our traditions and our rituals and how we can, you know, redo things on our terms. Not what other people say, on our terms. Okay, um, so apparently, you know, when they're talking about the history of, of Samhain, that Halloween comes to America. So it was very limited in colonial New England because of rigid Protestant belief. See how it always goes back to religion? It always goes back to religion. And Like my mentor says, the, the holy untrinity is religion, politics, and science, right? You get those involved and it takes the— I say it takes the fun out of everything. It really does. So the first celebrations included play parties where, you know, it almost reminds me of Thanksgiving in a sense because there were public events to celebrate the harvest. That's what it's about. It's about the harvest. And then neighbors would share stories of the dead and tell each other's fortunes, dance and sing. See how they were so connected back then? So connected. Um, just— we are tele— you know, we have telepathy. We were just choosing not to use it. We are all psychic. We are all mediums. We're all of it. I'm gonna just say that's what we are, and we've been told and lied to otherwise. If you don't agree with me, that's fine. You know, I come from a place of curiosity and I welcome all denominations. There is no judgment here at all. So it's interesting that more people, especially millennials, are buying costumes for their pets. I think that's very cute. 20% did so in, in 2018 apparently, and then it went up a little bit to 25% 2019. So Um, you know, they're seeing that the part of play and dressing up their pets as part of it to make it more interactive and fun, definitely. So, and they're also talking about, um, the second half of the 19th century, America was flooded obviously with new immigrants coming in, right? So they were a lot of Irish fleeing from the Irish Potato Famine. I remember that. I remember people telling me about that. Um, I know that there's a quarter Irish in me as well, so which, you know, if you do a DNA test, there probably isn't pretty much everyone. I mean, we're just a melting pot, right? So they would popularize the celebration of Halloween. They would. Uh, Ruth is just talking about, uh, she enjoys seeing the kids. I know, me too. I used to— I'd like to scare them a little bit, just a little, just having fun, nothing too crazy, but they would just get a kick out of it. But seeing their costumes, giving out candy— now I live in a secure building, no more. Hmm, yeah, that's, that's sad, but I, I know that there's going to be a way that we can get through this, um, you know, whether it's going to be online. I know things look different, but there's got to be a way where we can bring some kids in together online or even in a community. And oh, Lynn's talking about one of the communities she does markets at collects a bunch of goodies, so the kids will go to the local community hall and they hand out a crapload of candy to each kid and donations that came in, very impressive, and it keeps the kids safe. Yeah, that's a good, that's a good idea. Um, we just got to think outside of the box. We have to pivot. I know 2020 has definitely shown us that, right? And how resilient we are together. It's not about me, it's about we. So I guess, you know, they're saying that we borrowed the European traditions and we began to dress up in costume, go house to house asking for food or money. That's interesting. So eventually that became trick-or-treat because apparently food and money wasn't good enough, we needed candy. Um, yeah. Oh, this is good. This is so much fun talking about this. So, um, yeah, and it seemed in the late 1800s there was a move, you know, to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghost pranks and witchcraft. Um, yeah, it's, you know, then it became the Halloween parties, and that's what I mean, it just turned into a marketing machine. Um, you know, apparently parents were encouraged, you know, by newspaper and community to take anything frightening or grotesque out of Halloween celebrations. To make it more fun and playful. But, you know, we have to have some of the gruesome stuff a little bit and some of the playful stuff. It's, it's pretty much for everyone. And yeah, they're talking about 1920s and '30s, it become a secular but community-centered holiday with parades. Um, but then there was some vandalism. You know, it's always, you know, weighing the, the the good and the bad a little bit, right? Um, it's the negative, the positive, there's always that aspect. But, um, yeah, a lot of parties moved into the classrooms as well, and trick-or-treating was an inexpensive way for the entire community to share the Halloween celebration. So yeah, I just remember that. And, um, and then Imagine the Halloween movies too. I can't believe some of the movies I used to watch. Um, I'm trying to think of some. Well, what were some of your favorite or spooky movies? And maybe there's ones that you can't watch now that you used to be able to watch, like Poltergeist. I had nightmares for weeks, for weeks. I couldn't go near a TV. And you know, TVs back when I was growing up— now, you know, making sound old, but at a certain point you know, 4 AM, I believe they would turn off like 3 in the morning, and then you'd have that fuzzy screen. So that's what that movie entailed for me. It's like, oh my God, so scary. Um, I know that Halloween the movie franchise had quite the success. Uh, yes, Roshani saying, I know a group of people that are placing hiding Halloween treat bags around the yard of homes with kids that can't leave their homes. Oh, that's nice. I like that idea. That's a great idea. See how we come together? We can bring up, you know, we can— we always come up with a solution. And Lynn's saying, I remember working at a bar in my late teens, early 20s in my hometown, and some of my brother's friends would come out and scare the bejesus. Yeah, playing those pranks. I remember having a real spooky, um, uh, costume. Um, it had no face. Um, oh gosh, why can't I think of it now? But he had the sickle, so he basically, he, he foretold you, you know, if he came around, that means you were going to die. Um, he brought in death, basically. That's interesting that I want— I love doing that. I love scaring the kids with that because they couldn't see the face, they could just see the black outline. And they would just watch you as they walked by. But you know, um, just a little bit of a jokester. But, uh, yeah, to this day I can't handle watching those. Same, I can't either. I cannot watch anything gory, bloody, um, none of it, none of it. And she's saying, I was the remote, LOL. Yes. Uh, yeah, there were a lot of slasher films like Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th. Um, but then there were the family ones like Hocus Pocus and my personal favorite, The Nightmare Before Christmas. I thought it was so cute, I loved it. Uh, Beetlejuice. And, um, my partner, he loves The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. He even rented it out from the library. So what does that tell you? What does that tell you? Yes, thank you, Marsha. The Grim Reaper. Yeah, and I— now that I'm thinking about it, there was a lot of duality in that costume. There was a lot of duality. Um, you know, you think about some of the costumes, that part was dying, right? Some things had to die, some things have to leave us or go or let go of in order to welcome in the new and let go. Yeah, it brings out the inner child. And I want to see your costumes on Saturday, you guys. If you're going to dress up, please do share them with me. I'd love to see that. I would love to see that. So, and apparently there was another, um, tradition back to All Souls' Day, but there were poor citizens who would beg for food and families would give them pastries called soul cakes. I kind of like that. Soul cakes, you know, it's, it's what's good for the soul. I love that. Yes. So in return, their promise to pray for their family's dead relatives. Well, isn't that nice? So it was like a beautiful exchange. Um, and the distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. So, and it was referred to as going a-souling. I'm going a-souling. Who eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses of their neighborhoods to be given food and money. So there's also that European and Celtic roots hundreds of years ago. Um, you know, they— I guess that really the whole premise of Halloween was about harvest. And reaping the harvest and sharing the harvest. So if anything, we can really take some notes from that. We're really coming into, you know, sharing with others, community, collaboration, pivot, resilience, gratitude, right? All of these things, the little things mean so much. Ah, so they also talked about ghosts, that they believed ghosts came back to the earthly world. People thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. So to avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks. That's interesting. But you know what, a lot of us didn't take our masks off pre-2020, and a lot of them are coming off. We wore multiple masks, if you know what I mean. Um, and they would— so when they left their home after dark, the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirit. That is interesting. Um, you know, the masquerade balls, right, was always very intriguing. Um, and I honestly feel that we've, we've been conditioned in a way, um, even pre-2020 with some of the masks. Um, if you look on TikTok and see some of the filters, the masks were already there, uh, 2018, 2019. Just saying, you want to go and look, go for it. So, and keep ghosts away from their house, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts from attempting them to enter. Oh my goodness. Um, and then there's the black cat, which is, you know, I've seen so many cute adorable videos of black kitties. Why do they get such a bad rap? You know, um, again This was all about the cat. Um, they were just talking about, you know, superstitions. That's all it was. Don't walk under ladders. Um, and, and Egyptians believe— well, triangles are sacred, right? And spilling salts and stepping on cracks. Um, it's very interesting. Um, avoid crossing paths with black cats because it would bring us bad luck. I, I definitely don't believe in that. Um, it's really what you make of it. Um, all sentient beings are beautiful. Wow, so very interesting about Halloween. And let me know, you know, what, what are you guys planning to do on Saturday? Um, are you— do you, do you have something going on? Are you doing something virtually? Um, are you getting together? You don't— I mean, if you don't want to share, that's fine. Um, reason being is I'm thinking of maybe having a little Halloween, like, a Zoom party. So if you're interested in that, let me know, and we can do like a full moon meditation, like a clearing, a ritual, because it is a rare, uh, blue moon. Hasn't happened since 1944 on October 31st. So I think it's a pretty special day and time to really release a lot of stuff, clearing things out. And you never know, there might be, might be some mediumship, there might be some intuitive stuff, psychic, Reiki as well, and maybe a few cards. So if you're watching this on the replay and you're interested, just comment Halloween, and then I'll start building a list of people that are interested, um, in the— and it's free, okay guys, it's free. So don't worry about costs or anything, or— and please dress up, I want to see costumes. Let's make this fun, uh, let's make this interactive as well. And yeah, definitely share this out if you're struggling, um have a look at my website. Even on Facebook, I have a complimentary intuitive call as well. I have a lot of free stuff— meditations, groundings, prayers, guided meditations. Go on YouTube, check that out as well. I also have a link to the Third Eye Masterclass. It's available for purchase, uh, for $11.11. That's on my website, so check that out. And yeah, I hope you guys have an amazing Halloween. Yes, Marsha, I didn't hear the beginning, so don't know if you said this, but Halloween is the Eve of All Saints' Day in the church. Yes, yes, it's a special day on November 1st to honor all who died in the past year. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, talked about the history right at the beginning. Ah, thank you. I, I'm in Mexico somewhere. I'm on a beach somewhere. I'm in New Orleans. I'm in Hawaii. I'm all over the world. But thank you, Marsha, so nice to have you here. And yes, I love you all and thank you for joining me. And if you have any guests, anybody that's real, you know, super, and you send them my way, I welcome all referrals that way as well. Or if you have a topic you'd like me to discuss on the show please send them my way as well. I'm going to be, um, on online radio, Sound Sugar Radio, next Monday, but I'll post about that. So I'm going to be worldwide as well, not just here, but I'm going to be broadcasting, uh, all over the world. So I'm, I'm excited about that. All right guys, have an amazing Halloween. If you want to have an online Zoom party, just comment Halloween and we'll get your name on the list. All right, lots of love to you. Please remember, healing begins where the ego ends.