Informative Speech Outline Essay

I. IntroductionA. Attention Getter A humans mustiness consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist. Ralph Waldo Emerson B. Introduce Topic To simply do something because its what e veryone else is doing without sagacious the reasons why theyre doing it, is conformity. You might ascertain the term conformity when utilise as sheeple in the political world. Those who go with the growd, just because. H everyoween and Religion be like two natural opposites good and monstrous brought to life. C. Establish credibility In most things Im a non-conformist. I trustingness no one and nothing without questioning and understading everything. I question everything yet if it have the appearance _or_ semblances simple on the surface. Far too often I allow found most things argon not what they seem, and Religion and Holidays are no exception.D. Preview Central Idea The term Holiday was originally employ to reference Holy twenty-four hour periods that were h onourd and remembered with some form of ordinance or worship. Halloween, originally a day of rememberence for the recently deceased and their enliven that returned to earth on the eve of the immature category, has become something celebrated by just about everyone, in many cultures, and across many religions, just most notibly in the US where it has become yet another commercialized event, causing common landwealth to spend money they might not otherwise spend, to eat food that offer no nutrition at all, and in excess at that, and to go against the number one safety bill your parents drilled into your heads NEVER TAKE CANDY FROM STRANGERSThis has become so acceptible in modern religious implements that its been confiden a freshly piss Trick-Or-Trunk. This is an event sponsored by religious elders, held on church grounds, outside in the parking lot, out of the trunks of cars and more often than not, the costumes that are faint-hearted do not promote religious purity a nd goodness, exclusively the very evil the religion is supposed to protect them from. Transition to principal(prenominal) points In order to fully understand how this seemingly innocent day of festivity, creativity and self expressionis a contradiction, we need to look at several(prenominal) things.II. Body summary of main points / personal viewTransition to originsWhen did this pass begin and why? Was it of pagan origins or is in that respect something more undersurface Halloweens hi account? How should Religions view this day in general? To understand these questions further, we need to go sanction to the roots of Halloween.A. Origins1. Gaelic Originsa. Halloweens origins take in 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, the harvest and the scratch line of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. b. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the executed became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. c. In plus to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly enliven made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to dress predictions about the future.For a state entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important ascendent of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter. d. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge saintly bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animate beings as frees to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each(prenominal) others fortunes. When the celebration was everywhere, they re-lit their ingleside fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the approach path winter.2. Halloween & Religiona. By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled theCeltic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the tralatitious Celtic celebration of Samhain. The scratch was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans usanceally commemorated the notch of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of harvesting and trees. The sign of Pomona is the orchard apple tree and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the customs of bobbing for apples that is dedicated straight off. b. slightly AD 600, Pope Boniface IV created totally angels mean solar day, and Pope Gregory deuce-ace later moved t his holiday to November 1 in an effort to give a Christian choice to this pagan celebration.5 (answersingenesis.org) Christians who did not want to celebrate pagan festivals celebrated something of positive spiritual valuein this incident honoring the saints and martyrs. With the overwhelming expansion of Christianity in Europe, in all Saints Day became the dominant holiday.6 (answersingenesis.org)On may 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the westerly church. Pope Gregory III (731741) later expanded the festival to include all saints as hygienic as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1. By the 9th century the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it bit by bit blended with and supplanted the older Celtic rites. c. In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls Day, a day to honor the dead. It is w idely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, precisely church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration was likewise called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.A oppose hundred years later, the Roman Church made November 2 All Souls Day to honor the dead. This may well declare been influenced by the go on persistence of the day of the dead by the ancient Irish, Scots, and others in Europe. rest against this, many Protestant Christians celebrate October 31 as Reformation Day in honor of reformers such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others who spearheaded the Reformation in t he 1500s. (answersingenesis.org) In fact,the current name of Halloween originates from the day before All Saints Day, which was called All Hallow Evening this name was shortened to All Hallows Eve or All Hallows Even. The name changed over time and became Halloween. (answersingenesis.org) d. It should be obvious from a Christian perspective that many modern practices of Halloween and days of the dead have evil intent (e.g., 1 Corinthians 1020).There has been considerable paganism that has been associated with Halloween over the years. Even evil acts such as vandalism, fires, destructive pranks, pretending people are something they are not by dressing up (and in particular by the glorification of sensuality, death, and demons) are in strong opposition to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 51923). So, a word of caution must be abandoned to Evangelicals who promote some of the questionable modern practices of Halloween. If anything, an alternative in opposition to Halloween should be offered by Christians. Psalm 241 points out that everything belongs to the Lord. Therefore, there is no reason to let Satan have Halloween. It is not his day in the first place (answersingenesis.org)3. Trick-or Treatinga. The American Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating probably dates back to the early All Souls Day parades in England. During the festivities, low citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called soul cakes in return for their hope to pray for the familys dead relatives. b. The distribution of soul cakes was further by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as going a-souling was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money. c. The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots.On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to t he earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left handfield their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to relieve ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to last out the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.Transition to lost traditionsB. Lost traditions/beliefs Many of these obsolete rituals concentrate on the future instead of the past and the living instead of the dead. In particular, many had to do with helping recent women identify their future husbands and quiet them that they would somedaywith luck, by next Halloweenbe married. 1. In 18th-century Ireland, a match fashioning desexualise might bury a ring in her mashed potatoes on Halloween night, hoping to work on aline love to the diner who found it. 2. In Scotland, fortune-tellers reco mmended that an eligible young woman name a hazelnut for each of her suitors and then turn out the nuts into the fireplace. The nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or exploding, the story went, represented the girls future husband. (In some versions of this legend, confusingly, the opposite was true The nut that burned away symbolized a love that would not last.) 3. some other tale had it that if a young woman ate a sugar-coated concoction made out of walnuts, hazelnuts and nutmeg before bed on Halloween night she would dream about her future husband.4. According to some accounts, the Halloween supper has have a roast fowl or even meat, but as the day before a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church, Halloween has traditionally been a day of abstinence from meat. The dishes most associated with Halloween in Irelandcolcannon, champ, and boxtyare all made from root vegetables and earthy harvests such as potatoes and cabbage. Champ is mashed potatoes, frequently with leeks, and served with a pool of melted butter in the top. Colcannon is potatoes and cabbage. Boxty is mashed potatoes mixed with grated raw potatoes, onion, and cabbage, which are then boiled, cut into portions and fried. (encyclopedia.com) 5. These traditional foods are emblematic of Halloween for many in Ireland. Sometimes, portions were left out for the fairies. In an obligate published in 1958, K. M. Harris quotes a man who recalls his mother putting flavour on the head of each child to prevent them from being taken away by the wee people on Halloween. He also recounts her placing a thimble-full of salt on each plate.If the salt fell blast that person would die in the next twelve months. These beliefs indicate the move association of food with the supernatural, and perhaps echo the old new years day of Samhain in the idea that what happens on this night affects the next twelve months. (encyclopedia.com) C. CulturalSimilarities (all from answersingenesis.org) Although many affirm that Samhain was the origin of modern-day Halloween, it is meaningful to note how many cultures throughout the world have celebrated a day of the dead (often with sacrifices), occurring at the end of summer and fall. There seem to be too many parallels to call these similar celebrations a coincidence. 1. For example, in the Americas there is the Mexican Day of the stone-dead (El Da de los Muertos) that goes back to the ancient festival of the dead celebrated by Aztecs and the more-ancient Olmec.This was likely where the Guatemalans got their Day of the Dead. 2. Brazilians also celebrate Finados (Day of the Dead). Bolivia has the Day of the Skulls (Da de los Natitas).7 3. In Asia, there are similar festivals. For example, the Chinese celebrated the Ghost Festival, which was a day to reconcile homage to dead ancestors. The Japanese celebrated something similar called O-bon or only if Bon. Even Vietnam has a variant of the Ghost Festival called Tet Trung Nguyen. In Korea, th ere is Chuseok or Hankawi, in which deceased ancestors are ritualized.In Nepal, there is the alarm pilgrimage called Gia Jatra to honor the recently deceased. In the Philippines, there is the Day of the Dead (Araw ng mga Patay), where tombs are cleaned and repainted. The list goes on and on (see reference 5). 4. The one-year Jewish holiday of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is celebrated in the fall, normally September or October.8 But it is distinctly different in purpose. It is not in honor of the dead. Rather, it deals with soul searching, repentance, and is a time of great sacrifice for the sins of the people (Leviticus 232728). So, there is some cross over, but God instituted this date.Transition to Halloween in AmericaD. Halloween in America1. jubilation of Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant belief systems there. Halloween was much more common in Maryland and the Confederate colonies. As the beliefs and customs of dif ferent European ethnic groups as well as the American Indians meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included play parties, public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each others fortunes, dance and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities alsofeatured the obese of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.2. In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Irelands potato famine of 1846, helped to distribute the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became todays trick-or-treat t radition. Young women believed that on Halloween they could ecclesiastic the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors.3. In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about association and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, pranks and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and union leaders to take anything frightening or marvellous out of Halloween celebrations. Because of these efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the rootage of the twentieth century.4. By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the richly numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civil centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated.Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the countrys secondlargest commercial holiday.III. ConclusionSummarize main points, purpose and view.Works CitedHistory of Halloween. History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. Hodge, Bodie. Halloween History and the Bible. Answers in Genesis. Network Solutions, LLC, 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. Image 1 D4doddy, Digimaree. Samhain Bonfire. digital image. Ancient Samhain Ritual. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. . Image 2 Ritual De Samhain (NOCHE DE DIFUNTOS CELTA). Digital image. Cosas De Meiga (Libreria Escuela Tarot). Meiga, 26 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. .