The Heart Of Christmas ♥ Homemade Gifts ♥ Keeping CHRIST in Christmas!

Every year as the weather gets wetter, the leaves get brighter, and the air gets a bite of chill to it, I start thinking about my favorite time of year: Christmas! I remember my childhood Christmases. We were poor in money but rich in love and what I remember about Christmas isn't Santa or Presents, it's the SMELL of cinnamon and pine, the beautiful nativity set, the inspiring music, the sound of family gathered, the taste of cranberry sauce, and laying underneath the tree looking up through the branches at the lights and just soaking in the joy. That's what I want to pass on to my kids! Not greed or materialism. Not Santa-worship. Not cartoons and movies that have no foundation on The Rock. Every year I want to make homemade things as gifts but get distracted and then don't get anything finished in time. Every year since becoming an adult, despite my best intentions to keep the focus where it belongs and not get lost in the stress; somewhere along the line I loose my focus and have a panic attack, start resenting the to-do and to-buy lists, forget what it's really all about. I always need a reminder to get me back on track. I need to make it a point to not get caught up in worrying about making everything perfect and forget that the things aren't what makes Christmas CHRISTmas. What makes Christmas CHRISTmas is keeping our eyes on Jesus.
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33
Last year I decided what better way to stay motivated and focused on the TRUE heart of CHRISTmas than a fun interactive bloggy carnival with all of you! What do you say? Want to join the fun?

Welcome to The Heart Of Christmas 2010 link up! There will be ONE linkup for the whole season here in this post, at the bottom. Every time you have a relevant post you may link it here, any day from now until January 7th. You must link back to this post in each of your participating posts. You may link back in text, or by including the button in the post. You may add the button to your blog's sidebar if you would like to help draw more participation, but it's not required. You may link up old posts, even posts you linked up last year, as long as they contain a link back to this post: i.e. the updated button code (can't use last years- it goes to last years linky which is closed! Must use this years from this post!) or post link to get visitors back to THIS 2010 linky in case they wish to view the other entries and/or participate.

What to put in your posts (you can use any one, several, or all of these ideas in each post):
-Something about how you stay focused on Jesus.
-Something you have bought/made as a gift for someone, or a link to an idea for a project you would LIKE to make for a gift. Don't forget to give credit where credit is due for patterns, ideas, tutorials, etc.
-A Christmas recipe.
-Talk about one of your family traditions, why you do it and what it means.
-A sweet Christmas memory.
-Anything else that is related to the HEART of Christmas, having a sweet and thankful spirit, handmade with love, giving, helping the needy, avoiding getting stressed out, avoiding focus on money and gifts, seeing Jesus as the bringer of every good and perfect gift, etc.
-Check out last year's entries for more ideas!

We want to avoid posts that encourage complaining and stressing, focus on money/Santa/gifts (commercialism), and "keeping up with the Jones'."

INSTRUCTIONS:
I will try to post a Heart of CHRISTmas post at least once a week and link it. You may link a post every week, or every day, or just once or twice. You know I'd love it if you linked often of course... Lol! But I know you can't post if you don't have something you feel like posting about. ;) So just join in when you want to. :) There is not a specific day of the week to do this. Just come here and link up each time you have a qualifying post.
1. Write a post that falls within the guidelines above. (Or you can use an old post of like a Christmas craft or recipe or gift idea.)
2. Include this button (or a text link back here) in your post. If you would like, you can put it in your blog's sidebar too to draw more people to share with us. Use the code provided which links the button back here so people can browse the other participating posts.

<a href="http://everypreciousjoy.blogspot.com/2010/11/heart-of-christmas-homemade-gifts.html"><img alt="Click to see other posts in this blog carnival or add your own!" src="http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s157/MamaMirage/Blog/THOChristmas.gif" /></a><br />

3. Add your post to the MckLinky below so others can find it from here! :) Please include the name of your blog and most importantly the title of your post in the "Name" field when linking. LINK DIRECTLY TO THE SPECIFIC POST, not just to your blog in general. For example my first link will not go merely to http://everypreciousjoy.blogspot.com/ - it will instead be a specific link to a specific post; http://everypreciousjoy.blogspot.com/2010/11/heart-of-christmas-1.html. Make sense? Link to the post, not the whole blog.
4. Browse the other posts in the MckLinky list to see what others are doing for CHRISTmas 2010. We all love comments so if you'd like to leave some love for the other participants we'd be ever so excited! :D

November Giveaways!

http://everypreciousjoy.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-giveaways.html 
First, here are some awesome giveaways I have found! Check back frequently as I will be removing the ones that are over and adding new giveaway links as I can! Please click on a date to see a few select giveaways ending on that date. (If date is not clickable, I have not selected any giveaways to feature for that date yet.)
Giveaways By End Date:
November01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
December01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31


_____________________
Linky Time!
••For more places to list your giveaways click HERE
_____________________
_____________________
Your turn! :) MckLinky up!
In the space that says Link Title, remember to include 3 things: YourBlogName - Giveaway Title [End date]. Does not have to be in that exact order but I do need all three in some order or another please. Link to the giveaway post specifically, not just to your blog in general.
PLEASE make sure you follow these easy instructions so it is easy for me to maintain and easy for people to view and use. Alot of people have not been doing this and it makes maintaining the list much harder and more time consuming for me. This is not an unreasonable request in the least: most giveaway linkups require this same format. You can use proper format and copy and paste it the same (proper) way to all the linkys you use. If this gets too hard for me to maintain due to people not doing this as I have asked, I will stop fixing them and have to instead delete any that I don't have the time to fix. So you see why it's not only courtesy but is also important to use the BlogName-GiveawayName[EndDate] format. (In any order. You can do End Date - Blog name - Giveaway or Giveaway - End date - Blog name or whatever as long as they are all in there.)
ALSO please note: I will immediately delete any entries that are innapropriate and further links from that blog may be deleted if I don't have time to screen them. A good way to look at it is if you wouldn't want your 13 year old daughter to have one or read the review in your words then DON'T LINK IT HERE. This is supposed to be a family friendly blog and when I've got people posting giveaways for ...um... 'romantic props' or something it is extremely embarrassing and upsetting to find that on my blog where my friends' innocent children could see it.
Your link WILL BE DELETED IF it links to a post that:
**Contains profanity, nudity, or inappropriate inuendo.
**Does not contain a blog giveaway.
**Endorses abortion, divorce, adultery, or things that are anti-God, anti-moral absolutes, anti-ten commandments, etc.
**Endorses a product/company that endorses abortion, divorce, adultery, or things that are anti-God, anti-moral absolutes, anti-Biblical commandments, etc.
**Is not appropriate for an innocent child to view.
This is what I believe in, and to allow links on my blog that go against that is something that I cannot do in good concience.


Entries will stay on the list until they expire (until the giveaway ends).
I will try to delete expired giveaways often to keep this list fresh and easy to view.
I will create a new list each month. This MckLinky list will run November 1st-30th. Check back December 1st for a new list.

Halloween - Part 4: My personal beliefs, some Q & A

If you have not yet read the preceeding 3 parts of this 4-part series, then I must request that you do so before continuing. It is a series for a reason and is in the order which I have presented it for a reason - it will make the most sense if you read it as it was meant to be read.
*(This is an updated repost of a series I did last year)*

Part 1: Jack-O-Lantern, Stingy Jack, Jack the Smith
Part 2: Origins - All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day
Part 3: How it all ties in, Christian response

PART 4:
I would like to open this post where I left off in Part 3- with the scriptures I noted there. They may help you to understand why I believe what I do.

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1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.

Ephesians 6:12-13 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Joshua 24:15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

~*~*~*~*~
And if it seems offensive to you to serve the LORD, choose once and for all whom you will serve; the gods of your ancestors, or the gods of those in whose land you reside... but as for me and my lineage, we will serve the LORD.
~*~*~*~*~

What are my personal beliefs regarding Halloween?
Well, I believe that it is a celebration that pleases Satan. I think that children dressed as demonic creatures pleases Satan. I think that carrying out the pagan religious ceremonies of setting out Jack-O-Lanterns and acting out the distribution of sweets to bribe the evil spirits to move along is pleasing to Satan. I think the fact that Christians don't know (or don't want to know) what what they are doing represents when they take their children Trick Or Treating gives the devil a big ol' happy boost. I think that when children act out being an unholy being it is spiritually unhealthy, even harmful to them. I think that even if a child is dressed as an angel or Superman they are still acting out the story of demons visiting homes to threaten tricks if not presented with a treat.

How were my husband and I raised regarding celebrating or not celebrating Halloween?
When I was a child my family did not celebrate Halloween. We would lock up our animals and pray that some cult or prankster wouldn't get ahold of them and torture them for the glory of the evil one. We would sometimes leave the house and go eat dinner out to avoid the bombardment of costumed kids incessantly beating at the door demanding candy. Sometimes we would turn out all the lights and watch a movie, but they would come anyway and shine flashlights in our windows and beat on the door for a long time. It scared us kids to have our home assaulted that way. I never slept well that night.
When my husband was a child his family did celebrate Halloween. He has two older brothers. They dressed in costume and went trick or treating. His family never gave any thought to it, just thought of it as harmless and did it because they'd always done it and it was fun. My husband was raised in church, good Christian boys from a good Christian family. His family still thinks of it as harmless fun but my husband has now, as an adult, been convicted against celebrating it.

Did I ever feel deprived by not being allowed to go Trick or Treating?
Yes and no. Not really. I felt deprived of the chance to dress up in a way and at a time that was not glorifying to Satan. This deprivation would have still been there even had I been out trick or treating. I would still have felt like I would have been more proud of my costume if it were done somewhere, somehow, that would glorify my LORD. I also felt deprived of the chance to glutton myself on free candy. Lol! A very shallow and childlike thing to pout over of course, so I got over it after just a few Halloweens. My family was too poor to buy candy. I imagine my kids will not have this problem since my husband and I are not so poor we can't afford some sweets. ;) And even if they do feel deprived of treats, that is NOT a sufficient reason to participate in something we don't feel right about.

What about Church Harvest Parties or Trunk-or-treats?
Well, I went to a Church Harvest Party (Church costume event for Halloween to keep kids off the streets) when I was about 11. I felt so betrayed when I stepped inside this house of GOD and saw little witches and demons and fairies running around with Jack-O-lantern buckets! In the CHURCH! My little 11 year old heart broke and I felt positively sick to my stomach. I had been under the impression that the purpose of the Harvest Party was to have something for the Christian kids to do on Halloween that would be glorifying to God instead of Satan and when I saw that it was just a big trick or treat party in the Church I started crying and wanted to go home. I told my parents I didn't ever want to go to another Church Harvest Party. I felt morally raped.
My husband tells me that a trunk-or-treat was what his childhood Church did. People would park in the Church parking lot and open their candy-filled car trunks and the kids would go from car to car trick-or-treating. Basically still trick or treating in the pagan traditional manner except with cars instead of houses. Still carrying jack-o-lantern buckets, dressed in costume, going from car to car repeating the intonation "trick-or-treat!"
I think that Christians should pray carefully about these alternative activities just as they should pray carefully about the pagan-traditional ones. See what God tells you. I don't know if one can find an alternative in a church or group that is truly glorifying to God rather than just being a tamer version of the pagan celebration these days.
We won't allow our children to participate in anything where there are children and/or adults dressed up as evil things or even some seemingly innocuous mythical creatures, so this would eliminate Church Harvest Parties like the one I attended as a child as an alternative for my own kids. I would love to have a non-Halloween costume party where the children could dress up in wholesome costumes and the focus would be on something other than candy. It would be a plus to me if it were not even ON Halloween, since I'm not looking to celebrate Christianized or tamed Halloween, I am rather looking for an outlet for my kids to enjoy dressing in costume and socializing with other kids in an uplifting way that is glorifying to God. I was browsing a blog back in 2009 where the blogger just did a Harvest Party and I thought it looked wonderful and like so much fun! Wish I still had the link so I could show you. The kids dressed as historical characters and gave a presentation on their character.

What do I think about other Christians celebrating Halloween?
Frankly I think that it would be wrong of me not to present my fellow believers with the truth of the origins of Halloween in case they do not know. I have a very difficult time conversing in public. I'm the oldest of 3 siblings and, strangely, the only one who is cripplingly shy in public. My brother is not going to win any socialite awards but he gets along more than passably well with other humans. My sister could win socialite of the century; she is chipper and witty and friendly. I seem to be the only one who did not inherit any one-on-one communication skills! So when I get asked by friends and family, "Why don't you celebrate Halloween? It's just harmless fun, right?" I can't seem to express clearly what I'm trying to say. I have a whole speech ready the instant they are out of sight but when conversing one on one it's like I revert back to the vocabulary level of a toddler. That is one reason why I decided to write this blog series on Halloween, originally posted in October of 2009. I am so much better at expressing myself in the written word when I have the time to do so. So now when I get disbelief, scorn, dirty looks, or questions or whatever I will be able to direct people to my blog to answer the burning question, Why don't we celebrate Halloween? The other reason I wrote this is because there are alot of dear friends with whom the subject has never come up. Like I said before, I believe it would be wrong of me to not present the origins of Halloween so that people know. If I believe God wants me to do something and I do not do it, it would be a sin. As for what other people do with it after I tell it... that is between them and GOD.

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Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. -James 4:17
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What should I do on Halloween?
Well, you know, I just don't know. I will admit I'm still in prayer and pondering on this one. Should I hand out tracts and candy? That kind of makes me uneasy because then I'm opening the door of my home to 'monsters/ghosts/demons/witches' in front of my vulnerable children. Even if the babies are in bed, the whole symbolism of trying to evangelize kids dressed as scary evil things by playing along with something I believe is wrong seems to be contrary to scripture. Be ye IN the world but not OF it? But is hiding from them or avoiding them the right choice? I don't know. I really don't. I was reading HERE that if our only “light” to our neighborhood comes by celebrating Halloween, via trick or treating or handing out candy, than something is really wrong! If you have any thoughts on this dilemma I would love to read them and add them to my ponderings. ;) We have lived in this town since 2005. The first Halloween I think we went out to eat, the next year we handed out tracts and candy and the trick or treaters were almost all dressed as hellish things or chopped up murder victims and they scared the poor dog half out of her mind which led to barking which scared baby Chicklet half out of HER mind and the poor little boy dressed as a demon whom my 50-pound pit bull was barking at was scared about out of HIS mind too. The next two Halloweens we just watched a movie with the lights out but the kids here are awfully rude and foolish and beat on the door anyway even with the porch light and inside lights out. In 2007 they were throwing things at our house because we wouldn't answer the door. In 2009 we posted a sign saying we do not celebrate Halloween on our door for those kids who ignore the porch light being out, but half of them just ignored the sign too and beat on the door yelling and roaring. But if we go out to eat everyone is dressed up in the restaurant with gory dead body parts and skeletons hanging around the food. Not what I want my kids to be seeing, and not what I like to view with my dinner. *sigh* I really am not sure what we will do this year yet. Stay home and have a family movie night most likely, and hope the neighborhood kids don't try to vandalize our home or scare our kids this year.

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Respectful, calm comments, spoken with Christ's love, are welcome. Any comment that comes across as rude, disrespectful, evil, mean spirited, or playing 'devil's advocate' literally, will be deleted at my discretion. It's my blog and I reserve the right to delete as I see fit.

Halloween - Part 3: How it all ties in, Christian response

This week we are looking at how the information in Part 1 and Part 2 tie together. If you have not read parts 1 and 2 yet, please do so now so you know what I'm talking about. ;)
Part 1: Jack-O-Lantern, Stingy Jack, Jack the Smith
Part 2: Origins - All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day
*(This is an updated repost of a series I did last year)*

In part 2, I was saying how All Saints Day has been supposedly 'Christianized' from pagan roots. Sometimes people get confused and say that "Halloween has been Christianized just like Christmas" when it's not Halloween that was 'Christianized' at all. Halloween is All Hallows Eve-October 31st. All Saints Day-November 1st is the holliday that was 'Christianized,' not All Hallows Eve. The pagan traditions may not be (to be perfectly honest I cannot claim to know much of anything about how All Saints Day is currently celebrated) in use for All Saints Day, but they are definately in full force for All Hallows Eve.
Lets recap and tie up some loose ends:
You remember the story of Jack the Smith (Stingy Jack) from Part 1? How did it go from a legend about a damned soul wandering the earth with a lighted turnip to the carved pumpkins we now know as Jack-O-Lanterns? All Hallows Eve was a night when the spiritual barriers between worlds were thought to be the thinnest and all manner of evil spirits were thought to be roaming the earth. Irish villagers were concerned about the spirits of past occupants moving back into their former homes homes so they did 2 things... They would carve gruesome faces into vegetables, primarily turnips, representing the death grimace on the Devil's face when he lay in the road waiting for Jack, to scare the spirits away; and just in case that didn't work, they left food out to placate the spirits so they would be content and move on. The Irish Potato Famine caused a massive influx of Irish immigrants to America, where turnips were not as available as pumpkins. The Irish brought their traditions with them and pumpkins became the new turnips- the new "Jack's Lantern" to frighten away the maleviolent spirits. That is what the Jack-O-Lantern is; the devil's grimace carved into a pumpkin to scare off the spirits of the dead.
In part 2, I mentioned the Manx children dressed as scary beings representative of the demons and ghosts and went door to door with carved Jack-O-Lantern turnips. Asking for offerings of sweets and money.

The Jack-O-Lantern is the grimace of Satan, the representation of a damned soul, namely Jack the Smith.
The children dressed in costume represent ghosts and demons.
The candy handed out represents the food set out to appease the ghosts and demons so they go away.
The meaning of "Trick or treat" is the ghosts and demons saying 'I will play a nasty trick on your household if you don't give me a treat to appease me.'

How should we as Christians respond to this information? First of all I think that we should be deeply disturbed that we have been tricked into thinking it's harmless fun. I think, as always, that we should see what the Bible has to say in light of this new information. I think that we should prayerfully consider our response to this 'holliday' and have a soft heart toward God and a willingness to please Him with our decision.

In closing I'd like to leave you with a few scriptures to pray over in light of this information. This is not an exhaustive list by any means. You should definately study up on what the Bible has to say regarding the devil, sorcery/witchcraft, and what things we should emulate and practice.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.

Ephesians 6:12-13 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Joshua 24:15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

~*~*~*~*~
And if it seems offensive to you to serve the LORD, choose once and for all whom you will serve; the gods of your ancestors, or the gods of those in whose land you reside... but as for me and my lineage, we will serve the LORD.
~*~*~*~*~


READ MORE...
Part 4: My Personal Beliefs


Respectful, calm comments, spoken with Christ's love, are welcome. Any comment that comes across as rude, disrespectful, evil, mean spirited, or playing 'devil's advocate' literally, will be deleted at my discretion. It's my blog and I reserve the right to delete as I see fit.

The 5 scariest things you can do this halloween

The 5 scariest things you can do this halloween

Halloween - Part 2: All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day...

If you have not yet read Part 1: Jack-O-Lantern, Stingy Jack, Jack the Smith, then now would be a good time to get caught up! *wink*
*(This is an updated repost of a series I did last year)*

All Saints Day/All Hallows/Hallowmas/Lemuria/Samhain
Now, I'm not Catholic, but as explained to me by a friend, this day seems to be currently thought of as a day to remember loved ones who have died.
More specifically, it has been thought of as a day to commemorate those who have died and now reside in heaven.
Previous to that it was a day dedicated specifically to martyrs, but later came to be commemorative of all souls ("saints") who have gone to heaven, as stated above. Byzantine Emperor Leo VI "the Wise" supposedly built a church which he intended to dedicate to his deceased wife, Empress Theophano. When he was forbidden to dedicate it to her specifically, he decided to dedicate it to "All Saints," so that if his wife were in fact one of the righteous, she would also be honored whenever the feast of the Solemnity of All Saints was celebrated. According to Eastern tradition, it was Leo who expanded the feast from a commemoration of All Martyrs to a general commemoration of All Saints, whether martyrs or not.
The Wikipedia articles on these might give you a bit more insight if you'd like to look them up. Some of my info I gathered  from there, but much of it is from many other places and people over my lifetime. It's a bit confusing to look it all up in so many places so I tried to compile a simplified version all in one place here and clarify it a bit for you.
In Roman religion, the Lemuralia or Lemuria (the Feast of the Lemures) was a feast during which the ancient Romans performed rites to exorcise the malevolent and fearful ghosts of the dead from their homes. The unwholesome spectres of the restless dead, the lemures or larvae were appeased with offerings of beans. On those days, the Vestals would prepare sacred mola salsa (salt cake) from the first ears of wheat of the season. In the Julian calendar the three days of the feast were the 9th, 11th, and 13th of May. According to Ovid, at this festival it was the custom to appease or expel the evil spirits by walking barefoot and throwing black beans over the shoulder at night. It was the head of the household who was responsible for getting up at midnight and walking around the house with bare feet throwing out black beans and repeating the incantation, "I send these; with these beans I redeem me and mine (haec ego mitto; his redimo meque meosque fabis.)." nine times. The household would then clash bronze pots while repeating, "Ghosts of my fathers and ancestors, be gone!" nine times. According to cultural historians, this ancient custom was "Christianized" in the feast of All Saints' Day, established in Rome first on May 13, in order to de-paganize the Roman Lemuria. In the eighth century, as the popular observance of the Lemuria had faded over time, the feast of All Saints was shifted to November 1, coinciding with the similar Celtic harvest festival Samhain.

The Ulster Cycle (book of Irish mythology) is peppered with references to Samhain. Many of the adventures and campaigns undertaken by the characters therein begin at the Samhain Night feast. One such tale is Echtra Nerai ('The Adventure of Nera') concerning one Nera from Connacht who undergoes a test of bravery put forth by King Ailill. The prize is the king's own gold-hilted sword. The terms hold that a man must leave the warmth and safety of the hall and pass through the night to a gallows where two prisoners had been hanged the day before, tie a twig around one man's ankle, and return. Others had been thwarted by the demons and spirits that harassed them as they attempted the task, quickly coming back to Ailill's hall in shame. Nera goes on to complete the task and eventually infiltrates the sídhe  (pronounced "shee," ghostly beings believed to be ancestors, spirits of nature, gods and goddesses, or faeries) where he remains trapped until next Samhain. The sluagh sídhe - "the fairy host" are sometimes depicted in Irish and Scottish lore as airborne spirits of an unpleasant nature, and perhaps the cursed, evil or restless dead. The Banshee or bean sídhe, which simply means "woman of the sídhe", has come to specifically indicate supernatural women in Ireland who announce an oncoming death by their wailing and keening. Her counterpart in Scottish mythology is the bean shìth. Other varieties of aos sí and daoine sìth include the Scottish bean nighe - the washerwoman who is seen washing the bloody clothing or armour of the person who is doomed to die.

"Thwarted by demons and spirits" eh? Banshees? Spirits appearing as portents of death? Gettin' a wee bit creeped out yet? It's not over. Here's more on the rituals of Samhain...

 In parts of western Brittany, Samhain is still heralded by the baking of kornigou, cakes baked in the shape of antlers to commemorate the god of winter shedding his horns as he returns to his kingdom in the Otherworld. The Romans identified Samhain with their own feast of the dead, the Lemuria. This, however, was observed in the days leading up to May 13. With Christianization, the festival in November (not the Roman festival in May) became All Hallows' Day on November 1 followed by All Souls' Day, on November 2. Over time, the night of October 31 came to be called All Hallow's Eve, and the remnants of the festival dedicated to the dead eventually morphed into the secular holiday known as Halloween.

Traditionally, Manx children dress as scary beings, carry turnips (ringing any bells from part 1?) and sing an Anglicized version of Jinnie the Witch. They go from house to house asking for sweets or money.
Celtic Reconstructionists place emphasis on historical accuracy, and base their celebrations and rituals on traditional lore from the living Celtic cultures, as well as research into the older beliefs of the polytheistic Celts. At bonfire rituals, some observe the old tradition of building two bonfires, which celebrants and livestock then walk or dance between as a ritual of purification.
According to Celtic lore, Samhain is a time when the boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead become thinner, allowing spirits and other supernatural entities to pass between the worlds to socialize with humans. It is the time of the year when ancestors and other departed souls are especially honored or feared.
Though Celtic Reconstructionists make offerings to the spirits at all times of the year, Samhain in particular is a time when more elaborate offerings are made to specific ancestors. Often a meal will be prepared of favorite foods of the family's and community's beloved dead, a place set for them at the table, and traditional songs, poetry and dances performed to entertain them. A door or window may be opened to the west and the beloved dead specifically invited to attend. Many leave a candle or other light burning in a western window to guide the dead home. Divination for the coming year is often done, whether in all solemnity or as games for the children. The more mystically inclined may also see this as a time for deeply communing with the deities, especially those whom the lore mentions as being particularly connected with this festival.

Divination games for the children? Inviting the dead into your home? Walking and driving livestock between fires to "purify?" Offerings of appeasement to spirits? Some creepy stuff there, eh?

Samhain is considered by some Wiccans as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets and other loved ones who have died. In some rituals the spirits of the departed are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the spring festival of Beltane, which Wiccans celebrate as a festival of light and fertility.

So there you have the origins tracing back to before the holiday was the Halloween we know now. Eek! Some nasty stuff in there, yes?


READ MORE...
Part 3: How it all ties in, Christian response
Part 4: My Personal Beliefs


Respectful, calm comments, spoken with Christ's love, are welcome. Any comment that comes across as rude, disrespectful, evil, mean spirited, or playing 'devil's advocate' literally, will be deleted at my discretion. It's my blog and I reserve the right to delete as I see fit.

Halloween - Part 1: Jack-O-Lantern, Jack the Smith, Stingy Jack

*(This is an updated repost of a series I did last year)*
Today in Halloween history we will be studying the origins of the Jack-O-Lantern.

The Jack-O-Lantern began with an Irish legend. So goes the legend there was a man named Jack who was a blacksmith. He was a stingy drunkard and a con-artist. Smooth and silver-tongued it was said he could talk anyone into anything. (For more information, Wikipedia "Stingy Jack".) The Devil heard about Jack and was curious and jealous of his reputation so the Devil went to find him. Some versions say the Devil came to Jack in a bar. Some say Jack met the Devil along a deserted road, and some say Jack came across a body with an evil grin in the path at night on his way home, a "body" which turned out to not be dead and to be the Devil himself, and that from there the devil took Jack to the bar to get him drunk enough to outsmart and kill him. All agree that they were, at one point, in the pub. Jack requested to have one more drink, or several, or the Devil convinced him to drink more. Jack asked the Devil to pay his tab in exchange for his soul and the devil turned himself into a coin to pay the tab, assuming once it was paid he would turn back into himself and walk out of the bar, but instead of paying with the coin, Jack put it in his pocket with a crucifix to prevent the Devil from returning to his natural form. Jack made a bargain with the Devil to release him if he promised not to come for Jack's soul for another ten years.
Ten years after that the Devil found Jack out walking and informed him it had been 10 years and it was now time to relinquish his soul. Jack was like, 'Oh okay. But could I have an apple first? I'm starving and since I'll be starving through eternity in Hell, at least let me have one last apple before I go!' So the devil climbed up a tree by the road to get Jack his last apple and Jack carved a cross in the tree trunk or laid crosses around the tree so that the Devil would be trapped in the tree. He made the Devil promise 'never' to take his soul to hell.
Jack's lifestyle caught up with him and Jack found himself dead at the Pearly Gates where he was refused entrance to Heaven due to his wicked life. So Jack's soul wandered down to Hell where the Devil reminded him he cannot enter there either. Jack asked, "Then where am I to go?" and the Devil replied, "Back where you came from!" The Devil sent him on his way with a coal from Hell to light his way, which Jack held in a hollowed out turnip. Jack's homeless soul wanders the earth with his coal-in-a-turnip lantern-of-Jack, looking for rest which he will never find.

Due to this legend, Jack's Lantern or Jack O' Lantern came to be used to describe a strange light flickering over the marshes of Ireland. If approached, the light was always just out of reach. The mysterious occurrence is also known as will o' the wisp and ignis fatuus, Gaelic for 'foolish fire.' It was said that it was Jack's soul wandering, looking for a home.


READ MORE...
Part 2: Origins - All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day
Part 3: How it all ties in, Christian response
Part 4: My Personal Beliefs


Respectful, calm comments, spoken with Christ's love, are welcome. Any comment that comes across as rude, disrespectful, evil, mean spirited, or playing 'devil's advocate' literally, will be deleted at my discretion. It's my blog and I reserve the right to delete as I see fit.

October Giveaways!

http://everypreciousjoy.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-giveaways.html 
First, here are some awesome giveaways I have found! Check back frequently as I will be removing the ones that are over and adding new giveaway links as I can! Please click on a date to see a few select giveaways ending on that date. (If date is not clickable, I have not selected any giveaways to feature for that date yet.)
Giveaways By End Date:
October 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
November 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 

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Linky Time!
••For more places to list your giveaways click HERE
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Your turn! :) MckLinky up!
In the space that says Link Title, remember to include 3 things: YourBlogName - Giveaway Title [End date]. Does not have to be in that exact order but I do need all three in some order or another please. Link to the giveaway post specifically, not just to your blog in general.
PLEASE make sure you follow these easy instructions so it is easy for me to maintain and easy for people to view and use. Alot of people have not been doing this and it makes maintaining the list much harder and more time consuming for me. This is not an unreasonable request in the least: most giveaway linkups require this same format. You can use proper format and copy and paste it the same (proper) way to all the linkys you use. If this gets too hard for me to maintain due to people not doing this as I have asked, I will stop fixing them and have to instead delete any that I don't have the time to fix. So you see why it's not only courtesy but is also important to use the BlogName-GiveawayName[EndDate] format. (In any order. You can do End Date - Blog name - Giveaway or Giveaway - End date - Blog name or whatever as long as they are all in there.)
ALSO please note: I will immediately delete any entries that are innapropriate and further links from that blog may be deleted if I don't have time to screen them. A good way to look at it is if you wouldn't want your 13 year old daughter to have one or read the review in your words then DON'T LINK IT HERE. This is supposed to be a family friendly blog and when I've got people posting giveaways for ...um... 'romantic props' or something it is extremely embarrassing and upsetting to find that on my blog where my friends' innocent children could see it.
Your link WILL BE DELETED IF it links to a post that:
**Contains profanity, nudity, or inappropriate inuendo.
**Does not contain a blog giveaway.
**Endorses abortion, divorce, adultery, or things that are anti-God, anti-moral absolutes, anti-ten commandments, etc.
**Endorses a product/company that endorses abortion, divorce, adultery, or things that are anti-God, anti-moral absolutes, anti-Biblical commandments, etc.
**Is not appropriate for an innocent child to view.
This is what I believe in, and to allow links on my blog that go against that is something that I cannot do in good concience.


Entries will stay on the list until they expire (until the giveaway ends).
I will try to delete expired giveaways often to keep this list fresh and easy to view.
I will create a new list each month. This MckLinky list will run October 1st-31st. Check back November 1st for a new list.