The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The corpse Ritual Among the Nacirema - Case Study ExampleIn contemporary American culture the feast of Halloween appears to be derived from the pagan traditions of Samhain, although Halloween is based on Christian beliefs. From observing the customs related to Samhain, the roots, core features and stereotypical concepts associated with Halloween get under ones skin evident. Thesis Statement The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Celtic festival of Samhain, and examine its rituals and symbolism in relation to Halloween. According to Ohogain (2003), the influence of the Celts is far more extensive than is indicated by its fragmented survival beyond the fringes of western Europe. This culture which had been once been considered a highly significant one, continues to remain as a spanking component of European civilization and heritage from east to west. Among the Celts, the feast of Samhain involved stock-taking, and reorganizing communities for the winter months which incl uded the set of quarters for traveling warriors and religious teachers. Samhain also denoted a period of supernatural intensity, when darkness and decay prevailed, appear from the ancient mounds of the countryside, known as sidh. For protection against these spirits, the Irish built large, symbolically life-sustaining bonfires, and appealed to the gods for help by means of animal and perhaps even human sacrifice... Of the two great doorways of the Celtic year, Samhain on November 1st was more important than Beltane on May 1st, since it marked the beginning of a completely in the buff cycle similar to the Celtic day which begins at night. The most magically potent age of this festival is November Eve, the night of October 31st (Freeman, 1999), known today as Halloween. Samhain marked took place between the autumn equinoctial point and the winter solstice. Halloween is derived from All Hallow Even, or the eve of All Saints twenty-four hours, 1st November. Together with All Souls Day on the 2nd November, the Christian calendar assigns the festival for honoring the saints and the newly departed (Rogers, 2003, p.22), and in then(prenominal) centuries for praying for souls in purgatory. Samhain distinguished the first day of winter, when the herders led the cattle and sheep down from their summer hillside pastures to the shelter of persistent and byre (Freeman, 1999). All the harvest should be gathered in by this time, of barley, apples, turnips, wheat and oats with the beginning of November the faeries were believed to destroy whatsoever remaining crops or plants. Peat and wood for winter fires were stocked up close to the shopping mallh. It was a joyous time of family reunion, when all members of the household worked together baking, salting meat, and making preserves for the winter feasts to come (Freeman, 1999). Samhain was the major feast of the year and everyone gathered together for the Feast of Tara, when the royal seat of the High King as the heart of the sacred land, and the creator of the new year was celebrated. Every household in the country put go forth their hearth fires, and waited for the Druids to light the new fire of the year. At Samhain the gods came