Halloween: How Did It Start?

Reference: http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween

ANCIENT ORIGINS OF HALLOWEEN 

Halloween’s origins date 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 and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

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 the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

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 Western church. Pope Gregory III (731–741) later expanded the festival to include all saints as well 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 gradually blended with and supplanted the older Celtic rites. In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It is widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but 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 also 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.

http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/halloween-around-the-world

Aging Society: links to suggested sites

1. What is "aging society?"

2. Do you think Japan is an aging society? Explain your answer.

3. What do you think can be done about the situation?

Be prepared to discuss your answers in class, and also, think about the video we watched (Nagoro: Valley of Dolls https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/japan-dolls-population-artist-nagoro-spd/). How did the the video make you feel?


Here are some links that might be useful for your reseach:
日本の高齢者の面倒は誰が？時限爆弾はすでに
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNPqYMoYtUo

The Incredible Shrinking Country
http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/03/japans-demography

Japan's Aging Society and Future Economy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOzRtjmtXDs

Japanese Elderly Retiring in the Philippines

http://www.rappler.com/business/industries/175-real-estate/38572-more-japanese-eye-ph-as-retirement-home 

Japanese Retirement Facility to Open in Mactan (Philippines)

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/25235/japanese-retirement-facility-to-be-built-in-mactan-this-year 

Class Plan Spring/Fall 2017

Fall 2016 - Advanced English II a Instructor: Abigail Capitin-Principe

Wednesday - Hoshigaoka Campus http://asuadvancedenglish.blogspot.jp/

Fall 2017
Week 1 - Introduction/Orientation HW: What kind of English Learner are you? (handout)
Week 2 - What’s your study habit?
HW: MOOCS
Week 3 - MOOCS: Discussion/Opinion
Week 4 - Presentation on MOOCS 
Week 5 - Population Problems around the World
Week 6: Aging Japan: Video
Week 7: Talk about the video. Discuss about Japan's aging population.
Week 8: Presentation: Solutions to Japan's Aging Population
Week 9: Students' Topics: Recommend Topics for Discussion
Week 10: Discussion/Opinion/Presentation: Students' Topics
Week 11: Literature: The Tell-Tale Heart Part 1 (Listening and Reading)
Week 12: Literature: The Tell-Tale Heart Part 2 (Listening and Reading)
Week 13: Final activity explanation and preparation (Class Activity)
Week 14: Final activity presentation.
Week 15: Consultation