Latest / Martyr's Row / Ep. 36 - Is Halloween The Christian Passover?
Transcript
- 0:00This week on Martyrs Row! Does Disney's Coco
- 0:04explain Halloween? Is Halloween a pagan holiday,
- 0:08or is it the Christian Passover? If Ohio were
- 0:11a fruit, why is it an apple? Christian superstition!
- 0:15Day of the Dead! All Saints Day! All Souls Day!
- 0:18All Hallows Eve! All Hallow Tide! Which one is
- 0:22it? Let's find out! On Martyrs Row! 3, 2, 1!
- 0:42Saint Denis. Saint Denis, first bishop of Paris,
- 0:47was sent from Rome to preach the Gospel among
- 0:50the Gauls. With his companions, Rusticus and
- 0:53Eleutherius, he turned many from the worship
- 0:56of idols, wherefore the governor inflamed with
- 1:00fury, caused them to be beaten with rods and
- 1:03cast into prison. When neither pain nor threatenings
- 1:07could silence their confession of Christ, they
- 1:10were led to the hill of Montmartre and there
- 1:13beheaded. Yet, as the story is faithfully kept
- 1:17among the ancients, Dennis, rising from the place
- 1:21of his execution, took up his head in his hands
- 1:25and walked a great space, ceasing not to give
- 1:29blessing and exhortation until he fell at last.
- 1:33where a church was afterward raised in his honor.
- 1:36Thus ended this holy bishop, whose steadfast
- 1:40faith outshone the darkness of his time, and
- 1:43whose death witnessed that even when the body
- 1:46is divided, the spirit yet walketh with God.
- 1:50Anno Domini, 250. Have you ever heard of Pliny
- 1:57the Younger? Pliny the Younger, tell me. There's
- 2:01like a soundtrack underneath my sub. Pliny the
- 2:06Younger's not creepy. So I heard about this the
- 2:10other day and I thought it really interesting
- 2:12and also like in line with the theme of martyrs.
- 2:17But it also is one of the earliest examples that
- 2:20we have written by pagans, non -Christians. giving
- 2:25a detailed layout of what Christian practices
- 2:30looked like at this time. Oh, interesting. So
- 2:34Pliny the Younger, he was a leader within the
- 2:41Roman government and he was up in the Northern
- 2:44Asia Minor. Oh, okay. Which is kind of interesting.
- 2:46That's very interesting. So like Northern modern
- 2:49day Turkey. Yeah. But higher than Mesopotamia.
- 2:53Mesopotamia. But yeah, so he's up there, right?
- 2:59And he has this issue, and so he writes to Trajan,
- 3:05who is the Roman emperor at the time. So he basically,
- 3:09basically this regional leader writes to the
- 3:15emperor, his boss, and basically says, hey, did
- 3:20I deal with this situation okay? Interesting.
- 3:23And so in the letter, he writes out what the
- 3:25situation was. Oh, wow. And how he dealt with
- 3:28it, which is pretty cool. That's so fascinating.
- 3:31Yeah. And the letter is written in 112 AD. Wow.
- 3:37OK. So we're talking about arguably within 20
- 3:40years of when Revelation's written. Yeah. It's
- 3:43within a decent time span of when a lot of the
- 3:47New Testament is solidified. So this is like
- 3:51early church. Early church. Yeah, within the
- 3:54first century of the church. That's incredible.
- 3:56Yeah, a century is 100 years, right? Mm -hmm.
- 3:58Okay. Okay. So I'll jump through this, but I
- 4:04want to read some of the letters. So this is
- 4:07Pliny the Younger, his letter to Emperor Trajan
- 4:11in AD 112. And he... And then I'll read you a
- 4:17little bit of Trajan's response, because we actually
- 4:19have that, which is pretty cool. So it says,
- 4:23Pliny the Younger, it is my practice, my Lord,
- 4:26to refer to you in all matters concerning which
- 4:29I am in doubt, for who can better guide my hesitation
- 4:33or inform my ignorance. I have never been present
- 4:36at any trials of Christians. I therefore do not
- 4:39know what offenses are usually punished or investigated
- 4:43or to what extent, and I have not been a little
- 4:49uncertain whether there should be any distinction
- 4:51on account of age or whether the weak are to
- 4:55be treated differently from the robust, whether
- 4:58pardon is to be granted to the penitent, or if
- 5:01one who has once been a Christian gains nothing
- 5:05by renouncing it. whether the mere name of Christian,
- 5:09even without crimes or only the crimes associated
- 5:11with the name, are to be punished. Meanwhile,
- 5:14in the case of those who were denounced to me
- 5:16as Christians, I have observed the following
- 5:19procedure." So he basically is like, hey Trajan,
- 5:23I haven't really dealt with Christians much in
- 5:27this regard, in the sense that I haven't been
- 5:29around when they have been accused and sentenced.
- 5:35It's also interesting that it's even just associated
- 5:37with it. What do you do with that? And he's considering,
- 5:42hey, what if the person is kind of a weak, frail
- 5:45person? I'm not really sure how we should deal
- 5:50with those individuals. And if they are stronger,
- 5:53should we do something different if they are
- 5:56a Christian? It's interesting, because a lot
- 5:58of the martyrings we've done, some of them emphasize
- 6:02the person's frailty. It does. And it's like,
- 6:05oh, they were treated just as badly. For sure.
- 6:08But this guy's like, I don't know. Yeah, he's
- 6:09like, I'm not sure exactly. And you can kind
- 6:11of see that human empathy where he's like, should
- 6:13we care for them a little bit more? Yeah, well,
- 6:15because we do know that if you were a Roman citizen
- 6:19that they were treated differently. Yes. And
- 6:21we even had a martyr reading where it mentions.
- 6:26that one of the guys is like, hey, Roman citizens
- 6:29should not be killed like this. And then the
- 6:33Roman leader turns to them and goes, you sound
- 6:36like one of them. And he goes, yeah, I am. And
- 6:40he goes, yeah, I am. And then that guy's also
- 6:42killed. Yeah, that was Ptolemus and Lucius, I
- 6:43think. It was, yeah. Which, that was really interesting.
- 6:47So now he basically says, so... Here's what I
- 6:52did in this situation. Let me explain the situation.
- 6:55So here's the situation that Pliny is dealing
- 6:58with. He says, I interrogated these as to whether
- 7:01they were Christians. Those who confessed, I
- 7:04interrogated a second and a third time, threatening
- 7:06them with punishment. Those who persisted, I
- 7:09ordered executed. For I had no doubt that whatever
- 7:13the nature of their creed stubbornness and inflexibility
- 7:17inflexible obstinacy Surely deserve to be punished.
- 7:21So what he's saying is The ones that I interrogated
- 7:25I did it twice and then three times Yeah, and
- 7:29I decided to just kill them because I realized
- 7:32that they were stubborn in their belief And they
- 7:36weren't after interrogation. They weren't gonna
- 7:38turn away from what they believed. Yeah so I
- 7:41decided that that deserved death. Which is pretty
- 7:45cool, speaking to the Christians, you know? That's
- 7:47true. So then he goes, there were others possessed
- 7:50of the same folly, but because they were Roman
- 7:53citizens, I signed an order for them to be sent
- 7:55to Rome. We get that example with Paul. Yes.
- 7:58Right? Yeah. So this is actually around that
- 8:00time. Wow. So you get this example where... Which
- 8:03makes sense because they're like, we don't know
- 8:04what to do with them and the Roman citizens,
- 8:06so let's send them to Rome. But even the ones
- 8:09that weren't, it sounds like they were like,
- 8:10hey, we wanna give you a couple of chances to
- 8:13be alive and join us. But if you don't join us,
- 8:18then we're gonna have to kill you. So it's almost
- 8:21like they were pleading with them, hey, denounce
- 8:24God. And they're like, we aren't gonna do that.
- 8:29And they're like, please? Can you please do that?
- 8:31Yeah, it seems like they were pretty reasonable.
- 8:34And I think that kinda shows to even just rulership.
- 8:38I mean, with how big Rome... the Roman Empire
- 8:40was, it's like, well, they're not gonna rule
- 8:43everything with an iron fist like that. So it's
- 8:47like, there's gotta be some, I don't know where
- 8:50I'm going with this, but it's like, yeah, when
- 8:52you think of a ruler and a judge, it's like,
- 8:54well, they're gonna try to be lenient, because
- 8:55they know they're people for the most part. And
- 8:58they wanna try to maintain order. Yes, and they
- 9:01wanted to have a civilization, they wanted to
- 9:03have a civilized society. People to grow into,
- 9:05yeah. Right, they wanted to flourish. And if
- 9:08they start killing off all their people, Right,
- 9:11exactly. And there were certain rights that they
- 9:14were given as Roman citizens. Because really,
- 9:17Rome is what the West is built off of. So he
- 9:22keeps going and he says, soon the accusations
- 9:25spread as usually happens because of the proceedings
- 9:27going on and several incidents occurred. in an
- 9:31anonymous document was published containing the
- 9:33names of many persons those who denied that they
- 9:37were or had been Christians when they invoked
- 9:40the gods in words dictated by me offered prayer
- 9:44with incense and wine to your image he sang to
- 9:48the image of the emperor which i had ordered
- 9:51to be brought for this purpose together with
- 9:54statues of the gods and moreover cursed christ
- 9:59None of which, it is said, those who are really
- 10:02Christians can be forced to do. These, I thought,
- 10:05should be discharged." So he explains that he
- 10:09basically pulls together, based on an anonymous
- 10:14list that he got, that these people on this list
- 10:18were seen to be Christians. So he goes and confronts
- 10:22them, and the way he does it is he says, are
- 10:25you or are you not Christians? And he goes, okay,
- 10:28then worship the gods before you, and worship
- 10:33the emperor, Trajan, as God. And they did so,
- 10:38and so he discharged them. He's like, they're
- 10:40not Christian. Yeah, exactly. So it's this definition
- 10:44which is really interesting. That's fascinating.
- 10:45And then he goes on to say, others named by the
- 10:48informer declared that they were Christians,
- 10:51but then denied it, asserting that they had been
- 10:55but. that they had been, but had ceased to be,
- 10:59some three years before, others many years, some
- 11:02even 20 years ago, all worshiped your image in
- 11:05the statutes of the gods and cursed Christ. So
- 11:09then you get another description of people who
- 11:12said they did used to be Christians, but they
- 11:14no longer are, and they did the same thing that
- 11:19the ones who, never claimed to be Christian did,
- 11:23which is worship the gods. So he's making them
- 11:26worship before him. To kind of test where their
- 11:29loyalty is. Yes. And then this is pretty interesting.
- 11:34So it says, they affirmed, however, that the
- 11:38sum and substance of their fault or error had
- 11:42been that they were accustomed to meet. on a
- 11:45fixed day before dawn, and sing responsively
- 11:49a hymn to Christ as to a God, and to bind themselves
- 11:54by oath not to some crime, but not to commit
- 11:57fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their
- 12:01trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called
- 12:05upon to do so. When this was over, it was their
- 12:08custom to depart and to assemble again to partake
- 12:11of food. But ordinary and innocent food. So he's
- 12:16basically saying this is what their gatherings
- 12:20look like. And he explains basically the gathering
- 12:24of the saints to sing the songs. And he says
- 12:26that some of these people had continued to do
- 12:29that even though they didn't believe anymore.
- 12:33Which is interesting because this gives us a
- 12:35description that those who followed Christ were
- 12:39actively meeting before dawn and they were singing
- 12:42a hymn to Christ as to a god, that's how he says
- 12:47it. And then binding themselves together by an
- 12:51oath, and then not to do some crime, and then
- 12:57not to, and then it goes into basically the Ten
- 13:00Commandments. We shouldn't do these things. And
- 13:04then when it was over, they assembled together
- 13:06to partake in food, ordinary food. So he's describing
- 13:10communion. Like they didn't sacrifice it. it's
- 13:13ordinary food they're just yeah so this is an
- 13:16early description of gathering of the saints
- 13:19but the ones that he just talked about before
- 13:22yeah we're still partaking in that even though
- 13:24they didn't believe any longer that's fascinating
- 13:27yeah i feel like this is like a real time uh
- 13:32description of christians in 112 ad who that
- 13:37we see today not just that but also that jesus
- 13:41talked about in like parable of the sower, like
- 13:45different soils and different things like that.
- 13:48It's like, yeah, it's interesting. So. I think
- 13:51it's funny because it's such a humanizing thing
- 13:53as well. For sure. Which I love like going, when
- 13:55you go through history, you feel like you realize
- 13:57how human these people are. Yeah. Or it's like
- 14:00we look at today's like, oh, there's a lot of
- 14:01people in church that aren't actually Christians.
- 14:03Like apparently there were in the beginning too.
- 14:04Yeah, they were still going, but he even says
- 14:08some even 20 years ago. Yeah. had stopped believing
- 14:12but are still attending. It's crazy. Yeah, it
- 14:14is nuts. And so he goes on to say, even this
- 14:17they affirmed they had ceased to do after my
- 14:21edict by which in accordance with your instructions,
- 14:24I had forbidden political associations. So he
- 14:27basically says, OK, now stop going to the gatherings.
- 14:30Yeah, if you don't believe stop going don't do
- 14:33it. Yeah. Yeah, so accordingly I judged it all
- 14:36the more necessary to find out what the truth
- 14:38was by torturing two female slaves who were called
- 14:41Deaconessus But I discovered nothing else but
- 14:46depraved excessive superstition Hmm, so he calls
- 14:51their faith depraved and excessive superstition.
- 14:57It's interesting it is because he believes his
- 15:00faith is the true faith. Which is interesting.
- 15:04He goes on, I therefore postpone the investigation
- 15:07and hasten to consult you. For the matter seemed
- 15:11to me to warrant consulting you, especially because
- 15:13of the number involved. For many persons of every
- 15:17age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and
- 15:20will be endangered. For the contagion of this
- 15:23superstition has spread not only to the cities,
- 15:26but also to the villages and farms. What does
- 15:29that mean? The church is growing. Yeah. The church
- 15:32is growing. So what should I do? Because they
- 15:34all believe in this superstition. Yeah. Even
- 15:37after I tortured them. Crazy. Nevertheless, it
- 15:41seems possible to check and cure it. It is certainly
- 15:44quite clear that the temples, which had been
- 15:47almost deserted, have begun to be frequented
- 15:50again, that the established religious sites rights
- 15:55long neglected are being resumed. and that from
- 15:59everywhere sacrificial animals are coming for
- 16:02which until recently very few purchasers could
- 16:05be found. Hence it is easy to imagine what a
- 16:08multitude of people can be reformed if an opportunity
- 16:11for repentance is afforded. Now he goes into
- 16:15this separate part which is almost like all of
- 16:20a sudden Jewish temples are starting to sacrifice
- 16:23again. Which is, that's a whole separate thing.
- 16:27It is. So that's the end of that. So this is
- 16:31a short reply from Trajan. He says, you have
- 16:36followed the proper course, my dear secundus,
- 16:40in examining the cases of those who had been
- 16:43denounced to you as Christians, for it is not
- 16:46possible to lay down any general rule to serve
- 16:49as a fixed standard. They are not to be sought
- 16:51out. If they are brought before you and the charge
- 16:54is proved, they are to be punished. But with
- 16:57this reservation, that whoever denies that he
- 17:00is a Christian and really proves it, that is
- 17:04by worshipping our gods, even though he was under
- 17:07suspicion in the past, shall obtain pardon through
- 17:10repentance. But anonymous accusations ought to
- 17:15have no place in any persecution, for this is
- 17:18a This is both a dangerous kind of precedent
- 17:20and out of keeping with the spirit of our age.
- 17:25The language is super interesting. That's so
- 17:27interesting. Isn't that crazy though? Wow. So
- 17:30he basically says like, like we need to do this
- 17:33orderly and we need to take it case by case.
- 17:37Yeah. So in some ways it's almost like we need
- 17:41to allow people to do what they're going to do
- 17:43as long as it, as long as they are not Worshipping
- 17:48other gods. Yeah, or denouncing at least our
- 17:53gods including myself Trajan Yeah, which is pretty
- 17:57crazy which honestly makes sense to because it's
- 18:00like well They want loyalty and allegiance to
- 18:02themselves. Yes, and so if these superstitions
- 18:05Yeah, continue it might lead to uprising. Yeah,
- 18:09so they're like we got a nip all that Yeah, yeah,
- 18:12but it is interesting to think to that because
- 18:14he mentions that I I don't know what that looked
- 18:18like where it seemed like there were some sacrifices
- 18:21in Jewish temples that were starting to pick
- 18:24back up in 112 AD. It's interesting. It is interesting.
- 18:29Because then you get this, and that makes sense
- 18:31because Jerusalem is destroyed, the temple is
- 18:36destroyed in 70 AD. So you're talking about 40
- 18:38years later, they're starting to try to fill
- 18:41these temples back up, or synagogues around the
- 18:44area. and do that, but it's cool to get this
- 18:48description of Christians where he's like, yeah,
- 18:51so here's what their gatherings look like. And
- 18:55it's a clear description of what we thought their
- 18:58gatherings looked like. And then there are some
- 19:01that go that don't believe. There are some that
- 19:04go that we torture them and they still believe.
- 19:08And it seems like there are many more of these
- 19:11people growing and things happening. What should
- 19:14we do? And the emperor basically says, well,
- 19:18don't seek them out. But if they show up, then
- 19:21kill them. Yeah, we'll deal with it case by case.
- 19:24Which, as we start to look at the different martyrs,
- 19:28and you start to see different emperors start
- 19:30to kill off large groups of Christians, if that
- 19:35is how the Roman government was conducted, it
- 19:37meant that the number was getting so large that
- 19:39it became invasive. It couldn't be a case by
- 19:41case. which is pretty interesting. I was like,
- 19:44hey, here's this big group, get them all out
- 19:46here. Yeah, kind of crazy, right? That's pretty
- 19:48crazy. It's pretty cool to have that type of
- 19:50account from Roman government officials in 112
- 19:55AD. Because it's such an insight into that time.
- 19:57Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Pretty cool. Yeah, I like
- 20:00it. Three, two, one. I was reading late one night
- 20:04by a candle's glow When courage stirred from
- 20:08tales of long ago The saints arose through fire
- 20:13and flame And all hollows tied still speaks their
- 20:18name They walked the road They walked the martyr's
- 20:22road Through flames and fire Their faith always
- 20:26would show They walked the road They walk the
- 20:30martyr's row The light of Christ still makes
- 20:34them glow From Rome's dark pit to England's shore
- 20:40They would not bend to kings or even war Their
- 20:44prayers still rise where the faithful kneel For
- 20:49the love of Christ they sealed the deal They
- 20:53walk the road They walked the martyr's road With
- 20:57flames and fire Their faith, oh, it would show
- 21:01They walked the road They walked the martyr's
- 21:05road The light of Christ still makes them grow
- 21:10Now candles gleam where their names are told
- 21:14The blood of saints is the seed of gold From
- 21:19Stephen's cross to polycar's flame the gospel
- 21:24spread by faith proclaim they walked the martyr's
- 21:31road in flames and fire their faith though it
- 21:35would show they walked the road they walked the
- 21:39martyr's road the light of Christ still makes
- 21:43them glow they walked the road they walked the
- 21:47martyr's road through flames and fire The harvest
- 22:09is done. The fields lie empty. Stocks brittle
- 22:17in the wind. The year is dying. The sun sinks
- 22:21early and the nights grow long. On this night,
- 22:25they say, the veil thins. The lines between the
- 22:29living and the dead dissolves, and the unbound
- 22:33walk freely once more. It is the night of Samhain,
- 22:39the hinge of the year. Men and women huddle close
- 22:43to their fires, hoping the light will hold back
- 22:46what waits beyond. Masks are donned. not for
- 22:50play, but for protection. If the spirits come
- 22:55looking for a soul to take, perhaps they'll mistake
- 22:59you for one of their own. At the village edge,
- 23:04food and drink are left in silence, offerings
- 23:07to wandering souls, bargains with what cannot
- 23:10be tamed. Bonfires roar against the dark, smoke
- 23:15rising like a prayer. From those who know, they
- 23:19have no power to bind the unseen. This was the
- 23:23world before the cross cast its shadow, before
- 23:27the saints sang their triumph, a world still
- 23:30haunted by fear of the night. But then came a
- 23:41new kind of fire, not the bonfires of fear, but
- 23:45the light of remembrance. The church entered
- 23:49this shadowed night, not to erase it, but to
- 23:52redeem it. They called it All Hallows' Eve, the
- 23:57night before the feast of all saints, a night
- 24:01when the faithful gathered not to flee from spirits,
- 24:05but to proclaim victory over them. The unbound
- 24:09were no longer to be feared. Death itself had
- 24:13been bound, the veil still thin. was no longer
- 24:18a threat, it was a promise. For those who sleep
- 24:21in Christ are not lost, but waiting in the light
- 24:26beyond the dark. And so Halloween became the
- 24:36shadow before dawn, a memory of when the world
- 24:40trembled in the dark, and a reminder that the
- 24:43light has come, and it cannot be unbound. Christmas
- 24:47would later celebrate the full victory, the birth
- 24:50of a light who binds the strong man forever.
- 24:55But tonight, we remember the night before the
- 24:58triumph. The night when the dark still roamed
- 25:02free. This is Halloween. The night before the
- 25:07victory. Let's try that again. Three, two, one.
- 25:19Oh, that's better. So much, I can see now. It
- 25:22was feeling a little dark and spooky. I feel
- 25:23a little spooky scary. It can be fun sometimes,
- 25:26you know? Yeah. I don't know about you, but I
- 25:28sleep with all the lights off. I am a child of
- 25:33the lights. So you're always in the light? Yeah.
- 25:37Changing those light bulbs? I haven't slept in
- 25:38years. Yeah, I guess there is no sleep in heaven,
- 25:43right? Oh wait, is that a different episode?
- 25:45Different episode. Oops. Whoopsies. Little tease.
- 25:49Well, speaking of Christian things. Yeah. Is
- 25:56Halloween one of those? Halloween. Halloween.
- 25:59Halloween. October. Halloweeny. Halloween. This
- 26:03is Halloween. What show is that? Chow we need
- 26:08I think it's um like boss, baby. I don't know
- 26:11I have young oh, maybe it is yeah I actually
- 26:14one of my friends his favorite movie was boss,
- 26:16baby. That's weird. Yeah, we just got that yeah
- 26:21Friend I hope you're watching I've seen that
- 26:26movie way too many times yeah, but yeah, so Halloween
- 26:30yeah in October. We're kind of here. Oh, yeah,
- 26:34it's like probably tomorrow or today or honestly
- 26:38it doesn't matter because you may be watching
- 26:39this like next July. In which case Halloween
- 26:43happened. And don't turn off the episode because
- 26:47yeah or maybe save it till October if you're
- 26:50coming to this then yeah because I think we can
- 26:54talk about what we're going to talk about whenever
- 26:55we want to talk about it. It's kind of a little
- 26:59evergreen. Yeah. But we've actually been talking
- 27:03a lot about like feasts and holidays and we've
- 27:07been kind of talking through a bunch of different
- 27:10things when it comes to like what the Israelites
- 27:14believed and practiced and then what Christians
- 27:16believe and practice and kind of hit a lot of
- 27:19that stuff. So like I think maybe in keeping
- 27:24with that idea, I think the question I want to
- 27:27ask you is Paul is Is Halloween a Christian Passover?
- 27:38Like many of my questions. Layers. Layers. Like
- 27:43many of a martyr row, a martyr row. Many a martyr
- 27:46row. Many a martyr row question. And many a martyr
- 27:49row. Has many layers. Because thus we live in
- 27:53the ecosphere. Yeah, you know, I hope that people
- 27:56appreciate these questions as much as we do they
- 27:58don't But this isn't really for them it's for
- 28:03us and it's funny is like part of my hope is
- 28:05like after they hear the episode They're like,
- 28:07oh that is an interesting question. Yeah by the
- 28:10end of it Yeah, or they get to the end of it
- 28:13and go. Oh, that was the question, huh? I forgot
- 28:17we did too So welcome, but Halloween Halloween
- 28:24What a weird time. Yeah. Yeah. It's weird when
- 28:30like seasons and holidays and as everyone is
- 28:35celebrating things. Yeah. It like feels a certain
- 28:39way. Yes. Because we honestly like this to me
- 28:43at least marks like the beginning of the holiday
- 28:45season. Yeah for sure. Because after this like
- 28:48every month there's a holiday. Yeah absolutely.
- 28:50Yeah. Yeah and it's weird how like even though
- 28:53we live in central Florida, you haven't lived
- 28:56your whole life in central Florida like I have.
- 28:59But it is weird how there is this thing, even
- 29:02in central Florida, where you can feel a season
- 29:04change. And you're like, well, it's still 85
- 29:08degrees in the middle of the day. But it feels
- 29:10different. But it feels different. And it's like,
- 29:13what is that? Yeah, something in the atmosphere
- 29:15changes. Yeah. And it's like a visceral thing.
- 29:18It's kind of, I mean, It's not much different
- 29:22than the space between you and someone else.
- 29:26Yeah. Yeah. In the idea that like relationship,
- 29:29body language, but also like the communication
- 29:32between souls or spirits. Like who you really
- 29:35are communicating to who the other person really
- 29:38is. Yeah. Some of that is active and always happening.
- 29:43Yeah. And we may not acknowledge it very much.
- 29:46And that kind of happens with seasons as well.
- 29:50Yeah, it's interesting. I was actually talking
- 29:52to some of my northern friends that used to live
- 29:56down in Florida. And it's interesting because
- 30:00that's one of the things we've talked about where
- 30:02the difference between, just personality -wise,
- 30:05it's like, yeah, there is something that's different
- 30:07between the north where it's like, okay, here
- 30:09we are, especially where I was in the snow belt,
- 30:12where it just gets tremendously more snow than
- 30:14most places. I like that, snow belt. Yeah, it's
- 30:16kind of cool. We're now in the Bible belt. Yeah,
- 30:18we are. Weird. Not a season. Let me strap on
- 30:25that KGV. KGV. King George version? KJV. Whoops.
- 30:39Whoops. I like the King George version. It sounded
- 30:40right in my head. It's more modern. King George.
- 30:44Different King. Same idea. Or you could go King
- 30:47Gregory. Oh, I like that. Hey! Actually, I think
- 30:52he's the one that kind of set up Halloween on
- 30:56the 31st, wasn't he? Are we jumping the shark?
- 30:58Maybe, but he wasn't king. He was a pope. Oh,
- 31:03you're right. Pope Gregory. Yeah. So it'd be
- 31:05like PGV? P -G -V? P -G -V? Pope Gregory version?
- 31:13That would be an interesting version. That would
- 31:14be interesting. It was. Yeah, do you know about
- 31:19that? Not a ton. Okay, so so yeah, so he would
- 31:22have established like the the final November
- 31:271st. Gregorian calendar. Yes. Yes. So like the
- 31:30the final like November 1st landing of All Hallows.
- 31:36What is it? Eve. Yeah. No, All Hallows Eve would
- 31:38be. All Saints Day. All Saints Day. Yeah. So
- 31:41he would have established November 1 as All Saints
- 31:43Day. Yeah. From I think 8th century. That sounds
- 31:47right. From that point forward. Yeah. So like
- 31:49modern day, like where we get that from. And
- 31:52he did it in a dedication, like in a dedication
- 31:57that coincided with St. Peter's Basilica. That
- 32:01makes sense. So it was like something around
- 32:04that. Yeah. And I think with alms and things
- 32:06like that. Yeah. Actually that would be a fun
- 32:09episode to do specifically about calendars. Yeah,
- 32:13you talked about that. It's been something I've
- 32:14been kind of interested in for a little while.
- 32:16Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah. I mean, we've been
- 32:19talking about stars a little bit, too, so...
- 32:21Honestly, that aligns. Probably... He's so dumb.
- 32:29You got yourself on that one. But yeah, so Pope
- 32:38Gregory, 8th century, I believe. established
- 32:42that, All Saints Day, November 1st. Which has
- 32:46no biblical grounding. Spoiler alert. Yeah, as
- 32:50far as the Bible itself goes. But I think what's
- 32:54interesting though, because, oh yeah, so what
- 32:56I was saying about the north with south, it's
- 32:58interesting because the weather's a lot nicer
- 33:01here. Okay. And as far as like, you don't have
- 33:06blistering negative 15 degree days. I get that.
- 33:09Yeah. And so it's interesting, we've said in
- 33:11the North, at least in Ohio, it's the North,
- 33:14but I'll speak specifically for me in Ohio. It's
- 33:17the mid. The mid. Ohio's so mid. It's mid. It
- 33:21is literally, though. It's mid, yeah. Where it's
- 33:26like, oh, it's interesting because the seasons
- 33:28are so stark in their differences. You can go
- 33:32there and be like, it's definitely fall, it's
- 33:34definitely summer. They're very market. If Ohio
- 33:39were a fruit, what fruit would it be? I was gonna
- 33:43say potato, but that's a vegetable. And I realize
- 33:50most people would be like, Idaho. Yeah, but like
- 33:52Ohio feels like a potato. It feels like a potato.
- 33:56Corn's not a fruit either. That's more like Indiana
- 33:58when I think of corn. Okay. What fruit is Ohio?
- 34:02Cause that's the difference, right? Like an apple?
- 34:04Oh, interesting. I think more Washington. Oh,
- 34:07really? Yeah. Okay. Because Florida is an orange.
- 34:12Yeah. That's kind of obvious. It's an orange.
- 34:14But I get that. So like a deep red apple? I think
- 34:17so. Okay. Yeah, that's kind of where my mind
- 34:19goes. What about like a weird shaped grape? Like
- 34:21an ambrosia apple. A weird shaped grape? That
- 34:27would actually work too. Oh, is that just an
- 34:28apple? A lot of grape vineyards and a lot of
- 34:32apple orchards in Ohio. Grape vineyard I wouldn't
- 34:35have expected. Yeah. but Apple Orchard makes
- 34:38sense. Yeah, there's a lot of those. Okay, so
- 34:40like a deep red apple. Yeah. Okay, or are they
- 34:43not deep red? They can be. Oh, they can be. Oh,
- 34:48trust me. Okay, I get that. It is interesting
- 34:53because I felt it the most there where it's like
- 34:56you come from the summer where everything's lively
- 34:58and green and bright. Sure. And then you go into
- 35:01the fall where everything just turns this orange,
- 35:03yellow. in black. Yeah, it dies. And then you
- 35:07get to the winter where it's like, you can't
- 35:09tell the ground from the sky. Everything is just
- 35:11the same color. Yeah. Which is like, it's weird
- 35:13to describe that, but it's like, no, like literally
- 35:16the sky is gray and the ground is gray. Yeah.
- 35:19Or it's all white. It's like, it's kind of interesting.
- 35:22All the leaves are brown. That's a good song.
- 35:24And the sky is gray. Is that Carpenter's? I think
- 35:28so. That's tough. But yeah. That's a good song
- 35:32though. It is a great song. But it's interesting
- 35:35because it's like, it kind of, you feel everything
- 35:38dying. Yeah, but you actually see it too. Yeah,
- 35:42you see it. Because I feel like we feel it in
- 35:44Florida. Yes. But it's almost like we feel that
- 35:47everywhere else is dying. But it's interesting
- 35:53because then even in the winter, it's like, even
- 35:55to this day, it's like there are times when,
- 35:59especially if you're kind of in the middle of
- 36:00nowhere, it's like, oh, I could die out here.
- 36:03Oh. That's weird. Which is kind of a weird feeling.
- 36:06Yeah. I mean there's been times for myself where
- 36:08like I you know run into a ditch accidentally
- 36:10and it's just like hmm okay well I'm stuck out
- 36:13here my car doesn't work. Yeah. And if no one
- 36:15comes I'm gonna freeze to death out here. Yeah
- 36:17I guess that is a completely different situation
- 36:19because you're looking around at desolation.
- 36:22Yeah. So there's like there's nothing alive.
- 36:26Right. But in Florida if you get yourself in
- 36:29that situation it's more like I could be eaten
- 36:31by something. Yeah, like an alligator could just
- 36:33grab me. Yeah, or like if you're in the Everglades
- 36:36not very far, there's like yeah rampant pythons.
- 36:40Yes Yeah, it's like you could just get swallowed
- 36:42by a massive snake. It's like, okay Which one's
- 36:48scarier It's true. Honestly, probably Ohio. It
- 36:52might be. Because at least there's something
- 36:54there to interact with in Florida. You're like,
- 36:57oh, hey. Hey, Python, don't eat me. Glad you
- 36:59got to eat. He's full tonight. Yeah. At least
- 37:02there's activity. That's true. There's life.
- 37:06Yeah. But yeah, so it's interesting, because
- 37:07we've talked about that, where it's like, oh,
- 37:10like I, to a lesser degree, I can kind of feel
- 37:14what people before monitor amenities felt. where
- 37:18it's like, oh, there is danger in winter. And
- 37:21it's like, there's a lot of danger. So there's
- 37:23all these, especially around the harvest, the
- 37:25end of the harvest, there's these festivals where
- 37:27it's like, all right, we're gonna hunker down
- 37:28and hope we survive tonight. Yeah, that's scary.
- 37:33And so that's when we come to our favorite fall
- 37:35festival. All Hallows Eve. All Hallows Eve. So
- 37:42it's interesting, so I like to, especially around
- 37:45festivals, and like holidays. You know me, I
- 37:49like to ask my question like, why are we doing
- 37:51this? Where'd this come from? It's like, where'd
- 37:54this come from? How'd we get here? Yeah, and
- 37:57it's funny because it's like, at least growing
- 38:00up, it's like, oh no, you just celebrate Christmas.
- 38:02And it's like, why? Well, it's like, oh, because
- 38:05of Jesus. It's like, okay, but why? Yeah, yeah.
- 38:08And it's like, and then you celebrate Thanksgiving.
- 38:10Well, why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? Yeah,
- 38:12true. It's like, oh, now we have Halloween. Why
- 38:14do we celebrate that? Yeah, and are these all
- 38:16consistent and linked together somehow? Yeah,
- 38:18like, where do these come from? Right. And it
- 38:21was interesting for me, it was like, everyone
- 38:23celebrates different holidays. True. Across different
- 38:25countries and different nations. Yeah, and you
- 38:28have a wide spectrum of people who like really
- 38:30just don't care. Yeah. To like people who like
- 38:34really get after it. Yes. And their beliefs can
- 38:38range on the same type of spectrum. Yes. Like
- 38:41you could have this cross section where somebody
- 38:43is like super into every holiday and they actually
- 38:48have really, really maybe conservative Christian
- 38:51beliefs that aren't consistent with being that
- 38:54into those holidays. Yeah, that's true. All the
- 38:57way to like someone who's really into the holidays
- 38:59who doesn't believe there's a God at all. or
- 39:02anything spiritual, and it's just tangibly what
- 39:04we have. And then you have the whole other spectrum
- 39:07where people are like, I don't really care about
- 39:09that, it's all Hallmark. It's Hallmark, and what
- 39:15are those stores that randomly pop up for Halloween?
- 39:17Oh, like the Spirit of Halloween? Yeah, the Spirit
- 39:19of Hall, the spirit stores. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 39:22Where it's like they just take over an abandoned
- 39:24building. And then they make all their money
- 39:27in one month. Yeah. And it's like crazy. And
- 39:30it's also like, No one should ever walk in there
- 39:32because it's the craziest things. You see some
- 39:35wild stuff in there. Yeah, I went okay, so yeah,
- 39:38I love it go So I went I play golf. Yes cats
- 39:44out of the bag Oops now they know And I went
- 39:48to play golf this last week It's Halloween That's
- 39:54that's gotta come from Halloween cats out of
- 39:56the bag That's a good question. I don't know.
- 39:59Maybe we can ask chat Just make that a whole
- 40:02episode. Yeah, somehow. Hey Paul is the cat out
- 40:07of the bag? That's a good question, Stephen We'd
- 40:11start doing episodes inside of episodes We have
- 40:17to do like a reverse of it One two three Yeah,
- 40:23but no so I walked into like the clubhouse like
- 40:27where you would you would pay and then they have
- 40:29like a little bar area where you can get drinks
- 40:32or like food or whatever. Yeah. And I go in and
- 40:37I like go in between like the clubhouse where
- 40:40you would like check into play and the bar. And
- 40:43I walk through this hallway to go in and use
- 40:46the restroom first. And as I walk in, there's
- 40:49like this dead girl that's just standing there.
- 40:55in the hallway, and it's like an animatronic
- 40:58thing. As I walk past it, it turns and its eyes
- 41:01light up. And I'm like, I'm playing golf. I'm
- 41:04gonna kick this. What is this? What are we doing
- 41:08here? This doesn't make any sense. How is this
- 41:11festive at all? How does this make me wanna play
- 41:13golf more? Well, you wanna get out of the clubhouse.
- 41:16That's true. That's a good point. It was just
- 41:19one of those scenes like, why is there just like
- 41:21a dead zombie girl right here that's just like...
- 41:24Yeah, what's this here for? And I also can't
- 41:26tell like, is it like... Like, I can't tell what
- 41:28it's from, it's just like... Yeah, I don't know.
- 41:32Just like gray skin like I don't know. Yeah,
- 41:35it kind of creeps you out It sounds a little
- 41:38bit like the Ohio landscape in the winter. Yes
- 41:41That's what her skin. Yeah, you nailed it Her
- 41:44skin looks like Ohio in the winter It's a beautiful
- 41:48love poem. Oh how your skin looked like Ohio
- 41:53in the winter Reflects the grays of how you needed
- 41:57the warmth of a of a southern man Okay, that's
- 42:02a good way That's martyrs marginal after dark
- 42:11That's amazing true now we got there anyway How
- 42:21do I pivot out of this? Oh, just like spectrum
- 42:23of how people believe and interact with the holidays.
- 42:27Yeah, and so it's interesting because there's
- 42:29a lot of, I've done this a lot on tipsy theology
- 42:33for Christmas. It's kind of like a Christmas
- 42:35tradition to go in for a Christmas episode and
- 42:38talk about how we've misunderstood Christmas
- 42:40and its roots. Because I think there's so many
- 42:44times where especially, big holidays in the West,
- 42:48where we have, there are, where they came from,
- 42:51and then what we've turned them into. And then
- 42:53when we say they came from, which isn't true.
- 42:57Christmas is a nice one, because it's such a
- 42:58big holiday. But I think Halloween is another
- 43:01one, where we have these ideas of like, hey,
- 43:03this is where it came from, this is what it's
- 43:05about. But it's like, where are you getting that
- 43:07from? And a lot of times, it's just made up.
- 43:11Yeah, and I think that that's where like I think
- 43:13that's like the core of our podcast. Yeah is
- 43:16like Everybody stop for a second Let's observe
- 43:21what's happening now. Yeah figure out where it
- 43:23came from and figure out if it's actually Like
- 43:26if it is what you say it is. Yes. Yeah, because
- 43:29it is that type of thing It's like we're especially
- 43:31in a day now where there can just be a headline
- 43:35Right, and it's like oh and then that headline
- 43:38sticks in your head Yes. And then you start saying
- 43:41this thing as if it's true and then other people
- 43:44are hearing it and it's like, is it true? I honestly
- 43:47don't know. Yeah. I heard it from like 10 other
- 43:50people. Yeah. And so maybe that amount of people
- 43:53makes it true. But I think eventually culturally
- 43:56it becomes true because everybody believes it.
- 43:59Yeah. But it's not actually rooted in anything.
- 44:03Yes. So it's like we need to just like stop for
- 44:06a minute. Go, all right, this thing started this
- 44:10way. It evolved in this way. These two things
- 44:13linked up and we get to this modern day version
- 44:16of something we celebrate. And we all look around
- 44:19and go, you're demonic or you're too religious
- 44:26or you're worshiping. false idols or you're like,
- 44:31you know, it's like, we just start pointing our
- 44:33finger at people and just be like, you're worshiping
- 44:36consumerism and your God is Hallmark when you
- 44:40buy gifts at Christmas. And it's like, okay,
- 44:45okay. And then like, were birthdays made up by
- 44:49marketing in the 50s? I mean, I don't know. Like,
- 44:52well, I think I have one. Regardless. And that's
- 45:00the thing is like like that is where we I feel
- 45:03like that's the crux of all of our conversations
- 45:05It kind of is let's go back and look at the original
- 45:07and see how it evolved. Yeah, and I think that's
- 45:09where We look at what we have today. Yeah, and
- 45:14it can be something different than what it was
- 45:16for sure I think in a lot of ways that's what
- 45:18we'd see But a lot of that is well, I think it's
- 45:22mostly some time a lot of times even like Christmas
- 45:25is a good one since we've already brought that
- 45:27up too. Yeah, it's like Well, yeah, what it was
- 45:30isn't necessarily what it is. And then now because
- 45:34of what it is, we say, oh, it was actually this
- 45:36other thing. When it's like, it was never that.
- 45:39We just made it into this thing that now resembles
- 45:41that more than it did. And I think that's where
- 45:44we're at even with Halloween. It's like, well,
- 45:46what it was is not what it is. Yeah. So then
- 45:51Paul, where do we first see Halloween? I'm so
- 45:54glad you asked that. Yeah, so in our reading,
- 45:57there is, something that I brought up in that.
- 46:01And I kinda wanna talk about that a little bit,
- 46:03because this seems to be from all of my research
- 46:06that I've done, is back into a Celtic tradition,
- 46:10which is called Samhain. Yeah, and that's like
- 46:14thousands of years old. It's very old. Yeah,
- 46:17and so it was, it's a Gaelic word, believe it
- 46:20or not. Oh, of course. That literally means summer's
- 46:24end. Summer's end. So it's the end of summer.
- 46:26Things usually are simple. Yeah. Like the origin
- 46:30of things usually is the simplest route. A lot
- 46:33of times. Typically, yeah. And so it's like,
- 46:36OK, so what was it? So it marked the transition
- 46:39from the light half of the year to the dark half.
- 46:42It was celebrated by the ancient Celts in Ireland,
- 46:45Scotland and parts of Britain. In the old Gaelic
- 46:48calendar, there were only two main seasons. There
- 46:52was the Beltane which I probably saying that
- 46:54wrong sure which was May 1st, but they're not
- 46:57here to no one can tell me I'm wrong Someone
- 47:00will the Gaelic people aren't here. You can comment
- 47:02tell me I'm wrong. I love the engagement And
- 47:07so that Marked the start of the summer and fertility.
- 47:11Okay, and then saw one which was November 1st,
- 47:14which was the start of winter and death cool
- 47:17The beginning of death. And when you think about
- 47:19that, it's kind of what I was saying even with
- 47:21Ohio and the winter versus the summer. Which
- 47:24is closer to a Celtic region as far as seasons
- 47:27go. Because when you get to the cold, more harsh
- 47:30winter, and it's like, yeah, things are dead.
- 47:33The trees don't have leaves on them. Everything's
- 47:36dark. There's not a lot of animals out. True.
- 47:39You don't go outside. No. They all go under the
- 47:42ground. Yeah. or burrow into the ground? Burrow
- 47:45and hibernate. Can you go under the ground? Is
- 47:47going under the ground different than going into
- 47:50the ground? It doesn't matter. I think it might
- 47:53be around the same. It's all based on entry.
- 47:57Yeah. How did you get to the ground? That determines
- 48:01if you're under it or in it. I'm here for that.
- 48:06Yeah. Okay. Problem solved. What layer do you
- 48:10go down to? Are you in the Celtic layer? So Samhain
- 48:16was the liminal period where the boundaries between
- 48:19the natural and the supernatural blurred. It
- 48:22was believed that the veil between the living
- 48:23and the dead was the thinnest. Spirits of ancestors
- 48:27could return to visit their families, but along
- 48:29with them came malevolent spirits, fey or demons,
- 48:33seeking mischief or harm. It was a time of rituals
- 48:37for protection and appeasement, not summoning.
- 48:41And I think that's an interesting part in here,
- 48:45where it's like, so this period of time, around
- 48:48October 31st, November 1st, partly that difference
- 48:54is because of how they marked days, from sunset
- 48:57to sunset, not day to day. And that goes back
- 49:00to a different calendar. Yeah, Hebrews did that
- 49:02as well, and continue to do that. Jewish people
- 49:05continue to do that. We didn't move to a solar
- 49:07calendar until like, The 8th century. Yeah, like
- 49:11a couple weeks ago. Or it might have been Julian.
- 49:12Yeah, it might have been old Julian. True. But
- 49:16again, that's another episode. Or Julius. Julius.
- 49:20Caesar. The orange Julius. But what's interesting
- 49:25about this is like it's on a natural point. It's
- 49:28the time where the bounty of life and living
- 49:34and growing things now dies. Sure. and things
- 49:37go into this period of hibernation. So it is
- 49:41this like physical embodiment of like, yeah,
- 49:43things are dead. Well, and that makes me also
- 49:46think of like the concept that we've talked about
- 49:49a little bit, but like even just pulling in stranger
- 49:53things, like the upside down. Like all of a sudden
- 49:55the outside world looks like death. And so everyone
- 49:59retreats inward or under. So everyone goes under
- 50:04-crowned. or they go indoors. So like the outside
- 50:08world becomes a desolate place, which is an inviting
- 50:12place for spirits. Right, because that's where
- 50:15living things are. And so it's also interesting
- 50:19because on the supernatural side, they're saying
- 50:23like, hey, this is the time when the veil between
- 50:25these two things is very thin. And so those guys
- 50:28are out and about. Yeah, which then it... is
- 50:33interesting because of the idea that ancestors
- 50:36can visit, but then if it is a time where ancestors
- 50:41visit and that's part of the culture, then there's
- 50:44an invitation given by the family members to
- 50:48visit with the dead family members. And if there's
- 50:52an invitation to dead spirits or passed on bodies,
- 50:59but continued living spirits, then it could also
- 51:03invite other spirits in that are unwanted, which
- 51:08gets sketchy. Gets really sketchy. Yeah, which
- 51:11is why the Bible itself talks about don't talk
- 51:15to ghosts. Right. Well, and I think it's interesting
- 51:19to jump to this point even there, because it's
- 51:21like, okay, we're seeing this thing where it's
- 51:23this theme around death and passed on things
- 51:27coming back. Sure. What my thought was, was The
- 51:33Day of the Dead. Right. Which is completely separate
- 51:36and independent of Samhain or Halloween. Yeah,
- 51:41yeah, yeah. But it's like, oh, well, it's actually
- 51:44very similar themes, but, because it's Mexican,
- 51:46I think. Day of the Dead. Yeah, it's, it's Mexican,
- 51:52it's, I don't know if it's fully South American,
- 51:55but I think it is. Kind of filters through. Spanish
- 52:00cultures. Yeah. Which interestingly, that is
- 52:04November 1st to 2nd. Makes sense. So it's like,
- 52:06oh, it's around the same time too? Yeah, but
- 52:08it's on a different side of the world. Yes. But
- 52:11again, we talked about Boss Baby. The thing that
- 52:15I know, the reason why, how much I know about
- 52:20Day of the Dead is because of Coco. I was actually,
- 52:24that's why I brought it up too. So I was like,
- 52:27oh, he's an expert on the movie Coco. He has
- 52:29to be. It is a great movie. Because I've seen
- 52:31it. Songs are beautiful in that. They're beautiful.
- 52:34Yeah. But like a lot of Disney movies, it entertains
- 52:38dead people. Right. And that's like the whole
- 52:41point of the day. It is. And it's that idea of
- 52:44like this is a, they would leave offerings out.
- 52:47For their family members and if they didn't then
- 52:50the family members that were dead their spirits
- 52:52would pass on To a final death. Yes, so they
- 52:56would disappear even out of that realm Yeah,
- 53:00which feels like a purgatory space it does but
- 53:04it's interesting Yeah, so so what happens is
- 53:07is on day of the dead. There's a bridge from
- 53:10the Underworld or the afterworld. Yeah to to
- 53:16the land of the living, and that bridge is accessible
- 53:21by the people who are being invited by those
- 53:25who remember them. So in that culture that celebrates
- 53:33that, they create shrines, basically. They create
- 53:38offerings to their dead relatives. And that offering
- 53:43to the dead relatives allows the dead relative
- 53:47spirit to return for that period of time. Yes.
- 53:52So that they can hang out together. Which is
- 53:54crazy to think about. It is crazy. But also it's
- 53:58funny because like in the grand scheme of things
- 54:00like this isn't the wildest thing in the wildest
- 54:03thought. No, it's not mentally crazy. Right.
- 54:05It's just hard to grasp. It is. So like definition
- 54:09of crazy, it's like something that is non -normal.
- 54:13Yeah. Yeah. But I think what's interesting and
- 54:17the reason I bring that up is like, oh, that's
- 54:19kind of a central theme around this festival
- 54:23that the Celts celebrated. Sure. And by celebrated,
- 54:26not like they're out partying. Yeah. Because
- 54:28it's like, even in this like, it was actually
- 54:30a terrifying time. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And
- 54:33it's like, oh, yeah, it's like, you will have
- 54:35your relatives come and visit potentially, but
- 54:37also. Demons. demons. And you don't know which
- 54:41one's which. Yeah. And so it's like there's this
- 54:43idea of fear that gets created of like, oh, let's
- 54:47not like by celebrating it. It's like, let's
- 54:50recognize it. Yes. And let's hide. Yeah. So it
- 54:53was less of a celebration and more like a defense.
- 54:57They were they created traditions as a defense
- 55:01against spirits roaming during that time when
- 55:04the spaces became thin. Yeah. And that's even
- 55:07where we get like the colors, like orange and
- 55:10black for Halloween. It comes from the idea of
- 55:12like, here's the darkness, which is the black.
- 55:15And then they would light these giant communal
- 55:17bonfires to ward off the... So that's where you
- 55:20get the orange from the glow of the fire. That's
- 55:23cool. I actually didn't know that. But it also
- 55:27goes back to like when we talked in our myth
- 55:29series about how multiple cultures over spans
- 55:34of time in different lands Somehow came up with
- 55:38similar themes. Yes or similar beliefs and really
- 55:42all that tells me and I feel like this is the
- 55:44conclusion that we've come to is like You the
- 55:48Celts have an experience where they're interacting
- 55:51with spirits. Yes, and then they defend themselves
- 55:54Yes, and then there's tradition created because
- 55:57it seems to keep happening over time. Yeah, there's
- 56:00a pattern Yeah, so that goes back to to the whole
- 56:03concept of like these things aren't created proactively
- 56:08their reaction to experiences that people are
- 56:11having. Because it's one of those where it's
- 56:12like to look at and be like, oh, well, they believe
- 56:14that these spirits came out. And it's like, yeah,
- 56:16why would someone just make that up one day?
- 56:18Correct. Be like, oh, I got scared. So there's
- 56:21definitely spirits. So let's do this. Yeah. No,
- 56:24it was like you tell that guy to grow up if he
- 56:26made it up. For sure. Yeah. Well, and also like
- 56:29these aren't like wimpy people. Right. Yeah,
- 56:32absolutely. Like these are pretty intense people.
- 56:35Yeah, they live in harsh conditions. Yeah. Yeah.
- 56:38And so like that's that is an interesting idea
- 56:40that like they started to see these patterns.
- 56:43And so they like they do in the harsh conditions.
- 56:47Yeah. They create ways to keep themselves alive
- 56:50and safe. Yeah. So they did the same thing in
- 56:53spiritual seasons. Yeah. And I think it actually
- 56:55made me think of this. I think it's important
- 56:57to say to where we. as modern Westerners. Yes.
- 57:03We don't understand that - Mod West. Mod West.
- 57:06We love our abbreviations. Us and the Mod West.
- 57:10The big old Mod W. Mod W. I had to throw the
- 57:17uh in there. Little Texas. Yeah. Resources for
- 57:22us, even though they might be expensive to attain.
- 57:25Okay. They're pretty bountiful. Where it's like,
- 57:28if I want to - make a fire at night, I can just
- 57:31go buy firewood. So it's like when we look back
- 57:35at these times, especially for how long ago this
- 57:38was, it's like these people are struggling to
- 57:40stay alive. They don't just have stuff to burn.
- 57:43They don't just have food. I mean that's even
- 57:46where, on a slight tangent, even the idea of
- 57:50people eating dairy. That was like a reaction
- 57:53to like, hey, I don't know if we're gonna have
- 57:56enough food. but these guys are still producing
- 57:59milk. And our bodies weren't naturally meant
- 58:02to digest that. We're like, what if we just do
- 58:04it anyway? And we've adapted and been able to
- 58:08digest dairy. Because they're like, we need resources.
- 58:12And that's a source of fat, which is helpful
- 58:15in harsh conditions. In Florida, you're not necessarily
- 58:20gonna need that. Right. But to be fair, if you
- 58:24watch the show alone, have you ever watched that?
- 58:27That's a great show. But that's the main thing.
- 58:31There was one guy on one of the seasons, and
- 58:33I think it was one where they were in Alaska
- 58:36for 100 days, versus last one standing. They
- 58:39more so just had to make it to 100 days. And
- 58:42the guy killed an elk the first two weeks or
- 58:45something like that. And then he ate all the
- 58:49fat first. And then he ended up getting really
- 58:53sick and having to leave the show because he
- 58:55didn't have enough fat. But he had like a half
- 58:59an elk worth of meat. But it wasn't enough fat.
- 59:02No. So he was still losing weight. Yes. Which
- 59:06is crazy. It's crazy to think about. So then
- 59:08you get cheese, dairy, curds. You get all that
- 59:12stuff that is a fat supplement. Yes. Which, yeah,
- 59:16makes sense. Yeah, and it satisfies what your
- 59:18body needs in that case. Yeah, so it's just a
- 59:20reminder to kind of go back and go, these people
- 59:22weren't necessarily making things up. Yeah. They
- 59:25were having... So they couldn't really afford
- 59:27to just make things up. No. If they were just
- 59:29like, hey, I got really scared last night, so
- 59:31let's make a giant bonfire and do all this stuff.
- 59:34It's like, you don't have the resources to do
- 59:36that. It's the winter time. Sure, and there can
- 59:38be like, to bring in... a naturalist view into
- 59:44the conversation. You could say they're in harsh
- 59:47conditions, they're hunkered down for a period
- 59:50of time, maybe their resources are limited, so
- 59:53they start hallucinating, they start having these,
- 59:55you know what I mean? So that could also be a
- 59:58byproduct. But that still doesn't negate the
- 1:00:01fact that... that what their traditions are created
- 1:00:05from is patterns of experience. So whether they
- 1:00:09were actually interacting with spirits and ghosts
- 1:00:12and things like that, or they were hallucinating,
- 1:00:16it was still happening around that time of year,
- 1:00:18over and over again. Well, and that's why I think
- 1:00:21it's interesting to bring in the South American
- 1:00:23side with Day of the Dead. Oh, yeah. Be just
- 1:00:26like, oh, here are these people in the opposite
- 1:00:27conditions. Yeah, good point. And they're celebrating
- 1:00:30a similar thing. And it's like, how does that
- 1:00:33happen? Yeah, so maybe the Northern people are
- 1:00:36hallucinating and then the other ones are actually
- 1:00:37talking to spirits. They're just on drugs. Well,
- 1:00:40that is, but that's a different episode. It is.
- 1:00:45Because that's a mini episode within an episode
- 1:00:50that should be a full episode, but our drugs
- 1:00:53portals to another space. That's our tease. That
- 1:00:56is active. But I think it's like, what's the
- 1:01:00most reasonable thing to say? When we look, they're
- 1:01:03like, what's the easiest thing to say? And it's
- 1:01:06like, well the easiest thing to say is they were
- 1:01:09probably interacting with spirits. We don't like
- 1:01:13saying that. Naturalists don't like saying that.
- 1:01:16Sure, but at the same time, whether you're hallucinating
- 1:01:19or you're not hallucinating is interacting with
- 1:01:23a spirit if your brain is not in a state of hallucination.
- 1:01:27Does it feel any different than if you are hallucinating
- 1:01:30and is it more or less material? Because if it's
- 1:01:34not then logically it's almost the same thing.
- 1:01:36Yeah equivalent experience. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,
- 1:01:38like your body is still Experiencing the same
- 1:01:41type of fear. Yeah, that's whether you're hallucinating
- 1:01:44something happening and it's not really happening
- 1:01:47or You're actually experiencing something happening
- 1:01:51actually happening. Yeah, and you're not hallucinating,
- 1:01:54right? The fear response is the same So it's
- 1:01:57a little bit like apples and oranges. Do you
- 1:02:00know what I mean? It's like, well, but it is
- 1:02:03hallucination, so the fear is unfounded. No.
- 1:02:07Because tell that to the person who's afraid.
- 1:02:10Who's actually feeling it, yeah. Yeah, it's like,
- 1:02:13even if you say their fear is unfounded, meaning
- 1:02:16the result of that logically is that they would
- 1:02:19say and have proof that ghosts exist, that's
- 1:02:24not really even what we're saying. We're not
- 1:02:27we're not even saying that because because in
- 1:02:29this instance like they're creating traditions
- 1:02:32and things that Eliminate or alleviate fear that
- 1:02:35they're having. Yes, whether they're hallucinating
- 1:02:37the existence of ghosts or actually seeing ghosts
- 1:02:41Yeah, doesn't really matter Because collectively
- 1:02:44they're all having this fear. Yes So they they're
- 1:02:48creating a coping mechanism for a real fear that
- 1:02:51they're actually experiencing Yes, whether it's
- 1:02:54hallucinations or actual ghosts. Yeah Yeah, absolutely
- 1:02:57I mean But yeah, and well it's interesting actually
- 1:03:06because even you brought up the idea of myths
- 1:03:08and so one of things I wanted to look into was
- 1:03:12Are there myths surrounding this period in this
- 1:03:15culture? Okay. Yeah, and What's what? Was interesting
- 1:03:21that I found is like there are But they weren't
- 1:03:25ever written or fully recorded until they were
- 1:03:28Christianized. And all of those had been reframed
- 1:03:33through a Christian lens. Where it's like they
- 1:03:36didn't have the... After first century. Yeah,
- 1:03:39so it's like even where I can see it, it doesn't
- 1:03:41mean that none of them were tampered with. But
- 1:03:44it's like, it's hard to say yes or no, like they
- 1:03:47were adjusted. I see what you're saying. Yeah,
- 1:03:51because those... those cultures more so had oral
- 1:03:54traditions but then also like paintings or like
- 1:03:58the way that they would craft things told the
- 1:04:01story or contained the story. Yes. So formal
- 1:04:04writing is different. Yeah. But it doesn't necessarily
- 1:04:07mean that they didn't have like symbols and ways
- 1:04:11of telling the story. Right. And not from like
- 1:04:14a - And that's why it's like so they did have
- 1:04:15myths that told the story. Right. But they weren't
- 1:04:18as far as I could see they weren't Recorded without
- 1:04:22modern tampering sure that makes they weren't
- 1:04:24preserved in their original state. Yeah. Yeah.
- 1:04:26Yeah, okay Yeah, so then how do we get to because
- 1:04:31they weren't calling it Halloween? Yeah, and
- 1:04:33so it's interesting It's like okay. It's where
- 1:04:34we get Halloween from they were calling it. What
- 1:04:36saw one saw one? Yeah, which is not spelled the
- 1:04:40way I pronounced I Looked that one up. Yeah So
- 1:04:46Halloween's like what does that mean? Yeah, it's
- 1:04:49a contradiction Not a contradiction. It's a contradiction.
- 1:04:52It's a contraction. Okay. Of All Hallows Eve.
- 1:04:56Right. Which means the evening before All Saints
- 1:04:59Day. Makes sense. Yeah. Again, simplest route.
- 1:05:02Yeah. Exactly. Simplest route. They took out
- 1:05:04all, though. Yeah. They took all out from the
- 1:05:07beginning. The evening before All Saints Day.
- 1:05:12Yeah. Makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So what's
- 1:05:15interesting, though, and I kind of want to...
- 1:05:17poke at this for a second, a little bit, is,
- 1:05:20because I think that the modern, the mod norm
- 1:05:24take, is that, oh well, see when Christians are
- 1:05:30spreading into Europe, and these people had all
- 1:05:33these pagan traditions, they're like, you know,
- 1:05:34it'd be easier for them if they, if we just took
- 1:05:37all of their festivals and made them Christian.
- 1:05:40Right. which is syncretism is the word for it.
- 1:05:43But it's funny, I actually heard someone say
- 1:05:47this, and like, but why didn't they do that everywhere?
- 1:05:50Sure, and with everything. Yeah, it's like, if
- 1:05:53they truly practiced syncretism, of like, let's
- 1:05:57just synchronize these things, we would see that
- 1:06:00everywhere, but we don't. Oh right, I see what
- 1:06:02you're saying. So why did they only do that in
- 1:06:04Europe? Right. And what's interesting actually,
- 1:06:07this even, we look at like, Conquerors like Romans
- 1:06:12for example the Romans for example. It's like
- 1:06:14well. Yeah when they conquered places Oftentimes
- 1:06:18they would keep the like the names for things
- 1:06:21yeah The Romans a lot of times they just renamed
- 1:06:24it sure because they were very prideful people
- 1:06:26Yes, they're like hey we we conquered you Everything
- 1:06:29about you is gonna go away. Yeah, which actually
- 1:06:32that's part of the reason why some even with
- 1:06:34Like the druids and stuff. We don't have a lot
- 1:06:37from them sure because they were conquered by
- 1:06:39the Romans Yeah, the Romans said get rid of all
- 1:06:41of it. Yeah, just take it all out. Yeah but I
- 1:06:46mean cuz we see that in in the United States
- 1:06:48where we have a lot of Native American names
- 1:06:51for our places like our counties a lot of times
- 1:06:54I had that in Ohio. It's like a lot of the counties
- 1:06:56and places were named after It's what they originally
- 1:07:00were called. Yeah, it makes sense or they were
- 1:07:02named in honor of the First Nations people Yeah,
- 1:07:05but adopted it. Yeah But like no one knows how
- 1:07:09to speak Navajo unless you're of a Navajo tribe
- 1:07:12sure yeah It's like they don't teach that in
- 1:07:15school And it was kind of in like we don't celebrate
- 1:07:20their festivals right and that was it that was
- 1:07:22kind of a normal thing so with that being said,
- 1:07:26why would we expect anyone just going and be
- 1:07:28like, yeah, let's just keep your festivals and
- 1:07:31just do it the way we wanna do it. It's like,
- 1:07:34we don't see that anywhere. So it's kind of an
- 1:07:37interesting idea that developed that makes no
- 1:07:40sense and in my opinion has no founding anywhere.
- 1:07:44But so it's like, okay, so how do we get to where
- 1:07:46we are? Yeah, because you have all these conquering
- 1:07:52civilizations. that kind of... I mean, if they're
- 1:07:57European, they just kind of whitewash everything.
- 1:08:00I don't know how to say that. That's the way
- 1:08:02to say it, I feel like. That's basically what
- 1:08:05the West did. Yeah. Like, so the Roman culture
- 1:08:10just kind of whitewashed the rest of the world.
- 1:08:12Yeah. You know what I mean? And that's how we
- 1:08:14have the West. Right. The West just made everything.
- 1:08:19They just came in and they were like, you now
- 1:08:21speak Greek. Yeah. No better start learning.
- 1:08:25Yeah, here's a look. They're like, we don't understand
- 1:08:28you and they're like you're going to you better
- 1:08:30Yeah, I mean that's how it happened Yeah, I know
- 1:08:35that's I mean we see it even with the conquistadors
- 1:08:37and they came over they're like the conquistadors
- 1:08:40It's just fun. It's a fun word. It's pretty fun
- 1:08:42But it's like yeah, they would go to these Native
- 1:08:44American tribes and be like, hey, so tell us
- 1:08:47we're awesome or we're going to kill you." And
- 1:08:49they're like, what? They're like, killing time?
- 1:08:54They're like, hang on, we don't speak your language,
- 1:08:57you don't speak ours. They're like, yeah, that's
- 1:08:58the problem. Anyway. That is the problem. That's
- 1:09:01crazy. But so that being said, we take these
- 1:09:07Christian missionaries, especially in the church,
- 1:09:10and as we've been talking about with Christ and
- 1:09:13what He did, as He... conquered the spiritual
- 1:09:16space. And then he sends his followers out to
- 1:09:20do the same thing with the Holy Spirit. It's
- 1:09:22like, well, that's what they're doing. They're
- 1:09:24making, they're doing warfare, but they're doing
- 1:09:27it in a spiritual way. And they're not doing
- 1:09:29it in a physical, unless you count like the Crusades.
- 1:09:32Well, yeah, but I mean, I feel like that's valid
- 1:09:35in the conversation, even we've been having about
- 1:09:37Israel and like the church's stance on Israel
- 1:09:40and like all of that stuff. Because what happens
- 1:09:43is like, Jesus comes in which I think we talked
- 1:09:47about this, but it's in a past episode, but it's
- 1:09:50the idea that like when Jesus comes in Actually,
- 1:09:54no, we didn't talk about this. But when Jesus
- 1:09:56shows up The Jewish people are looking for a
- 1:10:01military leader Messiah, right? And they had
- 1:10:04an example of that like 160, 170 years before
- 1:10:08in Judas Maccabeus. And Judas Maccabeus actually
- 1:10:12went into the temple and took it back from, do
- 1:10:15you remember his name? No. I can't remember his
- 1:10:19name. But he took it back from basically the
- 1:10:21guy who, like fulfills the prophetic abomination
- 1:10:29of desolation spoken about in Daniel on the temple
- 1:10:33and in the Maccabees go in and purify the temple
- 1:10:38again and that's where you get the beginning
- 1:10:40of Hanukkah. So 170 years before Jesus shows
- 1:10:46up, there is a Jewish zealot who leads a physical
- 1:10:51army to purify the temple and take it back for
- 1:10:54the Israelites. Yeah. That does happen right
- 1:10:57before Jesus shows up. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So
- 1:11:00within two generations, you see that. And so
- 1:11:04Jesus shows up and they like want him to go in.
- 1:11:06And what does he do? He rides in on a donkey
- 1:11:09and you go like. Oh, he should have ridden in
- 1:11:12on a white horse. That's what they wanted him
- 1:11:14to do. Actually, no, Judas rode in on a donkey.
- 1:11:17So Judas Maccabeus rides in on a donkey, which
- 1:11:19is like, oh wait, so Jesus is gonna do what he
- 1:11:22did. And then he doesn't do that. He doesn't
- 1:11:27do it in a physical way. Now he does overturn
- 1:11:30the tables and he rebukes the money changers
- 1:11:33and basically the Romanization of... the tax
- 1:11:39office, the government offices that have been
- 1:11:42built around the temple. Yeah. But he doesn't
- 1:11:45go in and purify the temple and overthrow the
- 1:11:48Roman government. Right. And so like you get
- 1:11:52you get this idea that like now Christians are
- 1:11:57what are they doing? They're not militarily taking
- 1:12:00back. Right. And then at that Jesus says it starts
- 1:12:05small, like the kingdom of God starts small and
- 1:12:08he's there and it's the mustard seed and it grows
- 1:12:11or it's the little bit of leaven in a large amount
- 1:12:13of dough and it grows and grows and grows. And
- 1:12:16then you get all the way to like 300 A .D. and
- 1:12:20Constantine shows up and the government, the
- 1:12:23Roman government that killed Jesus now names
- 1:12:28Christianity their national religion. And then
- 1:12:34you get conquests in the name of Christ in a
- 1:12:39way that he never intended. So it's like, guys,
- 1:12:43you watched me come in like Judas, but not be
- 1:12:48Judas. Now you're going out and you're being
- 1:12:51Judas in the rest of the world, but that's not
- 1:12:55what I did. It's us trying to go back to what
- 1:12:59was. But Jesus said, that's not what we're doing.
- 1:13:03Right, it looks different now. And unfortunately,
- 1:13:07that's where you get the conquering with the
- 1:13:11West in the name of Christ and the Crusades.
- 1:13:14That's where you get that. So this is kind of
- 1:13:17a mini episode within the episode. It's a great
- 1:13:19little mini episode. But because that is what
- 1:13:21you get, it's like, was that right that the Christians
- 1:13:23did that? No, it was actually against what -
- 1:13:26That's not what Jesus called us to do. No, and
- 1:13:28he didn't do that. He actually represented literally
- 1:13:31the opposite of that, and kinda said, don't do
- 1:13:36that. We're like, that's not that important.
- 1:13:39No, and that was not his actions, and that wasn't
- 1:13:41his message. That wasn't the message, and that's
- 1:13:44not how the kingdom of God grew. It grew in the
- 1:13:46hearts of man, not by the sword. Jesus will come
- 1:13:50back with a sword, but we don't carry the sword,
- 1:13:54except the Bible. So yeah, absolutely and I mean
- 1:13:59with that it's like that's what we see on the
- 1:14:03when it's done, right? Yeah is These followers
- 1:14:07of Christ. Yeah that are going into the nations,
- 1:14:10right which we see we've brought up Isaiah 66
- 1:14:13a lot And it's like that's the call we see in
- 1:14:15the Great Commission. That's the same call. It's
- 1:14:18the same call from the beginning, be fruitful,
- 1:14:20multiply. And it's like he's asking you to go
- 1:14:23in there and multiply to be fruitful. And so
- 1:14:28we go in and retake these spiritual spaces from
- 1:14:32these demonic powers that ruled over the nations.
- 1:14:36Because because of Christ, Jesus said, I saw
- 1:14:40Satan fall like lightning. We talked about this
- 1:14:41on another episode. And it's like, yeah, he said
- 1:14:45because of this, now you have authority through
- 1:14:49me to go in and take authority over these creatures.
- 1:14:56Yeah, which then gets, that kind of jumps into
- 1:14:59a modern... maybe a modern conversation around
- 1:15:04things like celebrating versus being aware of,
- 1:15:08or being protective of, or really even going
- 1:15:12back and maybe following more of the original
- 1:15:15traditions of a Celtic tradition of keeping the
- 1:15:22spirits out versus celebrating the spirits, inviting
- 1:15:27them in. And I think that's, bless you. And get
- 1:15:32that spirit out. Yeah, and I think that's where
- 1:15:38I feel like we've missed it in modern day. Especially
- 1:15:43when we look at Halloween. And I'll say this
- 1:15:46right now too, I'm not here to say yes you should
- 1:15:49or you should not celebrate Halloween. That's
- 1:15:52not what I'm here to do, I'm just like, what
- 1:15:54was it all about? I think today, the issue is
- 1:15:58we've narrowed down on one specific thing. I
- 1:16:02mean, briefly, just to bring up Christmas again.
- 1:16:05There was a thing last year where people started
- 1:16:07learning about Krampus over in Germany in the
- 1:16:09Krampus Festival and the parade. And they're
- 1:16:12like, oh, they worship demons. And it's like,
- 1:16:14you don't know what you're talking about. And
- 1:16:17it's like, if you look at the full story of what
- 1:16:19the whole thing is about, not just that one day.
- 1:16:22you see that it's actually about conquering a
- 1:16:24demon. And I think that's what we see here, and
- 1:16:27that's what Christianity did when it came in.
- 1:16:29It said, hey, here's this festival, this day
- 1:16:33that you remember, and you hide in fear from
- 1:16:37the dark powers. But now we're gonna call it
- 1:16:41Halloween. We're gonna call it the day before
- 1:16:44All Saints Day. And why are we gonna do that?
- 1:16:47Because All Saints Day is celebrating the triumph
- 1:16:52of the light over the dark. And so, when we look
- 1:16:56at it in that sense, it's like, hey, here's this
- 1:16:59day where we remember, now we remember, before
- 1:17:02you lived in fear, now let's remember the fact
- 1:17:04that you did live in fear, where these spirits
- 1:17:07wandered, and they caused mischief, and they
- 1:17:10could have taken your soul if they wanted. But
- 1:17:14now, the next day, remember the fact that you
- 1:17:17no longer live in fear, because light triumphed.
- 1:17:20And I think that's where it's cool we get this
- 1:17:22kind of Passover, this Christian Passover view,
- 1:17:26where I think one of the things that I think
- 1:17:29is interesting and kind of cool in the Passover
- 1:17:32meal is the eating of the bitter herb. I don't
- 1:17:37know if you're familiar with a full Seder. I'm
- 1:17:39sure you are. You went to Israel. I had it in
- 1:17:43Israel. Oh, that's so cool. That's really cool,
- 1:17:45actually. And so I don't know how familiar people
- 1:17:49are here, but I want to highlight this portion
- 1:17:52of it because they eat, it's like it's a lettuce
- 1:17:56leaf that's dipped in horseradish and it makes
- 1:17:59you cry. And it's like, yeah, that's intentional
- 1:18:02because it's supposed to represent the bitterness
- 1:18:05that Israel went through and the bitterness of
- 1:18:08the human condition. And it's like, wait, why
- 1:18:11would I do that? Didn't they get delivered? It's
- 1:18:15like, yeah, they did, but you're walking through
- 1:18:16the journey of them being delivered. And part
- 1:18:19of that is you partaking in their suffering.
- 1:18:23And so for Halloween, the night before, the evening
- 1:18:27before All Saints' Day is, yeah, let's remember
- 1:18:30that we lived in fear. And now tomorrow, the
- 1:18:34next day, let's remember why we no longer live
- 1:18:36in fear. Let's celebrate the fact that we no
- 1:18:39longer live in fear. And that's the story of
- 1:18:41the Passover. It's like, yes, all this happened,
- 1:18:44you lived in turmoil and in trouble, but now
- 1:18:47God delivered you. Right. Yeah, because, and
- 1:18:51slight other pieces to that is like the Passover
- 1:18:54Seder, or Shabbat, it is the Passover meal, the
- 1:19:01Shabbat dinner that, practicing Jewish people
- 1:19:07do that every single weekend. And it's in remembrance
- 1:19:11of God's faithfulness. And then Jesus does the
- 1:19:17Passover meal, the Passover Seder with his disciples,
- 1:19:22and he replaces the tradition as he becomes the
- 1:19:25lamb on the doorpost. So he then replaces it
- 1:19:29with communion, which is what Christians practice,
- 1:19:32hopefully often. I mean, Jesus says, you know.
- 1:19:38As often as you do it. Yeah, as often as you
- 1:19:41do it. Hopefully more than once a year. There's
- 1:19:45some argument to be every time you gather, and
- 1:19:48everybody has different traditions in that, but
- 1:19:50the idea is that the Christians are not nullifying
- 1:19:55the Passover meal, but the Passover meal is,
- 1:20:00it's no longer necessary. in the belief of Christ,
- 1:20:05because what's necessary in the belief of Christ
- 1:20:08is the remembrance of the body and the blood
- 1:20:10of Christ, which represent the final lamb, the
- 1:20:13final sacrifice, which is not a nullification
- 1:20:17of the Passover, but a fulfillment of it. The
- 1:20:20lamb that was slaughtered and the blood put over
- 1:20:23the doorpost that is remembered in the Passover
- 1:20:25Seder, was pointing to Jesus, that ultimately
- 1:20:29would create the opportunity for no other sacrifices
- 1:20:32to need to be made. So because of that, then
- 1:20:36the Christians get to that point. And then, so
- 1:20:40then you have that, do that in remembrance of
- 1:20:42me. And then you look at All Saints Day, and
- 1:20:45the thing that's interesting about All Saints
- 1:20:47Day is you go, remember the victory, but what
- 1:20:51is the actual thing that we are doing on All
- 1:20:55Saints Day? we were remembering the martyrs.
- 1:20:58So All Saints Day is, the purpose of it from
- 1:21:03the Catholic Church, Pope Gregory, was to remember
- 1:21:08the martyrs and Mary. Yes, Mary's a big part
- 1:21:13of it. Mary's always involved. Yeah, and with
- 1:21:17that it's like, I think - So the church triumphant?
- 1:21:19Yeah. So the idea was that the church triumphant
- 1:21:26are the martyrs. Those are the ones who triumphed
- 1:21:31in their death while not wavering from their
- 1:21:35faith. And then the church militant, which are
- 1:21:39the living, so those who are in the body of Christ
- 1:21:44alive. Because that would be more November 2nd,
- 1:21:46which is All Souls Day. Yes. They are the ones
- 1:21:51who celebrate the church triumphant. which is
- 1:21:55celebrating Christus Victor, which is the victory
- 1:22:00of Christ, death on the cross, which actually
- 1:22:03makes up All Hollow Tide. Do you know this? Keep
- 1:22:09going. So it's the three day. Yeah. So it's following
- 1:22:12the three day tradition, the 31st, the 1st, and
- 1:22:14the 2nd. Those three days together are called
- 1:22:18All Hollow Tide. Yeah, which is pretty cool.
- 1:22:20It's pretty awesome. Yeah. Yeah, and so I mean
- 1:22:23that's the that's the cool thing where if we
- 1:22:25zoom in to one portion of it. Yeah, it looks
- 1:22:29Wrong Sure, I mean, yes. Yeah, it's like something
- 1:22:34out of context Yeah, if we just zoom into like
- 1:22:36one piece of it or we pull one piece of it away,
- 1:22:38right? Outside of the full context of it. It's
- 1:22:41like well it can look different than what it
- 1:22:42is. Yes And I think it's cool to even like celebrating
- 1:22:47the martyrs, which we like to do on this podcast.
- 1:22:50Yes. Yes. Which is November 1st tradition. Yes.
- 1:22:55It's cool because there's that part of it's like,
- 1:22:58well, what were they doing? It's like, well,
- 1:22:59they were the big ones out. making moves. Yeah,
- 1:23:03for sure. They're getting killed for their faith.
- 1:23:05Yeah, the ones that came before, yeah. And there's
- 1:23:07cool, even in Catholic and Orthodox traditions,
- 1:23:11when you look at some of the icons, which is
- 1:23:14big in Orthodox, there are images of martyrs
- 1:23:18actually driving a stake through a demon's head
- 1:23:21or binding them. And it's like, that's what we're
- 1:23:23celebrating. And it's like, we're celebrating
- 1:23:26the fact that you once lived in fear, but now
- 1:23:28they've been bound. Right. Yeah, so it's a...
- 1:23:33And the ones who suffered and died to do that.
- 1:23:36Yes. Yeah. Yeah, so it's that idea that on the
- 1:23:4131st, we're remembering the death of Christ and
- 1:23:44that we have no more fear because of Christ in
- 1:23:48us. Absolutely. And then on the 1st, we're celebrating
- 1:23:53those who came before us, who carried out that
- 1:23:56belief even into their death. Yeah. And then
- 1:23:59on the second, we're celebrating the church militant
- 1:24:02that we are continuing to build the kingdom of
- 1:24:04God. Yeah. Not by the sword, but by the spirit.
- 1:24:10Yes. Which is pretty cool. It's pretty awesome.
- 1:24:13Yeah. And so I think like all that being said,
- 1:24:17yeah, when we focus in on just Halloween. Yeah.
- 1:24:21We missed this full story, which is the actual
- 1:24:24story. Right. Of what this is all about. Yeah.
- 1:24:27Yeah. Yeah, it isn't it isn't Samhain. It isn't
- 1:24:31let's hide in fear. Yeah. And let's dress up
- 1:24:34like ghouls and goblins so that way they might
- 1:24:36confuse us for one of their own and not mess
- 1:24:38with us. Right. It's hey, let's remember the
- 1:24:42fact that we did do that. And then let's now
- 1:24:45live in victory because Christ overcame that.
- 1:24:48Right. And that that's the story of Passover.
- 1:24:53Yeah. So then our so then back to the original
- 1:24:55question. Yeah. then Paul, are you suggesting
- 1:24:59that Christians have the ability to reclaim or
- 1:25:05maybe take the stance at Halloween that it is
- 1:25:08not one day, but instead a three -day opportunity
- 1:25:12to remember both the victory of Christ on the
- 1:25:17cross and over death, hell, and the grave, and
- 1:25:20then the celebrating those who came before us
- 1:25:24who died for that that belief and were victorious
- 1:25:29in their death. And then those of us who are
- 1:25:32still here carrying the cross and in victory,
- 1:25:38thus making Halloween or all -hollow tide the
- 1:25:45Christian Passover? Absolutely. Cool. Three,
- 1:25:48two, one. Saint Dennis. Alright. Saint Dennis.
- 1:26:12Saint Dennis. First Bishop of Paris. Wait. You
- 1:26:16said dentist. Saint Dentist. The first orthodontist
- 1:26:21of Paris. Sorry. Thanks for catching that. I
- 1:26:26did not.