GLOBAL AWARENESS 101 - Let your VOICE be heard and get involved. OUR future depends on it!
We can do the right thing to create positive change within ourselves and the world around us! I have created this blog with the intention of keeping you informed of news that is affecting humanity and nature throughout the world! There is no better time than the present to become a global participant and not just an innocent bystander. I have provided you with several websites to help empower yourself and a list of global organizations that you can choose from to make a difference.
I love this song and Judy Jacobs encouraging words and passion singing this song. 😊 Listen she has a message for you.
Boy do I miss these TBN Praise-a-Thons that would last all week. I'm glad they were around when I was barely getting to know the Lord in the early 2000's. I wish TBN would bring them back for us to enjoy. It felt like TBN brought a powerful spiritual conference right into our home. ❤
You can watch TBN programs 24/7 worldwide on their TBN website or download their TBN app. :) Look for TBN Networks tab and you will see United States and Other Countries with programs in your native language. :)
Yes, the Lord God Almighty will turn it around. Don't listen to people who say that prayer doesn't work or is for weak people. I'm here to tell you that it does work, most especially when you're feeling weak and at your most vulnerable caused by dark forces at work against you. The Supernatural spiritual world does exist. There are dark forces at work who do pray and do rituals casting spells and curses on people the entire night for 12 hours straight to wreak havoc on people's lives. You can choose not to believe. That's fine. But I want you to know if that day ever comes when you desperately need help and you have no one to turn to, you have God and all of heaven waiting to hear you cry out asking God for help and God will respond. Keep praying every day until you see the breakthrough you so desperately need. I have prayers you can use I've shared with you on the upper right side of my blog. You can also send prayer requests to Christian ministries to help pray for you. You don't know the dark forces that the angels dispatched to answer your prayers had to fight to reach you. It's kind of like this 'We Are Here' scene from Horton Hears a Who in the two videos I shared above.
Here is a good picture of angels going to battle with demons who are blocking them from answering your prayers and coming to your help. This is what the Supernatural realm in the heavenlies looks like. Ask God to send giant warring angels to stand guard around you and your home for protection. (emphasis mine)
Boy do I miss these TBN Praise-a-Thons that would last all week. I'm glad they were around when I was barely getting to know the Lord in the early 2000's. I wish TBN would bring them back for us to enjoy. It felt like TBN brought a powerful spiritual conference right into our home. ❤
Right now if you believe, my God will work a miracle for you. Receive the Supernatural POWER of the Holy Ghost!
"Faith is to believe what you do not see;
the reward of this faith is to see what you believe."
Kenneth Copeland Ministries published July 9, 2016: What do you think about all the time? If it’s not faith, it’s based in fear. Today, on the Believer’s Voice of Victory broadcast, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland teach you how to mediate on God’s WORD to renew your mind so you can have good success.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries published July 9, 2016: Faith connects you to God in a supernatural way. You don’t have to come up with the power to make God’s promises happen. Today, learn from Kenneth and Gloria Copeland how God’s power is in His WORD.
Are you hearing special insights from the Lord each day? You can! Learn four ways to be led by the Spirit of God and achieve supernatural results in your life!
He didn’t own a pair of shoes until he was 12 years old. With only a fifth-grade education and having come from a poor family, he had not been given the opportunity to succeed in life. Yet this man from Texas had become a multimillionaire.
Without any formal education or training, he had become very wealthy through investments. In fact, he had never lost one dime in a single investment! How did he do it? He once shared the secret with his friends:
“I always do this. When someone comes along with an idea, I don’t allow myself to think about it mentally. Instead, I go into my closet and pray. I wait as long as it takes until I hear something. Sometimes it can take as long as three days. I come out for some meals and a little sleep, but mainly I remain quiet and alone with the Lord until I know by an inward witness what I am to do.”
He shared that there were times when an idea seemed like a really good one that would surely bring a return, but his inward witness told him not to invest. At others, it seemed like a dead-end opportunity, but his spirit told him to move ahead and invest. Every single time, he made the right choice.
Following the inward witness gave him special insight into the supernatural and how to become financially prosperous. This man took the time to develop and train his human spirit to be led by the Spirit of God, and you can, too! It won’t come overnight, but you can enjoy this special insight and guidance in every area of your life, as you train your human spirit. Here are four ways you can be led by the Spirit of God every single day.
1. Meditate on the Word of God
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” –Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)
To get to the place in your life where you can be led by the Spirit of God, you must first be able to recognize His voice. This comes from not only prayer and reading the Word of God, but by also meditating on the Word of God, which is one of the ways to be led by His Spirit.
Find 3 Steps to Successfully Meditate on the Word of God here.
What does it mean to meditate on the Word of God? It means to stop and think about what you’ve read, and allow the Holy Spirit to bring new revelation, even to a verse you’ve read a hundred times. Meditating on the Word of God is more than reading the Bible—it is studying, analyzing, seeking and reflecting. It is seeking God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. It’s being open to a new interpretation you haven’t considered before—one that might be different than what your mama told you or your pastor told you.
When you meditate on the Word of God, you are training your human spirit to recognize God’s voice and be more in tune with what He has to say to you, specifically—about every detail of every situation. That’s why God told Joshua that meditating on His Word was the key to prosperity and success (Joshua 1:8). He gave him the secret to achieving everything he had ever wanted. That secret is meditating on His Word.
Watch Kenneth and Gloria Copeland about how meditating on the Word of God will change your life.
The Hebrew word for meditate also translates as mutter. When you meditate on the Word of God, you aren’t just thinking about it during your quiet time. You’re thinking about it all the time—you’re speaking it all the time. It becomes part of your inner man, it stirs your faith, it develops your human spirit, and it makes it easy for you to be led by the Spirit of God.
If you want to move forward and develop your spirit, begin by taking 10-15 minutes each day to meditate on the Word of God. Your spirit will develop and grow, and you will begin to hear solid answers to the questions you so desperately need answered.
2. Be a Doer of the Word of God
“Be doers of the word and not hearers only.” –James 1:22 (NKJV)
One of the surefire ways to be led by the Spirit of God is to be a doer of the Word of God. We don’t see too many Christians who are doers of the Word anymore, do we? They certainly talk the talk, but the walk looks like everyone else in the world. However, the Bible is clear that hearers (people who simply read their Bibles and attend church) don’t accomplish much in this life. That’s why James 2:17 says faith without works is dead. If you need the supernatural in your life, dead faith isn’t going to deliver you to victory.
Like anything else with God, being a doer of the Word is not about rules and religion—it’s a matter of the heart. A Christian who reads the Bible and even meditates on the Word of God, but doesn’t put it into practice, is not following the first and greatest commandment to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30, NKJV).
How do we know? Because in John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (NKJV). Loving God is doing what He’s asked you to do in His Word. When you love Him and obey Him, you are in fellowship with Him—you are abiding in Him—and you are in position to be led by His Spirit in every area of your life. Obeying God is drawing near to Him, and that’s when you know that He will draw near to you, too, and whisper the greatest secrets you could ever be privileged to hear.
To become a doer of the Word of God, determine in your heart to do everything you see written in it. That means you alter your lifestyle to fit the Word instead of trying to alter the Word to fit your lifestyle. You don’t make excuses; you don’t try to change what the Bible actually says to suit your own fleshly desires. You just obey the Word by faith. You don’t try to do it. You don’t hope to do it. You do it because the Bible commands you to do it.
For example, talking doubt, defeat and discouragement is not being a doer of the Word because that is not how the Bible tells us to live. The Bible tells us to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Once you set out to be a doer of the Word, revelation will come. As you practice being obedient in even the small things, you’ll find that you’ll begin to hear God more and more each day. The more you respond to His voice, the more you’ll hear Him. It will continue to increase until you have trained your human spirit and are led by the Spirit of God so much that supernatural miracles will begin to flow in your life. Then, you will have the kind of success most people only dream of.
Watch Gloria Copeland and Billye Brim discuss the power of the four steps to train your human spirit.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries published July 11, 2015: Just as your body is built up by exercise, so can your spirit be developed by meditating on God’s WORD. Join Gloria Copeland and Billye Brim for the four steps to training your spirit man.
3. Put the Word of God Above All Else
“My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart.” –Proverbs 4:20-21 (AMPC)
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland often say that one of the ways to be led by the Spirit of God is to put the Word of God above all else. Second Chronicles 16:12-13 tells of a situation where King Asa had the opportunity to put the Word of God above all else: “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord’s help but turned only to his physicians. So, he died in the forty-first year of his reign.”
For whatever reason, King Asa didn’t seek God in his hour of trial. Instead, he went after the world’s help. (The world is not in the business of providing supernatural healing, deliverance, restoration or provision. Those things are God’s business.) To be led by the Spirit of God, we must put His Word above all else in every situation. This allows us to be sensitive to His leading, which often goes against “common sense,” statistics, how everyone else is doing it and the world’s view of “logic.”
That’s why we should train ourselves to put the Word of God above all else, or first. We should train ourselves to ask in any matter of life, “What does God’s Word have to say about this?” And then we should put that Word first.
When you seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, everything else—everything—will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). Seeking first the Kingdom is listening to what THE KING has to say and then doing it without consulting the world.
Don’t “hear” or incline your ear to what the media or politicians say. Don’t ever make plans based on what anyone other than God says! Listen to Him. He is our Leader through troubled times of any kind. He already has a plan for you, and it’s GOOD! Follow it. Follow Him. Jesus and His plan will not only take you through, it will exalt and lift you up, settle, establish and perfect you. He ALWAYS gives us the victory!
4. Instantly Respond to Your Spirit
“The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord.” –Proverbs 20:27 (NKJV)
The fourth way to be led by the Spirit of God is to instantly respond to your spirit, but to do that you have to learn to recognize the inward witness. Kenneth Hagin spent a lot of time teaching on the subject of training your human spirit, and paying attention to your inward witness. He once said, “The No. 1 way that God guides and directs His children is through the inward witness.” Romans 8:14 (KJV) says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” God doesn’t lead through physical senses—He leads through the inward witness.
This means you don’t need to go around putting out fleeces when you want an answer from God. That is a dangerous place to be, because things can seem to work out in the natural realm when they aren’t the will of God at all. Yes, Gideon did put out a fleece, but that’s because he didn’t have the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Lord had to meet him in the area of physical senses.
However, as Spirit-filled believers, we have an inner voice. This is where the Holy Spirit communicates with us—not in our minds. When you develop and train your spirit by putting the first three steps into practice—meditating on the Word, practicing the Word, and putting the Word first place—your human spirit will become a safe guide for you. Once you’ve trained your human spirit in the Word of God, obeying your human spirit becomes the same as obeying the Holy Spirit.
This isn’t true of any man—but it is true for born-again believers. A man who is born again has become a new man in Christ Jesus, which is why his spirit is able to connect with the Holy Spirit.
Wondering if you’re really hearing from God? Find out the 4 Ways to Know if You’re Hearing God’s Voice here.
If you’re in the habit of looking for a sign or a feeling, or even putting out a fleece when you need guidance in your life, begin to move over into your spirit to find divine guidance. Train yourself up in the Word of God, and then tune into your spirit and obey what you hear immediately. Don’t hesitate! If you do, “common sense” and your natural senses will talk you out of it.
God wants us to be led by His Spirit, and He is going to use our own spirit to guide us. Kenneth Hagin said, “God has a better way than a hit-and-miss system.” Listen to the inward voice, and obey your own spirit. Then, you will operate in the perfect will of God.
When you follow these four ways to be led by the Spirit of God and practice them as a regular part of your life, you will always know in your spirit what you should do in any situation. When you meditate on the Word of God, be a doer of the Word of God, put the Word of God above all else, and instantly respond to your spirit, you can know the will of God in even the smallest details of your life! Take the opportunity to train your spirit—grow stronger—and begin to receive supernatural guidance that will lead you to exceedingly, abundantly above all that you could ever ask or think.
She shares this prayer in the description of this video. I have copied and pasted into a Word document and printed it so that I could read it out loud in my home when I need it. I recommend you do the same for easy access. When I was first led to these videos in 2015, I would listen to her pray on my behalf when I was feeling weak in the spirit. She prays in tongues and I would let her powerful words permeate my environment. I would say, "Father God, I come in agreement with this mighty anointed woman of God who is praying on my behalf."
When you are praying on your own, always end your declaration with, in the name of Jesus Christ, or start with through the blood of Jesus Christ, or start and end with both. I felt a great oppressive spiritual weight lifted off of me within a week when I first started using these prayers in 2015. Which came as a great relief. But then weeks later the spiritual attacks came at me like a swarm of locust descending upon me every which way imaginable. I would grab these prayers that I have printed, and I would read them with tears in my eyes. I would keep pushing through, and by the third prayer, my eyes would start to dry up, and I would feel stronger in the spirit. My home environment would also feel lighter. Of course, it's different for everyone. I'm merely sharing my personal experience.
I have provided several prayers for you to use listed on the upper right side of my website. Use them and watch God work on your behalf. I am so grateful for these prayers. They helped me keep my thoughts on God's promises for my life and away from negative thoughts resulting from situations caused by outside forces were trying to keep me engulfed in. That's what these prayers will do for you too. Trust and Believe.
I do want to add that I started reading this prayer in October 2015 and I woke up on January 3, 2016 and said to myself, "I'm done" with cigarettes. Then the Holy Spirit laid me down to sleep for three days straight to detox. I would wake up to drink water and then back to sleep. I am happy to report that I have been smoke-free now for almost 4 years. I quit this 36-year-old habit cold turkey and I still have no desire to smoke. I know in my heart that this prayer led the Holy Spirit to help break this stronghold in my life that I wasn't able to do on my own. ❤ I wasn't even trying to quit smoking. It wasn't a New Years resolution. It just happened the way I described.
You must stay strong, vigilant in the Lord, and know that God is with you always by way of the Holy Spirit that is inside of you. God will give you strength by way of the Holy Spirit. God will always have the last word. Hand God every situation in your life. God will never leave you nor forsake you. Use your power and authority given to us in Christ Jesus. Be prepared to watch in amazement how the Supernatural power of the Holy Spirit works miracles in and through your life.
Please visit her YouTube channel AgapeKind: 27 Prayer and Fasting Plan. Scroll through her prayers to help you in whatever area you need help in right now. Sending you lots of love and I'm giving you a great big hug. ❤
Prayer For Supernatural Breakthrough And Increase
PRAYER WORDS
In the mighty, most powerful, wonder-working name of Jesus Christ. Let the words that I speak be prophetically loaded and launched as Holy Ghost missiles into any and every area of my life that requires Holy Ghost fire explosion and disintegration of demonic deposits, debris and poison.
Oh lord, because you are my beginning and my end, I start my day strong and end triumphant with you by my side.
I double-doze my intellect and faculties with your word and inject my memory with every single bit of refreshment that your word provides.
I charge the atmosphere with your glory and dissolve every dirty and filthy thoughts projected against my mind.
I pull down every evil imagination that stands against the knowledge of Christ Jesus and destroy the work of the devil over my mind, my spirit, my soul and my body by your blood Jesus, by your word, your fire and your anointing upon my life. Right now, I, prophetically claim these words and I speak them over myself, my household, and my loved ones. Now let the heavens bear me witness and let the earth hear and respond to the words that I speak into the atmosphere even now… In the mighty name of Jesus Christ:
I am unresponsive to demonic manipulation.
I am unresponsive to demonic oppression.
I am unresponsive to demonic suppression.
I am unresponsive to demonic attack.
I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.
I refuse to be defeated or intimidated.
I have the mind of Christ x3 and I love God with all of my heart, all my soul, and all my mind.
I am a terror to the enemy and his cohorts.
I am strong, I am rich in every aspect of the term.
I am patient, I am kind, I have the nature of Christ in me and therefore I cannot be defeated.
(*I ADDED the following*)
I am a child of the Most High God.
I am God's perfect creation.
No weapon formed against me shall prosper.
He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world.
I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me.
God said, I am the head and not the tail.
I am above and not beneath.
I am a victor and not a victim.
I am the lender and not the borrower.
I am the righteousness of God in Christ x3.
I am blessed and highly favored because I AM His beloved.
Zech. 1:18-20, Hebrew 11:1
CONFESSION:
For it is written in Zechariah 1:17: Cry yet, saying Thus said the Lord of Hosts, My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
PRAYER POINTS:
Father God, by your mighty power, by the power in the Blood of Jesus Christ, Fire of Holy Ghost, scatter and destroy any hindering spirit around me and around my home environment, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Father God, scatter and destroy the power of devouring spirit and limitation, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Father God, any decree made upon my feet because I have come to Christ, let it be revoked in the name of Jesus Christ.
Father God, let my feet be anointed and washed by your blood to lead me to peaceful places, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Father God, release the spirit of carpenter upon me to destroy the horns of enemies, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Any decree to cause satanic road-block in my way of breakthrough, be scattered by Fire and die, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Father God, come and be our shepherd, to keep us together and save us from thieves, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Every Islamic, satanic, demonic collective power that wants to scatter what I have gathered, I command you to fall down and die, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Association of evil gang-up or witchcraft power to cause derailment in my life; scatter by Fire and die, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Any power put in place to supervise and confirm failure in my life, die by Fire, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Anything in me contradicting the word of God to cause error, die by Fire, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Any power making a decree to affect my standing in the Lord, break by Fire, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Evil decree or curse over my life, spiritually, physically, financially, matrimonially and educationally, I break you, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Anything in me, around me, within me, contesting with the presence of Holy Spirit in me, are you still alive? die forever and perish, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Spirit of the Living God, arise and take me to my place of blessing now, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Father God, whatever weapon or tricks of the enemy to steal, kill and destroy my life, destroy them with their weapon forever and ever, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Father God, connect, correct and direct my helpers to me anywhere, anywhere they may be, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Spirit of the Living God, arise and remove any evil veil covering my face, every scale upon my face fall off of me now so I can see, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Power to succeed in life, come upon me now, in the name of Jesus.
Power to see and discern, come upon me, in the name of Jesus.
Power to over-come, fall upon me now, in the name of Jesus.
I seal this prayer by the blood of Jesus Christ. I claim my breakthrough. I claim my victory. In the mighty, most powerful, glorious, wonder-working name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Whatever weakness that stands as a barrier, that is holding me down, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, be broken!
Whatever spirit that is not of Jesus Christ, get out, that has been tormenting my life every which way, get out!
Holy Ghost fire, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, wherever you are, you unclean spirit, GET OUT!
I want to share one of my all time FAVORITE songs with you! France Joli is a Canadian singer. "Come to me" was her first single, released when she was 16 and it hit #1 on the US Disco Dance chart in 1979. On the Billboard Hot 100, it was her biggest mainstream hit, breaking the Top 20 at #15. The success of the single put her in demand for talk shows with Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore and a Bob Hope special.
I never get tired hearing this song. My spirit just loves to dance to this song. This is how God started tugging on my heart while on the dance floor at a nightclub. Can you hear God? God is knocking on the door of your heart. Will you invite Him in and have a little chat about life? I promise you, His presence alone will transform you from the inside out in the most profound beautiful way. I can hear you asking, "What can God give me?" Answer: Infallible LOVE, security, strength, peace, comfort, and joy, that can not be compared to anything on this earth.
Instead of imagining someone else singing this song to you or you singing this song to someone else, just try for a moment to hear God's voice singing this song to YOU. Enjoy the lyrics! ♥
😘 #LongLiveDisco 😘
Come to Me ~ by France Joli
Written and Produced by Tony Green
Come to me
When you're all alone and feeling down
Come to me
When there's nobody else around
Come to me
I'm still waiting open-armed for you
Come to me
'cause I will comfort you
When you've no one to turn to
I will be here just for you
Come to me
When your world is empty and cold
Come to me
When you need someone you want to hold
Come to me
In my arms I will keep you safe and warm
Come to me
I will shelter you from the storm
I'm not one to pretend
Why can't you understand
That I love you
And I love you
And I need you
And I want you
And I love you
And I love you
And I need you
And I want you
Come to me
(instrumental break)
I'm a lonely man
Living in a world of dreams
I've got everything
But the one thing that I really need
Come to me
I'll give you all the love you'll need
'cause I have love just for you
Come to me
When your world is empty and cold
Come to me
When you need someone you want to hold
Come to me
In my arms I will keep you safe and warm
Come to me
I will shelter you from the storm
I'm not one to pretend
Why can't you understand
That I love you
And I love you
And I need you
And I love you
Come to me
I need you
And I need you
And I want you
A woman came out of her house and saw 3 old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat." "Is the man of the house home?", they asked. "No", she said. "He's out." "Then we cannot come in", they replied.
In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. "Go tell them I am home and invite them in!" The woman went out and invited the men in.
"We do not go into a House together," they replied. "Why is that?" she wanted to know. One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is Success, and I am Love." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home."
The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. "How nice!!", he said. "Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!" His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?" Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!" "Let us agree to our daughter-in-law's advice," said the husband to his wife. "Go out and invite Love to be our guest."
The woman went out and asked the 3 old men, "Which one of you is Love please come in and be our guest." Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up and followed him.
Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: "I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?" The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success. The other two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love. Wherever He goes, we go with him.
Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success.
...♥ Let's continue to send trucks loaded with hugs to our friends
If no one has told you they Loved you today, God LOVES you soooo much and so do I. I hope you had a FANTASTIC week and enjoy a fun, lighthearted, relaxing weekend... :)
"No one can drive us crazy unless we give them the keys."
~ by Doug Horton
[So very true! ♥]
"Make laughter your prayer. Laugh more.
Nothing releases your blocked energies as does laughter.
Nothing makes you innocent as does laughter."
~ by OSHO ♥
"I love people who make me laugh.
I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh.
It cures a multitude of ills.
It's probably the most important thing in a person."
I'm enjoying movie FRIGHT night on this All Hallows' Eve! It's time for me to get the popcorn ready, order my pizza and turn off the lights. I always have to set the stage for a goosebump, hair-raising, spine-tingling night of HORROR movies! Bwahahahaha... Ahem. Nevertheless, this Mel Brooks classic has been a permanent fixture on my Halloween movie list. I always have to throw in a little bit of humor. See you later, alligators!:D ♥
The Irish brought the tradition of carving pumpkins into Jack O'Lantern to America. But, the original Jack O'Lantern was not a pumpkin. Pumpkins did not exist in Ireland. Ancient Celtic cultures in Ireland carved turnips on All Hallow's Eve, and placed an ember in them, to ward off evil spirits.
The Tale of Stingy Jack and the Jack O' Lantern
Jack O'Lantern legend goes back hundreds of years in Irish History. Many of the stories, center round Stingy Jack. Here's the most popular story:
Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who took pleasure in playing tricks on just about everyone: family, friends, his mother and even the Devil himself. One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree. After the Devil climbed up the tree, Stingy Jack hurriedly placed crosses around the trunk of the tree. Unable to touch a cross, the Devil was stuck in the tree. Stingy Jack made the Devil promise him not to take his soul when he died. Once the devil promised not to take his soul, Stingy Jack removed the crosses, and the Devil climbed down out of the apple tree.
Many years later, Jack died, he went to the pearly gates of Heaven and was told by Saint Peter that he was mean and cruel, and had led a miserable, worthless life on earth. Stingy Jack was not allowed to enter heaven. He then went down to Hell and the Devil. The Devil kept his promise and would not allow him to enter Hell. Now Jack was scared . He had nowhere to go, but to wander about forever in the dark Netherworld between heaven and hell. He asked the Devil how he could leave, as there was no light. The Devil tossed him an ember from the flames of Hell, to help Stingy Jack light his way. Jack had a Turnip with him. It was one of his favorite foods, and he always carried one with him. Jack hollowed out the Turnip, and placed the ember the Devil had given him, inside the turnip. From that day onward, Stingy Jack roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his "Jack O'Lantern".
On all Hallow's eve, the Irish hollowed out Turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets. They placed a light in them to ward off evil spirits and keep Stingy Jack away. These were the original Jack O'Lanterns. In the 1800's a couple of waves of Irish immigrants came to America. The Irish immigrants quickly discovered that Pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve out. So they used pumpkins for Jack O'Lanterns.
Halloween or Hallowe’en (a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening) is an annual holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night preceding All Hallows Day. Much like Day of the Dead celebrations, the holiday has ancient origins tied to seasonal change, harvest time, and festivals honoring the dead. Typical Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (also known as "guising"), attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.
Pre-Christian influences
Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)", derived from the Old Irish Samuin meaning "summer's end". Samhain was the first and by far the most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Irish and Scottish calendar and, falling on the last day of Autumn, it was a time for stock-taking and preparation for the cold winter months ahead. There was also a sense that this was the time of year when the physical and supernatural worlds were closest and magical things could happen. To ward off these spirits, the Gaels built huge, symbolically regenerative bonfires and invoked the help of the gods through animal and perhaps even human sacrifice.
Christian influences
Halloween is also thought to have been heavily influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints' Day (also known as Hallowmas, All Hallows, and Hallowtide) and All Souls' Day. Falling on November 1st and 2nd respectively, collectively they were a time for honoring the Saints and praying for the recently departed who had yet to reach heaven. By the end of the 12th century they had become days of holy obligation across Europe and involved such traditions as ringing bells for the souls in purgatory and "souling", the custom of baking bread or soul cakes for "all crysten [christened] souls". It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints Day, and All Hallow's Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving onto the next world. To avoid being recognised by a soul, Christians would wear masques and costumes to disguise themselves, following the lighted candles set by others to guide their travel for worship the next day. Today, this practice has been perpetuated through trick-or-treating.
In Britain the rituals of Hallowtide and Halloween came under attack during the Reformation as Protestants denounced purgatory as a "popish" doctrine incompatible with the notion of predestination. In addition the increasing popularity of Guy Fawkes Night from 1605 on saw Halloween become eclipsed in Britain with the notable exception of Scotland. There and in Ireland, they had been celebrating Samhain and Halloween since the early Middle Ages, and it is believed the Kirk took a more pragmatic approach towards Halloween, viewing it as important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities and thus ensuring its survival in the country.
North American almanacs of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century give no indication that Halloween was recognized as a holiday. The Puritans of New England, for example, maintained strong opposition to the holiday and it was not until the mass Irish and Scottish immigration during the 19th century that the holiday was introduced to the continent in earnest. Initially confined to the immigrant communities during the mid-nineteenth century, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and by the first decade of the twentieth century it was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds.
Etymology
The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day. Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra hālgena mæssedæg, mass-day of all saints), All-Hallows-Even is itself not attested until 1556.
A poem/song often told to small children by the superstitous. Though this piece is often heard most often in human Santharian villages, it is believed to have originated from stories of the Forbidden Zone in Northern Sarvonia and dark places like the Water Marshes.
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