Halloween, a popular holiday celebrated on the night of October 31st, has its roots in ancient pagan rituals. The origins of Halloween can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter. During Samhain, it was believed that the boundary between the living and the dead was thin, and that the spirits of the dead would return to earth to cause havoc. In order to ward off these evil spirits, bonfires were lit and people would wear costumes and masks to disguise themselves from the wandering ghosts. When the Roman Empire conquered Celtic territories in the first century AD, they merged their own festivals with the Celtic traditions. One such festival was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans honored the dead.
Thanks, everyone, and I hope you’re having a fantastic weekend!
I ll be participating in an AMA Ask Me Anything on r progressionfantasy tomorrow, September 26th, as a part of the celebration for the launch of Edge of the Woods. I m incredibly excited to see what people think of this one and if you re excited, too, and don t want to wait you can get a look at the prologue here.
One such festival was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans honored the dead. Over time, the Christian church attempted to replace these pagan rituals with their own celebrations. In the 9th century, November 1st was declared All Saints' Day, a day to honor all Christian saints and martyrs.
"Sufficiently Advanced Magic" review
This is a combined review of the first two novels in the Arcane Ascension series, Sufficiently Advanced Magic and On the Shoulders of Titans. I DNF’d the series at that point, after reading Goodreads reviews of the third novel, The Torch that Ignites the Stars.
That should give you a pretty good idea of my thoughts on these books.
After I read and loved Cradle so much, I decided to give another self-published progression fantasy that I’d seen praised on /r/fantasy a try…but honestly these series have almost nothing in common, and I struggle to understand the praise for SAM.
- Jin is pretty cool
- The actual plot and world, with the towers and Voices and etc is really interesting
- It’s a pretty good description of an asexual main character, though it loses almost all of the points it gains from this by having the most cringe introduction to / explanation of a nonbinary character later on in book 2
Bad things (there’s some spoilers here. Nothing SUPER major imo, but you may want to avoid if you’re still planning on reading these novels. But, you shouldn’t. They kind of suck.):
- The plot that I said is pretty cool almost never happens. Maybe 10% of the book is plot.
- The fight scenes are immeasurably boring, feel inanely low-stakes, and take up a huge percentage of the book
- The puzzle-solving scenes are even worse than the fight scenes
- The being-an-enchanter identity crisis makes literally no sense with the entire rest of the main character’s personality - he seems to have zero affinity for fighting, tons of affinity for tricking his way out of situations and inventing things, and yet doesn’t even have inner conflict about his attunement, only disappointment. It’s like the author wrote the character’s reactions to events prior to defining the character’s personality, and didn’t adjust the former when the two didn’t align.
- More of an issue in the second book, but the random side quests are zero-stakes and drag on forever
- Seriously, the monster fighting, which is somehow the entire point of the book, is just so utterly pointless.
- The school-as-a-plot-device-for-world-building really just does not work. Half the narrator’s classes feel like in-universe kindergarten, but he’s supposed to be in in-universe college or something. They try to explain part of this by saying that he’s catching up from missing three years of schooling, and there’s commoners who had no schooling, but like…it could be made to make so much more sene by sticking him in some sort of “remedial” class and giving him a great excuse to feel awkward about his father from this situation, and letting us get the worldbuilding that way. Instead we’re supposed to believe that all of these kids have no idea of the most basic tenets about advancement in the magical arts that they’ve spent their entire lives preparing for.
- Speaking of which, I just could not take the magic system seriously. Citrine? Carnelian? Maybe this is a me-problem, and if the rest of the book had been great I could have forgiven it, but these words are too elaborate for me to believe them. Linguistically, core concepts of a culture tend to be simple words because people say them all the damn time, and no one wants to say bullshit long words like this, so they’ll shorten them. Cradle’s Copper/Iron/Jade is believable, those words are short and easy for literally anyone to remember. I had to search in the ebook text to remember “Carnelian.”
- Also, I read 1300 pages of a progression fantasy series, and the dude like…doesn’t advance? What is this? Despite the fact that the lore of the universe is thrown in our face constantly, it seems completely irrelevant to any part of the plot that matters.
Anyway, if you want to read a progression fantasy, read Cradle. Cradle is AMAZING. If you’ve already read Cradle and you’re looking for more progression fantasy, currently I don’t have a recommendation. Cradle is something special.
That’s not to say that the entire story is sad — there are moments of spectacular beauty, as well as some great moments of action — but ultimately, this is much more of a journey focused on self-discovery and emotion than a tale of a hero defeating the demon king—
The night before, October 31st, became All Hallows' Eve, later abbreviated as Halloween. During the Middle Ages, Halloween was still associated with the supernatural and the afterlife. People would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off evil spirits. However, as time went on, the religious significance of Halloween diminished and the holiday evolved into a more community-centered event. In the late 19th century, Irish immigrants brought Halloween traditions to America, where they became more popularized and commercialized. It was during this time that Halloween parties and costumes became a common practice, with children and adults alike dressing up and going door-to-door for treats. Today, Halloween is celebrated in many different ways around the world. It has become a night of fun and festivities, with activities such as costume parties, haunted houses, and trick-or-treating. While the origins of Halloween may be rooted in ancient pagan rituals, the holiday has transformed into a night of lighthearted celebration and enjoyment for people of all ages..
Reviews for "Halloween's Journey from Ancient Pagan Rituals to Modern Day Festivities"
1. Sarah - 2/5 stars - Halloween from pagan ritual to party night was disappointing for me. I was expecting a more in-depth exploration of the origins and evolution of Halloween, but instead, it felt like a shallow overview. The documentary didn't provide enough historical context and focused too much on the modern celebration of Halloween. I felt like it missed an opportunity to educate viewers about the cultural significance of this holiday and relied too heavily on clichés and stereotypes. Overall, I found it underwhelming and wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a thorough examination of Halloween's history.
2. John - 1/5 stars - I was extremely disappointed with Halloween from pagan ritual to party night. The documentary lacked any substantial information and felt more like a promotional video for Halloween parties and costumes. I expected to learn about the true origins of Halloween and its cultural significance, but instead, it was filled with superficial interviews and repetitive footage of people celebrating. There was no depth or critical analysis in this documentary, and it failed to provide any educational or entertaining value. I wouldn't recommend wasting your time watching it.
3. Emily - 2/5 stars - Halloween from pagan ritual to party night fell short of my expectations. I was hoping to gain a deeper understanding of the pagan rituals and ancient traditions that led to the development of Halloween. However, the documentary barely scratched the surface and spent too much time showcasing contemporary celebrations and Halloween-themed parties. While I enjoyed seeing people's creative costumes and hearing their personal experiences, I felt like the core essence of Halloween's history was overshadowed. It lacked the depth and substance I was looking for, leaving me feeling unsatisfied.