Christian Poetry Can Minister To A Hurting Heart

By Jana Olivieri

You can find Christian Poetry in many places. You can find it in community centers as well as churches. It emerges in periodicals and within non-fiction writings. Christian Poetry will inspire those that are in ill health, persons who have lost someone, and those who are disheartened or have had life challenges. This inspirational poetry is an ideal communication tool to share an uplifting message to someone that needs to hear during tough times.

Christian Poetry can release human emotions as well as inspire unlike any other form of poetry. An inspirational poem that is written well exhibits compassion and a sense of being in the reader's situation, as if the writer has taken on the reader's troubles. For someone who is emotionally down due to a life challenging event, inspirational poetry emphasizes that they are not alone, and they are loved.

An inspirational poet normally writes about first-hand life experiences, or the experiences of loved ones. Life is full of moments and difficulties in life which we find ourselves in an emotional, physical or family crisis. These are the times when a poem can minister directly to a hurting heart and help bring about introspection, growth and healing. Poetry may not be for everyone, but if a deeper message is found inside the beautiful words written on a page, the writers message has been accomplished.

The sheer number of Christian Poets is quiet vast, but each writer offers an individual style of expression within their own poetry. Every poet has something to say based on their own experiences that few others can express in words. These writers have acquired much of what they inspire through every day life experience. Through their own life encounters, they are able to minister to others. If you are going through some difficult times in your life, try reading some Christian and Inspirational poetry.

If you are going through some trials in your life, try reading some Christian and Inspirational poetry. You will more than likely find a Poet that writes about the very thing that you are struggling with, you will be comforted in that.

About the Author:

Jana Olivieri is a talented poet who has found a calling for writing Christian Poetry. Please click to her site of Inspirational Poetry. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.

Choosing the Perfect Costume for Halloween

By Phil Sikes

The first step in making your Halloween celebration an exciting event is choosing a theme for your costume. For example, you can dress up to be sexy, terrifying, or glamorous. Or, you can wear a different theme to each party you attend.

The location of the party has a lot to do with your choice. Office parties usually call for more modest costumes, while your best friend will probably be expecting you to go all out for his party.

After choosing a theme for your costume, head to your local costume shop and make it happen.

Are you going to buy a costume or rent one? You probably won't want to wear the same costume year after year, so you might be leaning towards a rental but you can buy costumes at reasonable prices these days - especially on the internet - so even if you only wear it this year it might still pay off.

Impressive costumes really always come down to the small details. If you're hoping that people won't recognize you when you arrive at the party, the details are critical.

For example, consider a monster mask that's really creepy. Adding some authentic theatrical makeup will give the costume a terrifying edge that will keep your identity a secret.

When deciding where to buy your costume, be it on the Internet or in a local shop, make sure the store offers everything you will need to make your costume perfect, just the way you want it. If a shop doesn't have the items you want, keep looking.

The shop you decide to buy or rent from should sell accessories and makeup to go with the costume. If you spend time working on the details of your costume, it will be a disguise you can truly be proud of at this year's Halloween parties.

About the Author:

It's not too early to start planning your Halloween costumes for this year. Don't wait until it's too late and the good ones are all sold out. Get lots of fun costume ideas on the Get In Costume website, where you can also get a free copy of my report "The Family Guide To Halloween Safety.".

Halloween And Religion

By Benedict Fisher

Halloween has suffered from more persecution than other public celebrations in the United States. Normally, the persecution comes from the religious communities in the different states. The focus is often the so-called 'satanic' overtones of the celebration.

Taking a closer look at the oppression

Nowadays, the word 'satanic' has become ambiguous in churchly domains. If the Western Christian belief was summarized, then the devil's picture would appear to be anything that did not look Christian.

Imagine looking at a vast horizon from within a small room. Because you don't understand the outside world, the vast horizon is dangerous. The whole horizon is the devil. This may be confirmed by studying the evolution of the image of the devil through the centuries.

Should Halloween Be Removed From Institutions Totally?

Due to irreligious Halloween schemes such as various images considered irreverent and demonic, religious authorities have been wanting to completely eradicate Halloween celebrations in schools.

Rationally, if you're operating with this hypothetical agenda, then kids who wear devilish costumes are encompassed by the devil's army. Quite ridiculous, but religious communities have a very large following.

Reaction

Despite the accusations, there were groups of people who did not sympathize with the fanatical religious beliefs. Based on the Atlanta Constitution, a newspaper:

"Halloween may have begun as a pagan festival, but in the United States it was now a festival of fun, feasts, fancy frocks, and frivolous fright. Ours is not just a Christian nation, but a nation born from the search of religious freedom. Let the kids have some fun."

Because of such strong, critical views of Halloween, the celebration has been saved from unjust persecution and complete immolation.

Dousing the fire

Since all efforts have failed, the religious communities have taken other measures to make sure that they have their say as to how the Halloween festivities are to be carried out. These communities are purely reactionary, meaning; they don't have a clear program.

They react based on shallow ideas and not the deeper issues - thus, they fail to assess the problem completely. However, religious parties attempt to fight off Halloween by doing the exact opposite of contemporary Halloween customs.

For instance, children were dressed up in happier outfits, replacing the scary costumes normally used during Halloween. More so, the key idea of a haunted house was altered to incorporate their own interpretation of evil.

For example, the Trinity Christian School in Texas has been known to organize a yearly Hell House. The Hell House antagonizes the frequent motifs and themes in popular culture such as the following:

- Drug-plagued parties

- Pre-marital sex

- Homosexuality

- Domestic violence

- School shootings

The point of all this is to lead children and bewildered teenagers to so-called paths of righteousness. Are they effective? To a certain degree, they are. Because out of 75,000 individuals who have been recorded at one time, about 15,000 have become members of the community.

These are the most modern weapons of evangelism today; apart from the presence on the World Wide Web.

About the Author:

Costume Finder is a leading supplier of Halloween fancy dress costumes costumes including Zombie Costumes, Vampire Costumes, and Devil Costumes.

Halloween And Ground Zero

By Benedict Fisher

After the events of September 11, American culture has reacted by re-affirming the solidarity of the nation against foreign threats. If the nation was being forgotten because of an increasingly globalized world, the nation was remembered once again as the events of September 11 unfolded.

Halloween after 9/11

Did you know that even Halloween was reconsidered in the context of the events that took place on 9/11? When the world recoiled at the violence and carnage that took place on that day, people thought that celebrations should necessarily reflect the losses that took place during that sad day.

A lot of individuals felt that Halloween should be a time for reflection, a time when we can truly reflect and mourn the loss of our dearly departed. This idea is the very opposite of the trend that was happening due to the commercialization of Halloween.

What was it like, back then?

If we are to believe what the scholars of Halloween are saying, then Halloween was never about candy and other frivolous commodities. It was about genuine human emotion, something that is being confused for other things in our post-modern days.

Halloween was meant to celebrate life. It was a time to remember and pay respects to our loved ones that went before us. Halloween was a social and religious event where friends and families can gather and comfort each other. By understanding the roots of such a celebration, we can ensure that the festivities don't lose their meaning and that the tradition can be passed on to the future generation.

The Future

Continuity is essential for Halloween. Most of us don't even realize this. Continuity is vital since the thematic of death isn't a terminal point; what comes before death is also the process of life.

When someone appreciates what death is, that someone would also appreciate the process of life-creation. Life is never unitary. If it were, there would be no need for monuments and tombs. The continuity of life is celebrated by remembering what happens after it. It makes the experience of living richer and more rewarding for those who are intuitive enough to realize it.

Dia de los Muertos

A festival of mourning may seem absurd to some. However, in some cultures and religions outside of America, death is something that is revered. It is part of tradition. Strict rituals and ceremonies are passed on from generation to generation.

For instance, the Dia de los Muertos is an official time of mourning in the Rio Grande. This is the time where people mourned and revisited the memories of relatives who have passed away. It's sad to note that we only think about death when something tragic happens. Unlike other cultures, we don't have a very good understanding and appreciation of things related or relating to death.

When 9/11 happened, many Americans looked outward for answers and comfort. It seemed as though America, the most prosperous country in the world, had forgotten how to deal with such tragic events.

When can we truly appreciate the real essence of Halloween? Can we still change the misconceptions that have clouded Halloween? Only the future can tell. Perhaps people will soon appreciate that there is a deeper and richer essence to this celebration.

There is still hope to change a superficial celebration to something more worthy of people's time and memory. And when that transformation takes place, we can easily embrace it completely, once again.

About the Author:

Costume Finder is a leading supplier of Halloween fancy dress costumes including Zombie Costumes, Vampire Costumes, and Devil Costumes.

Evolution of Halloween Stories in Radio, Comics, and Movies

By Benedict Fisher

It may seem unbelievable, but stories and scripts influenced by Halloween were first introduced on radio, not in movies. H.G. Wells, the well-known novelist of "War of the Worlds," the movie version of which starred Tom Cruise, is the first perpetrator of one of the earliest, most daunting, and hair-raising Halloween stories.

H.G. Wells was the creator of the War of the Worlds. So how could people be scared by something as plain as a literary piece? A radio production made by Orson Welles is the genius behind the effective appropriation of War of the Worlds for Halloween.

"And in the news today Aliens!"

That's right -- Welles's radio production served as the standard by which other Halloween shows would be judged in the future. His radio production turned parts of "War of the Worlds" into news bulletins that were announced between songs.

Imagine hearing news about aliens landing on Earth, sounding like the regular news you hear everyday. When Welles began the radio production, it was just a few days before Halloween, so the premise couldn't have been better. People actually got scared and panicked around North America.

New Jersey was the place where most people panicked after hearing the fictional news bits about aliens. It was a stroke of genius, and shot "War of the Worlds" to mainstream popularity. This was only in the 30's, but what soon followed was a guided effort to use the season of Halloween in popular media.

Literature

The thematic of Halloween was also able to penetrate the realm of literature. Just fifteen years after the spooky radio production, a writer by the name of Anthony Boucher came up with a noir story that played with reality and the macabre. The setting of Boucher's story was in California.

The North American comic series 'Shock' was published five years later. It made the perception of Halloween more frightening than it used to be. The story line was about the cruel head of an orphanage, punished and turned into a Halloween pumpkin. In addition, during Halloween, pumpkins are finely carved and hollowed, and some of its peel were also taken off.It was a daring step, but the public took the idea well, making Halloween a production where a certain handful of themes was supported.

EC Comics was also not far behind, this time focusing on things like cutting off parts of the body. However, before the sixties, the American Comics Code regulated the use of such literary devices. It was no longer 'acceptable' and so the short while that the Code was really active, these comic books died down.

But today, Halloween-inspired comic series are still very successful, even without the endorsement of the ACC. The ACC only rewards more wholesome comic books, such as "Archie."

Free TV and the movies

For some reason or another, free TV was slow to respond to the Halloween theme. Perhaps it was censorship (the religious Right) that made television productions that much more difficult.

Here are the some of the first Halloween-themed movies that landed on the boob tube in North America.

- Whispering Ghosts (Milton Berle)

- Footlight Serenade (Betty Grable & Victor Mature)

- Frankenstein (Boris Karloff)

- The House on the Haunted Hill (Vincent Price)

- Rosemary's Baby (Audrey Hepburn)

- Night of the Living Dead (George Romero)

- King Kong

- Godzilla

- Psycho (Hitchcock)

- Night of the Demons

About the Author:

Costume Finder is a leading supplier of Halloween fancy dress costumes costumes including Zombie Costumes, Vampire Costumes, and Devil Costumes.

Halloween's Celtic Samhain Beginnings

By Benedict Fisher

Most people may think Halloween began as a pagan ritual, but it's actually not. According to Western historians, it's actually an abbreviated version of All Hallow Even, or the eve of All Saint's Day. This Christian holiday takes place on November 1st, which puts Halloween on October 31st.

What's Halloween For You?

For many people around the world, Halloween is a time of remembering the souls in Purgatory. These souls are those caught between Heaven and Hell, and undergo rigorous cleansing before being granted entry to Heaven.

According to Dante Alighieri, souls found in Purgatory are trapped between Paradise and Inferno. In modern times, this passage deals with the day after All Hallowed Even, which is All Soul's Day (November 2).

Samhain

Other historians believe that Halloween actually has its origins in Ancient Rome. The Pomona festival was a celebration of their goddess of harvest. Another celebration in Ancient Rome, the Parentilia, celebrates the dead. These two celebrations may have evolved into Halloween.

When it comes to Halloween's Celtic origins, scholars suggest that the Samhain celebration started everything. This celebration took place at the end of summer, and was paired with the feast of Beltane -- a celebration of life.

It can be clearly seen that even Celtic tradition is founded on binaries, much like Indian Ayurvedic tradition and Chinese medicine. There exists a balance between life and death that needs to be maintained. Life exists when everything is in balance, while imbalance breeds famine and disease.

Samhain Origins

The Samhain was actually an acknowledgement of the two opposing forces of life and death. Summer was usually the season when people tilled the Earth, planting and harvesting food. But when winter came along, man gave way to the powers of Nature, and submitted to the ice, wind, and cold.

Halloween's Bad Rap

In the past decades, there has been a negative reaction to the celebration of Halloween. Because the celebration is not completely Christian, many parents and school administrators think that the celebration should be banned completely in schools.

Even if it isn't likely that the Celts really did worship the fallen Christian angel Lucifer, it changes little -- Samhain rituals are just plain strange in this day and age.

Strange Depictions Of Halloween

Movies such as "Halloween" play on the Samhain as a central pillar of the plot. They suggested that the Samhain opened the possibility for a person to oppose the powers of life and death. Even if this was a rather farfetched idea, it still managed to affect modern sensibilities -- of course, in a largely negative way.

It's ironic that there are actually very few records about how Druids really did carry out their rituals. Only Pliny the Elder provided a good look into the rituals, but even his writings didn't contain any records of humans being sacrificed on pointed sticks. Instead, the Druids used two white bulls -- a rather ordinary offering for fertility.

About the Author:

Costume Finder is a leading supplier of Halloween fancy dress costumes including Zombie Costumes, Vampire Costumes, and Devil Costumes.

How Halloween Is Celebrated Today

By Benedict Fisher

Halloween in modern, western society is a grisly yet anticipated spectacle. It's a spectacle because different communities, groups and individuals celebrate it differently. Since the nineties, people have relinquished aged beliefs about the supposed 'Satanism' of modern Halloween.

Why Celebrate Halloween?

Why do people celebrate Halloween, anyway? If we are to look at the Christian belief systems of today (we speak of many because the Christian religion is split into many sects and groups), the most feared component of the whole 'deal' is still death.

All the negative forces associated with living a human life like sickness, death, hunger and war all experience confluence in Halloween. The fear of these things might take different forms, but nonetheless, it's a way for people to take control of these elements without really touching them.

Horror-themed Costumes And Parties

This is why people love dressing up as spooky creatures during parties and watching scary movies during Halloween. They love the idea of controlling the otherwise uncontrollable forces in life, making them more acceptable and less scary.

People wear costumes representing ghosts, witches, ghouls, zombies, and historical characters to twist reality for a single night, making the misunderstood very human and very fun. It doesn't seem to matter if the inversions don't make sense.

Hollywood movies

Movies like the Chainsaw Texas Massacre, Saw, Saw II and Autopsy all play with the idea of people going beyond the pale of the normal to explore what it would be like to kill and to evade capture.

Showing these Hollywood movies that center on human emotions such as fear and terror have little overall effect on how people celebrate Halloween.

Instead of influencing the people, Hollywood actually does the opposite -- it NUMBS them to the issues behind Halloween. People no longer seem to care what they watch on the movie screen. This is why most of today's horror movies deal with gore -- it's the easiest way to scare people and look at death more seriously.

And the kids?

With all these scary get-ups consisting of ghouls and ghosts, how do your kids appreciate what is beyond the world we're living in? Kids usually don't get to experience personal loss, death or even horror, which makes Halloween look like a superficial commemoration.

Where the Yuletide season celebrates warmth and family, Halloween is celebrated close to the year's end where people are more enthusiastic in commemorating the unseen than what is normal.

Halloween is that time of the year where children get to ask "Do ghosts really exist?" The diversity of how Halloween is celebrated in every culture is incredible. Suspicions arising about existence of ghosts originated from Halloween itself. So, the question goes: Why celebrate it if it does not even exist?

In the end, the celebration of Halloween becomes an inverted mirror to Christianity itself. Everything that people don't know, or haven't seen, or can't see or understand within the world of Christianity is somehow explained by celebrations like Halloween. The phenomena are many and the explanations are a bit muddled.

Thus, the celebration of Halloween is a way of celebrating what can't be explained by the general concept of life, death, and in between.

About the Author:

Costume Finder is a leading supplier of Halloween fancy dress costumes including Zombie Costumes, Vampire Costumes, and Devil Costumes.