Image via Wikipedia

Today, Halloween is a secular holiday that largely exists so that kids can have a good time roaming their neighborhoods in search of candy. That hasn’t always been the case, though. In fact, many of today’s Halloween traditions have roots in religious beliefs that are related to protecting humans from unfriendly spirits.

Celtic Traditions

If you like to carve jack-o’-lanterns and dress up for Halloween, then you can thank the ancient Celts. This group had a holiday called Samhain that looks much like today’s version of Halloween. Samhain was a day when the dead could return to walk among the living. The Celts wanted to scare off these spirits, so they dressed up in fearsome costumes and lit bonfires.

Catholic Halloween Traditions

Halloween acquired its Catholic traditions when the Roman Empire conquered the Celts. The Roman Catholics emphasized the remaining bounty of the season by making table pieces of apples, nuts and other foods. They also introduced drinking cider and bobbing for apples to the holiday. For the Catholics, this was a day to remember the dead. They did not worry about the dead walking the earth, but they wanted to honor those who came before them.

Trick-or-Treating

No one knows for certain when trick-or-treating began. It resembles the English custom of poor people wandering door-to-door on Hallowmas (November 1^st), when they would promise to pray for souls in exchange for food.

Going door-to-door for treats on Halloween also has roots in Scotland and Ireland. In these areas, groups would dress in costume and walk through the streets holding jack-o’-lanterns made of turnips. When they came to a house, they stopped to ask for food or some coins.

Today’s version of Halloween blends diverse traditions into a fun escapade for all ages. What’s your favorite Halloween tradition?

Saving for your vacation starts by setting a goal amount. Say you want to save up $2,000 to go on one of the Silversea cruises next year. You can establish a savings account just for that goal, and begin putting in $40 a week. It probably won’t be easy to save at first, and you might even start to wonder if your vacation will be worth it. It’s actually a good thing to feel a bit of pain when it comes to saving up for something big because you’ll enjoy the payoff even more.

When you feel some discomfort, you have the time and motivation to think about whether you really want to buy something. If you do want it badly enough, your vacation will be even sweeter when it finally arrives. Having a great trip is the icing, but knowing you can save up for anything you want is the cake itself. Once you’ve got one vacation under your belt and know you can put away $40 a week, you can try kicking it up a bit to save for two vacations a year. In time, saving will be something you don’t even think about anymore. It really is easy.

The first practical thing to do is to search. Look through the many available lenders online and read about what they have to offer.

Do they have good rates?                         

This is very important; you do not want to end up paying more fees than necessary.

Do they allow a reasonable payback period?

This is important, as one lender may need a payback within two weeks while another may give you up to a year. A good company will have this kind of information readily available. One online site to check out is Plain Green Loans, as their terms are easy to understand and very reasonable.

Do they lend the amount you will need?

Some companies may only lend $500; others may lend up to $2500 or more.

What is the criteria for issuing a loan?

Do you need good credit? Is a solid work history enough? Must you have your own checking account?

So, after you have found two or three that seem reasonable, how do you make a choice? One of the best ways to know if a lender is credible is to ask someone who has taken out an online loan before. Did they receive good service? This is most important in any dealings with money. You want to know that the company will deal fairly with you in any circumstance.

Were the terms reasonable? Again, if a friend or family member has had dealings with one good online lender, then make sure that the terms were good and are something that you personally can handle.

So with a good search and some knowing recommendations, finding that perfect online lender is actually quite doable.

Today, Society Doesn’t Blink an Eye

Although anyone who gets married and divorced more than three or four times over the course of their lifetime may raise a few eyebrows, most people just write it off to an eccentric nature or the fact that they didn’t choose their partners carefully. However, some people of means actually take the time to plan for a divorce by creating complicated prenuptial agreements. If you have a significant amount of assets, you may want to discuss your own plans with a qualified lawyer, like Fairfield attorneys, before you consider taking your vows.

Society’s Opinions Have Changed

As society’s view of divorce has mellowed, opinions about marriage as a whole have also changed. Just a half century ago, an unwed mother would often move to another town to avoid being ostracized since this situation even more scandalous than divorce. Depending on her age, she may even make up a recently deceased father to make her condition more socially acceptable. Now, many people don’t even bother to get married when they have children or they arrive at the altar visibly pregnant. Some people will say that this is a good thing because it allows people to live on their own terms without fear, while others would say it weakens the family and our entire moral structure. What do you think?

Image via Wikipedia

No, this isn’t a cheesy holiday horror film. Rather, this is an upfront and rather in-your-face discussion of what Christmas should be and what Christmas has become. So pay attention….

Imagine your joy in seeing this little baby born, in a manger, and having many celebrate the coming of this child, for whatever reason…. You can understand that you as the mother might simply be enthralled with the idea that you’re done with all the labor! Lo and behold, though, the birth of this child marks a monument unlike anything you can even fathom.

Simply put, it’s the birth of God. The salvation of mankind.

That is the true origin of Christmas. It’s the birth of Christ Jesus. The reason why presents are given during Christmas is because Christ gave himself to us! We celebrate Christmas, because it’s a celebration of our lives, lives we wouldn’t have if this little baby didn’t grow up to throw himself down at the authorities and willingly carry a cross only to be crucified and die on it. The reality is this: Christmas is actually Jesus’ birthday.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s look at what Christmas has become….

Lights, wrapping paper, food, candles, Christmas movies, snow men, igloos, shopping, caroling, and Santa Claus. That’s it. Nothing else. It’s a commercial representation of something that actually means more than opening up a present. Rather, it should be about opening up your soul.

Don’t misunderstand here, though — these traditions have their place. And Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) is actually a historical figure based on the idea that little kids must have gifts during a time of celebration in Christ. But let’s be clear on this….

All of it doesn’t matter if you don’t truly have the basic heart of it all — that Christmas is about God.

All joking aside, to really get what Pop music is, you’d have to look at the whole music industry. Yes, the entire music community! Why?

Because Pop music encompasses all the genres….

Wait a second, you mean Pop music basically is all music? No, not necessarily.

Yes, it’s true — Pop music derived a lot of its sound and style from other genres — rock, rap, hip-hop, soul, R&B, classical, folk, jazz, country, dance, electronic, gospel. You name it, Pop has been infused with it. That’s not to say that all these genres of music are actually a part of a big umbrella called ‘Pop.’

Rather, the idea of Pop music is simply a type of music that ‘all’ can enjoy. A type of music that’s not geared toward a specific lifestyle.

Take for instance the genre of hard rock — it pinpoints a certain kind of person. The same goes for classical. But when you have certain songs that incorporate specific characteristics from all genres, you’re looking at a song that everyone can enjoy!

Examples of Pop music would be Madonna, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block, Justin Bieber, and — of course, you can’t deny the very last one on this list — Michael Jackson.

Cover of Ludwig van Beethoven

Music is actually a fun concept to study, especially for the genre of rock n’ roll. There are so many evolutions of it that it might blow your mind. You’ll be tickled in the inside of your heart. And you’ll be mesmerized by all the history….

You’d be surprised by this: one of the greatest originations of true rock music was none other than…. Classical! Think about it. The first true headbanger was Ludwig von Beethoven! He even had the wild and crazy hair associated with the genre.

From that beginning, there arose the pioneers of classic rock: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple. The age of the guitar was born — it was about passion, power, ferocity. Again, glance over at Beethoven for a moment. From all that classic rock came another remarkable evolution:

Heavy metal. Now the reason why they called it that was simply due to the fact that a lot of the sound was relatively bottom heavy and raging with more and more of the heavy drum sound, especially what was typically called the ‘cymbal choke’ where the drummer smashes the cymbal and then grabs hold of it before it rings out. The result is a fast display of utter loudness and ‘destruction.’ You could relate to ‘heavy metal’ as a way for Beethoven to take a few hits of acid.

To go further, hard rock music experimented with other sounds — bringing to birth other names like ‘goth metal,’ ‘death metal,’ ‘punk metal,’ ‘alternative metal.’ Hard rock began to cross over to other genres — specifically rap.

It was a genre that defined music as a whole — an utter expression of sheer humanity from the darkest parts of mankind. And that’s why so many people love rock n’ roll.