Halloween is a holiday that is celebrated each year on October 31 by people from all around the world. Today, it is celebrated with spooky stories, horror movies, costumes and a lot of candy. Many people know about witches and monsters, but few know of the interesting and ancient roots of the beloved holiday.
The origins of Halloween date back over 2,000 years ago to the ancient Celts. Their territory primarily consisted of what is now Ireland, France and the United Kingdom. New Years day was celebrated on November 1, and this marked the end of summer and the beginning of a cold and dreary winter.
The Celts also believed that the day of the first was when the boundaries that separated the dead and the living were lifted. This event was celebrated in an event called Samhain, where it was believed that ghosts returned to the land of the living. Celtic priests, known as Druids, built large bonfires where they would burn animals and other objects as a sacrifice to the Celtic deities. During this ritual, people would dress in costumes made of animal skins and attempt to read their fortunes.
Years later, the Celtics were conquered by the Romans and their traditions merged into each other. As Christianity spread, the Roman church decided to replace the Celtic festival of Samhain with a new holiday called All Souls’ Day, celebrated on November 2nd. The holiday was celebrated in a way that was very close to the same as Samhain, as people paraded around dressed in costumes of angels, saints and devils. All Souls’ Day was the day after the Roman holiday of All Saints’ Day or All-Hallows. Being the night before, All-Hallows was nicknamed All-Hallows Eve, which eventually became the name we know today as Halloween.
As Europeans migrated into the United States, the traditions and meaning of Halloween were altered, with the holiday becoming about celebrating the harvest, and people gathering to tell stories of the dead, sing and dance. Halloween was made popular as immigrants who were running away from the Irish Potato Famine came and spread the holiday.
As Americans embraced Halloween, they started their own traditions of going house to house and asking for things such as money and food. This act became known as trick or treating. Other current traditions include Halloween parties, movies, pranks, games and many other events that Americans and many people around the world enjoy today.
