History of Halloween

History of Halloween

October 31st is a date that both children and adults alike look forward to with anticipation. We decorate our homes and our yards and try to outspook the neighbours. We scare ourselves and each other with movies and pranks and haunted houses. Did you ever wonder how this tradition came about?

The origins of Halloween date back thousands of years ago to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts lived 2,000 years ago in what is now Ireland, northern France and the United Kingdom. Their calendar was different than ours is today, and they celebrated their New Year on November 1.

They believed that on the day before the New Year, October 31, the worlds of the living and the dead co-mingled, and they would celebrate Samhain. During Samhain, it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth,and they would run around causing havoc and damaging crops.

The Celts celebrated the night before the New Year by wearing costumes that typically consisted of animal heads and skins. They built huge, sacred bonfires where they would burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. After the celebration, they would light their hearth fires from the sacred bonfire, and this was believed that it would help protect them during the coming winter.

Halloween survived strongly with the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh Communities and immigrants from these countries brought the tradition to North America. The Irish brought over the idea of the children dressing up and going door to door to collect treats, mainly fruit, which was later used for playing games such as bobbing for apples. Carving pumpkins is believed to have come from the tradition of carving ghoulish faces into turnips to hold candles.

The tradition of Trick or Treating as it has developed in North America seems to have more obscure origins, especially the Trick part. Some believe that the original intention was that the spirits would be blamed for any mischievous behavior that occurred. They would do things like hiding everyday items of those adults who were less popular. These harmless pranks have gradually developed into more harmful ones somehow, such as throwing raw eggs, soaping windows, and smashing pumpkins.

As this Halloween comes around, we can remember where this favorite holiday came from, and most importantly, let's keep it all in good fun!

Read more about the history of Halloween and find great savings on Halloween costumes and Halloween decorations at http://www.frightnightcostumes.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abby_Wilshire http://EzineArticles.com/?History-of-Halloween&id=2854870


8 comments:

Unknown said...

nice infos ngaun ko lang nalaman to tnx! :D

The Pope said...

Very informative, thank you for sharing... dito sa Doha, Halloween items such as costumes and display items are being sold in malls and shops.

Sardonyx said...

Sa Pilipinas, dati wala naman tayong Halloween pero ngayon meron na rin, yun trick or treat sa atin ay mostly mayayaman lang ginagawa or sa mga subdivisions. Even here sa Japan they don't celebrate Halloween but we can see a lot of displays here, nakikigaya na rin sila. It seems like it's more on business propaganda na lang ito. Thanks for sharing this info.

Anonymous said...

wow.this is really informative and i enjoyed reading it.

naalala ko tuloy yung tv show na 'charmed' before. maganda ang episodes nila lalo na pag halloween.hehe

btw,thanks for dropping by my site.cheers!

Kablogie said...

Wow napaka informative ng topic mo ngaun ah..thanks for sharing this!

Anonymous said...

informative at napapanahon na entry :D

Dto sa Canada, napaka BIG EVENT ang HALLOWEEN. They even celebrate it more than christmas or new year. Sobrang decorated ang mga bahay at bakuran, party all night and costumes plus ang trick or treat.

nice post po! :D

Life Moto said...

Von - at least meron dagdag sa ating memory bank. yun lang sarap ng nag blog natututo tayo.

Pope - thanks sa info din dyan sa doha.

Sardonyx - yun na ang nangyayari ngayon, dahil sa influence ng mga kanluranin. thanks sa pag share from Japan

flamindevil - your welcome and hope to see you around.

topexpress - salamat din sa pag share ng halloween dyan sa Canada.

Update lang po. nabasa kolang kanina na inalis ng simbahan katolika ssa Spain ang Halloween. Ayun sa kanila ay isang celebration ng mga pagano ito. Nawawala na ang diwa ng tunay na celebration nito, All Saints' Day. Bagkus nakapokus na lang sa mga patay kaysa sa buhay.

anabel said...

thank you for the info! I found antoher blog about Halloween! http://triviablog.amuso.com/2009/10/24/halloween-trivia-questions-answers/#more-145

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