Today, Halloween is primarily a children’s holiday celebrated on October 31. It is a day full of parties, of dressing up in costumes and going door to door in neighborhoods collecting candy (called trick-or treating which means “Give me a treat or I’ll play a trick on you”). Houses are often decorated with pumpkins carved into Jack-O-Lanterns, with the Halloween enthusiasts adding corn stalks, bales of hay, spooky music, dry ice, cob webs, and even statues of ghosts, crows, bats, witches, and tombstones.
Halloween has its roots in ancient times, attached mainly to the Celtic festival (Samhain), which was celebrated on November 1. This festival marked the end of summer and the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It was also the Festival of the Dead, and on the eve of Samhain (October 31) the Celtics believed the spirits of the dead returned to earth and caused havoc while they traveled to the Land of the Dead. The Celtics would dress in costumes to disguise themselves from the spirits and bonfires were lit so food and animals could be sacrificed. On this day it was also believed that Celtic priests had the power to read the future and to cast spells.
As time passed and the Christian church’s influence spread, they tried to end Samhain (they were not completely successful) by renaming November 1 All Saints’ Day (All Hallows’ Day in England). It became a day to celebrate Christian saints and the night before all Saints’ Day become known as All Hallows’ Eve (later Halloween).
When European immigrants arrived in America each group brought their own unique Halloween customs and traditions, which eventually evolved into our own American-style holiday. It combines aspects of celebrating the end of the harvest year, the dressing up in costumes, the going door to door asking for food and money, and the supernatural. Through the years community leaders have tried to focus Halloween more on parties and celebrating the harvest than on the supernatural, but just as in ancient times, it has not been completely eliminated.
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Copyright 2009 Stephanie and Rick Jaworski
