Happy Halloween
October 31, 2014
Halloween is now considered to be a secular holiday, but its history is based on the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain:
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
Communities celebrate the holiday by distributing to copious amounts of candy to local children dressed in Halloween costumes each Halloween. Halloween isn’t just for children though, many adults enjoy the tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween, as well as decorating their homes and yards creating scary effects to delight or terrify children.
There is more on the History of Halloween here.
*Happy Halloween graphic created in Adobe Photoshop utilizing the fair use standards of Creative Commons.
