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【The Origin of Halloween】
While there are many versions of the origins and old customs of Halloween, some remain consistent by all accounts. Different cultures view Holloween somewhat differently but traditional Halloween practices remain the same.
Halloween culture can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. Roots lay in the feast of Samhain, which was annually on October 31st to honor the dead.
Samhain signifies "summers end" or November. Samhain was a harvest festival with huge sacred bonfires, marking the end of the Celtic year and beginning of a new one. Many of the practices involved in this celebration were fed on superstition.
The Celts believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night. Since not all spirits were thought to be friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure next years crops would be plentiful. This custom evolved into trick-or-treating.
【The History of Halloween】
Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.
All Hallows Eve is the evening before All Saints Day, which was created by Christians to convert pagans, and is celebrated on November 1st. The Catholic church honored saints on this designated day.
【Symbols of Halloween】
Halloween originated as a celebration connected with evil spirits. Witches flying on broomsticks with ghosts, goblins and skeletons have all evolved as symbols of Halloween.
Bats, owls and other nocturnal animals are also popular symbols of Halloween. They were originally feared because people believed that these creatures could communicate with the spirits of the dead.
Black cats are also symbols of Halloween and have religious origins as well. Black cats were considered to be reincarnated beings with the ability to divine the future. During the Middle Ages it was believed that witches could turn themselves into black cats.
Thus when such a cat was seen, it was considered to be a witch in disguise. All these are popular trick-or-treat costumes and decorations for greeting cards and windows.
Black is one of the traditional Halloween colors, probably because Halloween festivals and traditions took place at night.
Pumpkins are also a symbol of Halloween. The pumpkin is an orange-colored squash, and orange has become the other traditional Halloween color. Carving pumpkins into jack- o'-lanterns is a Halloween custom also dating back to Ireland.
A legend grew up about a man named Jack who was so stingy that he was not allowed into heaven when he died, because he was a miser. He couldn't enter hell either because he had played jokes on the devil. As a result, Jack had to walk on the earth with his lantern until Judgement Day.
So Jack and his lantern became the symbol of a lost or damned soul. To scare these souls away on Halloween, the Irish people carved scary faces out of turnips, beets or potatoes representing "Jack of the Lantern," or Jack-o-lantern.
When the Irish brought their customs to the United States, they carved faces on pumpkins because in the autumn they were more plentiful than turnips.
Today jack-o-lanterns in the windows of a house on Halloween night let costumed children know that there are goodies waiting if they knock and say "Trick or Treat"!
