| The origins of Halloween go back as far as 5 B.C.. The Celtic people who occupied Europe divided the year into four major holidays. According to their calender, the year began on a day that corresponds with November 1st on our present day calender. The day also marked the beginning of winter, the time to move the cattle and sheep to a secure pasture closer to home. It also meant the end of the harvest and a time of celebration. The festival was called Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween) meaning the end of summer. It was believed that all the people that had died during the year would pass to the other side on this night. To aid in their journey, food was left out and bonfires were lit. To keep spirits from seeing their homes the Celts would extinguish the home fires and wear masks while heading for the bonfire. They believed the spirits were afraid of the fires and would pass by. During the celebration many would also wear costumes and everyone would dance around the fire and feast on fruits of the harvest. At the end of the night each family would take a torch and light it from the bonfire to light their home fire for added protection. When the missionaries came, they labeled all the Celtic holidays as evil. Church holy days were purposely set to coincide with native holy days. All Saints Day was assigned to November 1st ,the day set aside to honor all Christian Saints. The Celtics still celebrated with all Hollows Eve. The thought of the roaming dead was too strong. The church then devised All Souls Day where the living would pray for the dead. The bonfires continued to burn. It was on one such All Hallows Eve that a man of the church was passing by on a country road when on the hill he saw the bonfires burning. He saw people dancing around the fire in costumes with shafts and torches in hand. With the moon as a backdrop to the fires the people seemed to be flying in the air. The man hurried to the village to proclaim that witches were flying and evil was afoot. The pressure of the Church pushed followers of the old religion into hiding. Throughout the next centuries All Hallows Eve was observed in many ways but the old Celtic traditions never died away. American Halloween traditions were influenced by the flood of immigrants during the second half of the nineteenth century. These new immigrants, especially the ones from Ireland, helped popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from the Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick or treat" tradition. In the late 1800's there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborhood "get-togethers," than about the supernatural. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate. In the 1920's and 30's Halloween became a secular but community centered holiday which was celebrated with parades and town wide parties. By the 1950's vandalism had to be brought under control and by this time Halloween was more of a child's celebration. Treats were handed out in order to prevent tricks like lawn rolling at each home. Those traditions have made Halloween the country's second largest commercial holiday to the tune of more than $2 billion spent on candy each year. Today, Halloween is once again being celebrated as an adult holiday or masquerade, like Mardi Gras. Men and women in every disguise imaginable are now participating in parades. Many parents decorate their homes and yards, dress in costume, hand out candy at their door or go with their children as they collect candy |
| The origins of Halloween |
