Why Do We Celebrate Halloween - The Spookiest Holiday Of The Year

Halloween is full of costumes and candy, trick-or-treating and frightful haunted houses, pumpkins and black cats. But just where did Halloween come from? Why are we celebrating?

The history of Halloween goes back 2000 years. Many believe that Halloween's origins are found in the Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who were settled in Ireland, the Uk and the northern parts of France, sublime their New Year on the first of November. Samhain was sublime the night before the New Year.

Halloween Night

The New Year, Celts believed, marked summer's end, harvest time, and the start of dark, cold winter months. Those winter months were connected with death by these people. On October 31, the night before the New Year, the Celts sublime Samhain. This day, they believed, was when the ghosts of the deceased returned to earth because the boundaries between the living world and the dead world blurred.

When we think of "Trick-Or-Treating", the origins can probably be found in the English All Souls' Day parades. During these celebrations, the poor would come out and beg for food from the more wealthy families. When the families gave them pastries called "soul cakes", they asked for the poor to pray for their relatives that had passed away.

Another possibility that may have grown into "Trick-Or-Treating" is the tradition of habitancy leaving bowls of food in front of their homes. They did this to keep the ghosts that were wandering the earth from entering.

Dressing in costumes has a integrate possible origins. European and Celtic habitancy both felt winter was a frightening time. It was cold, it was darker, and the possibility of running out of food was great. When they reached the time when they idea the dead returned, they idea they might encounter these ghosts whenever they left their houses. The wearing of masks and costumes grew from these habitancy donning masks so the ghosts would not identify them!

This holiday was brought to the Us by Scotch and Irish immigrants in the 1800s. At that time, much of the "spookiness" of the holiday was removed and a sense of community and fun were added. Although scary themes are still the focus of many Halloween celebrations, that scariness is done for fun, not because of actual fear.

Halloween is currently the 2nd largest market holiday!

Why Do We Celebrate Halloween - The Spookiest Holiday Of The Year

Why Do We Celebrate Halloween? Find Out Right Here!

In the mad frenzy of dressing up, decorating the house, throwing a party, the reason why do we celebrate Halloween has somehow got pushed to the background. Costumes and candy, tricks and treats, terrifying decorations take up all our energy and perhaps, most of us do not even know what Halloween actually signifies.

Halloween goes back nearly 2000 years when it first began to be celebrated by the Celts who had their homes in Ireland, UK and the northern parts of France. The Celts celebrated their New Year on the first of November and the origins of Halloween go back to this time in the Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain was celebrated the night before the New Year.

The Celts believed that the New Year marked the end of the summer. The end of summer was significant to the Celts because they were pastoral people as opposed to agricultural people; and the end of summer meant a radically different style of life in the winter months.

The cattle were brought down from the hills and the people gathered in homes for the long winter nights, crafts and storytelling. These dark, the winter months were associated with death by the Celts. On October 31, Samhain was celebrated by the Celts and they believed that this was the day when the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. This happened because of the confusion of boundaries between the living world and the deceased.

The 'trick or treat' probablyoriginated in the English All Souls' Day parades when the poor would plead for food from the wealthier people. The wealthy families gave them pastries called 'soul cakes' and asked the poor to pray for their relatives who were no longer living. This morphed into people giving candies to children who came to their house dressed up as witches or ghosts and if someone refused to give candy (treat), a practical joke (trick) would probably be played upon him. Another theory is of people leaving food outside their homes so that the wandering ghosts would not enter their homes.

The Celts felt winter to be a frightening time and chances of running short of food were always there and herein lies another reason for celebrating Halloween by dressing up. It can be traced back to the Celtic tradition of covering themselves in masks and costumes so that the wandering ghosts would not recognize them if the Celts happened to be out of their homes in search of food.

The Celts carved faces on potatoes in Ireland but when they migrated to America, they found pumpkins to be more plentiful and hence, the system of carved pumpkins took shape. In America, Halloween is the second biggest commercial holiday and people have made a religion of dressing up in scary costumes and decorating their homes to make it look haunted. All the real 'eeriness' of the festival has actually got removed to be replaced by a sense of community spirit and the scariness is done out of fun and not actual fear.