Today's Halloween Traditions

The Ancient Origins of Halloween

On October 31st, Halloween is celebrated all around the world. The word Halloweencomes from All Hallow Even, the eve (night before) All Hallows day. Therefore, Halloween is the eve of All Saints Day. Halloween night is thought to be the one night of the year when ghosts, witches, and fairies are especially active. Many people believe that All Hallows' Eve was originally influenced by a Celtic Festival (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 worlds of the living and the dead became very close. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

Today's Halloween Traditions

Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating , attending costume parties carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires apple bobbing visiting haunted attractions telling scary stories etc. The pumpkin is the symbol of Halloween. In fact the famous Jack-o'-lantern is typically a carved pumpkin

Trick-or-treating , is a game that children do on Halloween in many countries. Children in costumes go from house to house and ask for treats such as candy with the question "Trick or treat?".

The tradition of going from door to door receiving food already existed in Great Britain and Ireland in the form of "souling", where children and poor people would sing and say prayers for the dead in return for cakes. The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. On Halloween, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

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