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History of Halloween
Need a little History of Halloween to know why we all enjoy dressing up, going to parties, and having fun?
Most people know Halloween as All Hallows Eve, which is the day before All Saints Day but there is much more to it than that.
Back in the day, before Jesus was ever born, Halloween was a three-day festival that celebrated the end of summer, November 1st. The end of summer meant the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter which was code for time to party! The festival, Samhain, was originated by the Celts in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and France.
Samhain was not only the name of the festival but also the name of the Lord of Darkness that the Druids (Celtic priests) worshipped. November 1st was The Feast of Samhain and the night before was when the living and dead had no boundaries between them. Starting to sound familiar?
Halloween in America
How Halloween came about being celebrated in the United States is that many of the early American settlers came from England or other Celtic regions that celebrated Samhain. When they immigrated over to America, they brought their customs with them.
As time went on the customs were still followed, but were
adapted to suit their current lives. For example, the Celtics used to
carve faces into potatoes when they lived in Ireland. Once they
migrated to America, they found pumpkins to be more plentiful, so began
craving faces into pumpkins instead of potatoes.
During the early 1900's, after Halloween became a popular holiday in
America Halloween pranks started to become rowdy and destructive. To
help make Halloween a safer and less poky holiday for everybody
involved cities and towns began to bribe children with candy to help
keep them out of trouble.
Today Halloween is the second biggest holiday that is celebrated in the
United States.
Still want more History of Halloween? No worries. Check out Where Did Halloween Come From?, Halloween Trivia, Fun Halloween Facts, and Why Do We Celebrate Halloween?
