Halloween or also known as Hallowe’en is one of the most popular holiday in many parts of the world and celebrated on October 31st that the first of the year-end holidays before we celebrating Thanksgiving and December. These days Halloween and just like other popular holidays has become very commercialized and there are many people still do not know yet about the facts about Halloween and how it originated.
Many of the traditions practiced today on Halloween was brought to America by Irish immigrants who celebrate Samhain, a Celtic harvest festival. Everything we do on Halloween is rooted in some ways to the ancient Celtic rituals no matter how removed the celebration of this day possible from the original.
What’s in a name?
Facts about the Halloween show that it is not always called Halloween. Even some people say the right spelling should be Halloween. The first form of Halloween is the Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the time when those who disbelieve are stocked in the winter and slaughter cattle supply.
The name Halloween comes from a shortened version of the All-holy-even, one day that many European countries similar to celebrate the festival of Samhain. This is why Halloween is also known as All Hallows Eve. But Samhain was a festival of Halloween is clearly the origin to the center part of the festival to be done with the belief that today is the lines between the living and the dead blurred.
Dressing up
Facts about Halloween costumes come from the belief that Samhain is the day of the living and the dead across the street. The spirits of the dead is considered to cause illness and injury among people and damaged crops. Dress up costumes to imitate the spirits of the dead is considered to deceive the human spirit that was truly dead. This has now evolved into a wonderful practice filled with people do not care much about how scary or they look dead.
Pumpkin and trick or treating
Pumpkin is another practice that originated, according to the facts about Halloween, forming Celtic tradition. In Ireland the family carved lanterns from turnips and rutabagas to expel evil spirits. When Irish family who moved to America they used pumpkins are widely available and easier to carve. Facts about Halloween describe the practice in Ireland to go from house to house asking for food donations for the party in the city center. This is how the tradition of trick or treating begins.