The History of Halloween

The History of Halloween

A Fun and Scary Holiday Halloween is celebrated in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, where it first began. On October 31, trick-or-treaters take to the streets. Creepy music comes from Halloween parties, and people dress up in costumes. Monsters, ghosts, superheroes, and princesses of all ages celebrate together.

Today, Halloween is especially popular in the United States, where it's important in both culture and business. Halloween turns up in Holly wood movies and popular songs. The holiday means big business for American stores, too. People spend a lot of money on Halloween candy and costumes every year. Halloween is part of a very old tradition. It began with the Celtic(KEL-tik) peoples who lived in Great Britain, Ireland, and northern France two thousand years ago.

The Celts: Samhain The Celts celebrated a festival called Samhain (SOW-in) each fall. In the Celtic calendar, October 31 was the final day of the year. The Samhain celebration on October 31 was a way to say goodbye to the old year. Samhain also had a supernatural side. The Celts believed that spirits of the dead traveled to the underworld at Samhain. To help the dead on their journey, people lit bonfires and sacrificed crops and animals. The Celts also believed that priests could see the future during this festival. The predictions made at Samhain were an important part of planning for the new year.

The Beginnings of Halloween Later, as Christianity spread throughout Europe, the Catholic Church tried to replace Samhain with its own traditions. For example, the Church declared an All Saints' Day on November 1. This celebration was also known as All Hallows Day. October 31, the day before All Hallows, was called All Hallows Eve. The name was later shortened to Halloween. Many of the older Celtic traditions lived on in this new holiday. Today's Halloween traditions come from the Celts, the Catholic Church, and old European customs.

Costumes and Trick-or-Treating Halloween costumes probably began with the Celts, who dressed up as animals during Samhain. In England, people walked the streets dressed like fairies, witches, and ghosts. Dressing up this way was called mumming, and people gave the mummers food and drink. People thought that these gifts would make the spirits leave without causing trouble. Today, this tradition is called trick-or-treating. Adults give a treat so that each child in a costume will leave without playing any tricks.