Halloween is celebrated on the night of 31 October, and its origins can be traced back to the Celtic holiday of Samhain when spirits were believed to walk the Earth. Over time, the holiday merged with the Catholic Church’s celebration of All Saints’ Day, and became a night of fear and costumes honouring the dead. Today, Halloween is celebrated especially in Anglo-Saxon countries such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, although its popularity has spread to many parts of the world.
Halloween, also known as Halloween, is celebrated on 31 October every year in many countries, especially in the United States and Canada. The holiday has ancient origins and has been transformed over the centuries.
Origin and history:
The origin of Halloween can be traced back to Celtic culture, who celebrated the festival of Samhain on the night of 31 October. This holiday marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter, and it was believed that on this night the spirits of the dead returned to visit the living. Bonfires were lit and masks were worn to ward off the spirits.
The Catholic Church adopted the Samhain holiday and made it All Saints’ Day on 1 November. The night before, 31 October, became All Hallows’ Eve, later shortened to Halloween.
With the arrival of European immigrants to North America, Halloween blended with local traditions and became a popular celebration. In the United States, children dress up in costumes and go from house to house trick-or-treating.
Today, Halloween is celebrated in many countries around the world with a variety of traditions and customs, including decorating pumpkins, having costume parties, visiting haunted houses and watching horror movies.
In short, Halloween is a holiday that has its roots in Celtic culture and has evolved over the centuries. The holiday is celebrated in many countries around the world with a variety of traditions and customs, and has become one of the most popular holidays of the year.
What does Halloween mean?
The word Halloween can be found for the first time in 1745, and it means All Hallows’ Eve. Halloween is a contraction of the English words “All Hallows Eve” and was a reference taken many centuries ago as a result of syncretism between pagan and Christian religions, having a strong influence from the ancient Celts, a religious and warrior people who inhabited much of Western Europe.
The Celts believed in the strong connection between the world of the living and the dead, so they performed various religious rituals where they painted their faces and bodies, danced around a bonfire singing songs and drank alcoholic beverages such as wine.
World of the living and the spirit world
With the arrival of Samhain the line between the two worlds dissolved and the connection between the spirits and the living became closer and more tangible. But the Celts believed that both good and evil spirits could pass through this mystical portal, so they performed dances and rites to protect themselves from curses and dark spells, and also used masks and amulets to ward off evil spirits.
But in general the feast was one of joy, merriment, humour and fun. There were feasts in every village, as well as dances, songs and many jokes. Sacred rites performed included placing candles in windows and in the streets to help the spirits find their way home.
A matter of hemispheres and seasons
In the northern hemisphere, the end of summer falls in October and the beginning of the autumn season begins, harvesting the fruits and crops that have been sown in the previous months and preparing for the arrival of winter.
In the countries of this part of the world, the fruits that are harvested are those that we know as nuts, there are also courgettes and pumpkins, can you see where the pumpkin is one of the most popular symbols of Halloween?