whats the history of halloween?

Answer 1

try this
http://www.new-life.net/halowen1.htm

Answer 2

Halloween came from the old Celtic pagan harvest festival that took place around this time. The Celtics believed that if you had a dead relative or friend, that this was the time to speak with them. The roman catholic priests were looking for a way to end paganism in the Celtic culture. What better way than to take a holiday that the Celts created and turn it into something that the "church" created.? Hence we have Halloween. That is why the morbid fascination with the dead and Halloween is still there. (from the old tradition) There is a lot more details mixed in, but this is it in a nutshell.

Answer 3

I can't actually say. I believe it officially started in America in the 1950's. Before then it hadn't worked out the bugs (religious stuff, etc.).
After 1950 - America took to Halloween big time. Important to note: Keeping the ADULTS OUT IS KEY. ADULTS WILL RUIN ANYTHING.
It's a time for CHILDREN. There are regional differences, due to climate, etc. but now most people follow the same set of guidelines. It's a time for crafts and decorations made as a FAMILY. It's a time to test the young ones.
No child even thinks of anything but the candy, and scaring each other. A good scare can provide stories for years. Children learn to understand themselves during this night. Some eat to much, others learn about what scares them. (My son with his fire mans ax - could face down any monster - wonder memory, now he's retired due to age.)
For the older set - well I don't know. I make sure they don't ruin the night for the young ones - "telling the truth" is out. Being to rough, etc.
I checked the web years ago, to insure my wife and I were on the same page. (She's more religious than I am, so once we understood each other - no problem.)
Being under 12 is tough enough, let the under 12 have their fun. Like I said KEEP THE ADULTS AWAY! Have the adult keep the envy under control.
The kids grow up too fast as it is. Really.
Get the ghosts and skeletons out, dry ice in the kool-aid is still a major treat. Zombie rule, adults drool!!
Keep the night alive for the kids!
As the adult - protect your community from religious haunted houses - terrible places. Ruin the whole holiday! The point is to have FUN, not learn anything from adults. Check the candy, being 2006, life is scary enough for the adults.
I could rant more - it's a wonderful American holiday - slowly covering the world! Most people see the harmlessness of it, a few sad ADULTS try to ruin it, due to misunderstanding. Oh, it's not related to the "Day of the Dead" from Mexico. Totally different customs.
When searching the web be careful of over zealous religious sites or extreme sites. Middle road, Charlie Brown, stuff is more common than the extremest stuff.

Answer 4

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

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 boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

Answer 5

Halloween was originally Samhain (The Day of the Dead in Central America), the day where the veil between the mundane and spirit worlds was the thinnest. It was on this day that people felt they could contact their dead loved ones.

It is a very old pagan holiday, so when Christianity conquered most of Europe and the Americas, they changed it into a "spooky" holiday--what we now know as Halloween. Furthermore the Catholic church saught to nullify this holiday even further by creating All Saint's Day on November 1st.

Answer 6

Elements of the customs connected with Halloween can be taced to a Druid ceremony in Pre-Christian times. The Celts had festivals for two major gods, a sun god and a god of the dead called Samhain. whose festival was held on Nov 1 the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The festival of the dead was gradually incorporated into Christian ritual.
the book worship of the dead, points to this orgin The mythologies of all ancient nations are interwoven with the events of the deluge. The force of this argument is illustrated by the fact of the obeservance of a great festival of the dead in commemoraton of the event not only by nations more or less in communication with each other, but by others widely separated, both by the ocean and by centuries of time. the festival ishelp on or near the date the event took place. Actually began with an honoring of people whom god had destroyed because of theri badness in Noah's day.

Answer 7

pagan holiday... like most are actually.


halloween to some is samhain. generally it's a day of celebration, honoring our dead loved ones. in short this day the table is set, where the loved one would eat.. other places.. that day is considered that the loved one(s) will return to join the family for a day of honoring, celebration.

there are many other ways and faiths that celebrate halloween.

the treats and tricks part i gather is a later pheonomen brought on by mainstream. of course to some faiths it's a day of evil. i can't understand why honoring our dead (on this date) is different than any other day or holiday that celebrates our deceased, fallen loved ones and so on..

my history is faulty, i've not done much study on holidays in many years now but there's some basis here that is relatively accurate from my research.

i'm sure there'll be more representable answers.

Answer 8

Somewhere along the line I've read that in addition to the Celtic, Druid, Pagan, Roman and Christian histories associated with it, that masks were used as devices so that when dead loved ones returned on Hallowed Eve (the eve before All Saint's Day) they would not recognize a person and take them along on their return trip to death.

Answer 9

In the pagan rites of Europe Halloween was the day that all evil spirits were released for one day. People were supposed to leave food on there porches to satisfy these spirits so they would curse them.

Answer 10

Supposedly there where witches and they used a squash or other vegetable to put a candle and scare away bad demons or spirits not a pumpkin for fun and they used candy for treats to keep the bad away. I personally find Halloween so fun I dress like a black fairy i got theses cool glittery wings at torrid and costume at torrid too and I paint my face with glitter its so fun.

Answer 11

Here is a site......

http://www.foodnetwork.com

Underneth where they have foodnetwork.com they have little links,go down to where it says partie ideas then click on it.Next go to the side of the page and when you get to Something that says Party Ideas beneth that click holidays.Then to a little to the left of the page,then go down to where it says the month of October,after that click on the link below October,the link that says halloween.After that go down untill it has these links to show on a clip.After that go over untill it says Play:Halloween History.Then you have to have your sound turned on.Next scroll up just a little bit and it will show you the history of halloween I wathced it before!!!I hope that helps you!!!!!!!!!!