Why do people celebrate Halloween?

Answer 1

"Trick or Treat!" shout little witches, paper-bagged goblins, rubber-masked imps and bed-sheeted ghosts as they extend a bag across for candy. It is October and it's Halloween time!

Halloween is celebrated on the evening of October 31st, which is the evening before the Christian feast of All Saint's Day. Halloween's history goes back to the ancient religion of the Celtic tribes (circa 500 B.C.) from whom came the Britons, Scots and the Irish. Present day Britains, Scots, Welsh and Irish are all descendants from these ancient Celtic tribes.

The Celts worshipped nature and believed in the spirit world. They worshipped over 300 gods. Their chief god was the sun and they celebrated two festivals revolving around the sun: Beltane, to mark the beginning of summer and Samhain or Saman to mark the start of winter.

The Celts believed that at the end of summer, Samhain, the lord of death becomes powerful and overpowers the sun god. On October 31, Samhain assembles all the evil spirits who had died the previous year and allows them to return home to visit the living.

On October 31, after the harvest, the druids would meet under an oak grove or near large stone circles where they performed sacrifices. Stonehenge in England is one such druid circle. The priests would light great fires and offer sacrifices to Samhain to ensure that the sun returned after the winter.

During the night all fires except the sacrificial one to Samhain were extinguished. The Vigil of Samhain, as it was called, would keep the sacrificial fire on through the night and the next day embers from this fire would be used to light the fire in each household.

Villagers would try to appease goblins and demons with offerings of food and nuts. They would leave little treats that the household had to offer, to satisfy the hunger of these demons. If the demon was satisfied with the treat, it was believed it would not trick the person or cast an evil spell. Therein lies the origin of the present day trick or treat.

Legend has it that people would also wear masks or other disguises and blacken their faces to try and pass unnoticed by the spirits. This stemmed from the belief that ghosts or spirits cannot see their own reflection. Hence, if a goblin or demon saw another creature looking suitably horrible, they would run away in terror.

After the Romans conquered Britian in 61 A.D., they brought with them their own harvest festival held on November 1, to honor Pomona, goddess of the fruits of trees. Over the years, the two festivals got mixed up and became one long holiday.

In 834 A.D., Pope Gregory III shifted the festival of All Saints Day, then celebrated on May 13 to November 1. The new day was called All Saints Day or Hallowmas. Thus, the evening and night before it became All Hallow's eve and later Halloween.

The Celtic concept of ghosts and witches became blended with Roman and later Christian customs. In Ireland and Britain, Halloween was also celebrated as Mischief Night when villagers were allowed to play pranks on each other.

Traces of the Roman Pomona festival such as ducking for apples in a tub of water still survive. Another is the use of hollowed-out pumpkins lit by candles in the belief that it would ward off evil spirits.

Today, Halloween is a festival of fun for kids. An occasion to dress up as little monsters, ghosts or witches. Over time the custom of adults dressing up as demons changed and the children took over. As they went from house to house they would knock at each house and cry "trick or treat". People would then give the children apples or buns and later candy to keep from being tricked.

However, since the 1960s, various crimes have been committed during Halloween. There have been cases of candy laced with drugs.

Other incidents such as older children attacking younger children to steal their candy, or children finding razor blades or pieces of glass in their treats have also been reported. Increasingly parents and local police and administrative officials issue safety tips for children when they go trick or treating. This is also good to teach your children so they will know the meaning behind Halloween as well.

Answer 2

Why Do People Celebrate Halloween

Answer 3

Halloween is full of costumes and candy, trick-or-treating and terrifying haunted houses, pumpkins and black cats. But just where did Halloween come from? Why are we celebrating?

The history of Halloween goes back 2000 years. Many believe that Halloween’s origins are found in the Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who were located in Ireland, the UK and the northern parts of France, celebrated their New Year on the first of November. Samhain was celebrated the night before the New Year.

The New Year, Celts believed, marked summer’s end, harvest time, and the start of dark, cold winter months. Those winter months were associated with death by these people. On October 31, the night before the New Year, the Celts celebrated Samhain. This day, they believed, was when the ghosts of the deceased returned to earth because the boundaries between the living world and the dead world blurred.

When we think of “Trick-Or-Treating”, the origins can probably be found in the English All Souls’ Day parades. During these celebrations, the poor would come out and beg for food from the more wealthy families. When the families gave them pastries called “soul cakes”, they asked for the poor to pray for their relatives that had passed away.

Another possibility that may have grown into “Trick-Or-Treating” is the tradition of people leaving bowls of food in front of their homes. They did this to keep the ghosts that were wandering the earth from entering.

Dressing in costumes has a couple possible origins. European and Celtic people both felt winter was a frightening time. It was cold, it was darker, and the possibility of running out of food was great. When they reached the time when they thought the dead returned, they thought they might encounter these ghosts whenever they left their houses. The wearing of masks and costumes grew from these people donning masks so the ghosts would not recognize them!

This holiday was brought to the US by Scotch and Irish immigrants in the 1800s. At that time, much of the “spookiness” of the holiday was removed and a sense of community and fun were added. Although scary themes are still the focus of many Halloween celebrations, that scariness is done for fun, not because of actual fear.

Answer 4

The majority of Americans are about to celebrate a holiday called Halloween. Halloween is an annual celebration, but just what is it actually a celebration of? And how did this particular custom origionate? Is it, as some claim, a kind of demon worship? Or is it just a harmless vestige of some ancient pagan culture?

Our modern celebration of Halloween is a descendent of the anciet Celtic fire festival called Samhain and it was celebrated during their new year, which started November 1st. The days were getting shorter and darker, the time of year when things died off. There was much "foretelling" of people's future. They believed that this was the time when the "veil between worlds" was at its thinnest, and the dead could communicate with the living. It was general belief that the spirits could pass back and forth into the physical world. The Druids (the religeous priests) told the people in order to hide or appease the spirits they were to mask themselves and/or set out food for them.

The celebration of Halloween was brought over to America when several hundred thousand Irish Catholics came over during the seven year potato famine. These immigrants brought their various customs and celebrations with them. That started the Americanized celebration of Halloween, as we know it today.

Although it is masked, there are still cults that celebrate Halloween in an unlawful manner. Witchcraft and satanic worship is definitely in existence although hidden. Some people have used the argument that against Christians (that don't celebrate Halloween) that they celebrate Christmas and Easter, which both have pagan backgrounds, and yet Christians complain about Halloween begin evil. Christians celebrate Christmas and Easter because of significant Biblical and historical events, but Halloween has no Biblical acceptance only condemnation.

If you are interested I'll ellaborate some more:
This holiday is not something a Christian should be involved in. If fact, the Bible tells specifically what God thinks. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says, "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee." There arer many other verses that reflect God's view on divination, satanic worship, and human sacrifice. Thse things may not occur in your celebration but that does not matter. Jesus called us to be salt and light to the world but we are not to be of the world. Does celebrating this "holiday" reflect Jesus in your life?

After much research, I wrote this paper out about two years ago. I hope that it helps even if you don't agree with the Biblical perspective. Good luck with your findings.

Answer 5

I don't know why others celebrate it, but I do just for my children. For us, it's not about witches, and goblins. It's just a night to get to dress up like someone else, (which can be fun) and visit family/friends to receive treats for such a cute, and fun costume. I've heard of some of the old tales and the wicked things Halloween used to mean, but in my family it's not about that at all. Just another day to do things together. Just my opinion, take care and have a wonderful Sunday!

Answer 6

It's ridiculous amounts of fun! Everyone gets to dress up for a night, lots of candy, carving pumpkins...I could go on and on. I love Halloween.

Answer 7

I honor all those who have passed on over to the Other side. The grotesque pumpkin carvings, are to scare away the goblins since we are "dealing" with the Dead.

I make little name tags for each candle to represent each friend or relative who has died and I also have Koliva which is what used to be served at funerals.

I light each candle and I talk about that person for a few minutes, remembering their smile, their good deeds and thanking them for letting me part of their life while they were among the Living.

Honoring the Dead and your Ancestors should be a yearly event. Once you bury someone in the cemetery, you don't forget them, do you?

The costumes are suppose to help you blend in with the pesky little creatures that are among us on this night. This way, they can't pull any pranks on you! And when they show up at our door we feed them sweet yum-yums to keep them at bay...!

Answer 8

In the Catholic church, it is a religious holiday honoring all souls. It is the day before all saints day. Seems people have combined pagan ideas with the christian holiday, then forgot the christian meaning behind it. Same like Thanksgiving, so many people now call it turkey day. Same like Christmas which now is a special holiday for business and honoring the Christian god is secondary.

Answer 9

It's fun

Answer 10

Darn if I know, but it was fun when I was a kid. It was really silly, but like the Easter bunny, Santa Claus etc, had no religious connotation, now however, everything seems to.