What is halloween? how dia it come about?

Answer 1

Halloween was popularized by Americans, however the holiday did not begin here. It began as "Samhain", a Celtic festival that began about 2000 or so years ago and was celebrated in the UK, Ireland, and northern France. November 1st marked the new year for the Celts, so October 31st was the day they believed ghosts and such would come on earth. And yes, there were even costumes. Once Christianity began to influence the Celts, Pope Boniface IV declared November 1 "All Saints Day"...and many believe it was done in order to cover up the pagan holiday which fell the day before. That's actually not unusual, the same is true for Christmas (since historically Jesus would not have been born until around April) as well as Easter. Many of the Christian holidays are dated to "cover up" a pagan holiday. Anyway, the night of Samhain began to be called "All Hallows Eve", which eventually became "Halloween."

Answer 2

"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."(historychannel.com)

Answer 3

halloween is thought up of from the americans in the early days.but it origanally was thought of as a samhain festival that was celebrated from the celtics.the celtics back in the old days would worship the Gods and Goddesses through magickal practices.as of today the festival is still widely celebrated from us wiccans and pagans.me myself is a wiccan,well dark wiccan and i am being prepared of this worldly festival.this is the time to celebrate the fall harvest back on the celts again.when they lived they would harvest their crops.hope this helped ya.
Blessed be
Lord Ashka dark witch
)O(

Answer 4

I forget where exactly in the world it started... But the point of wearing scary masks and costumes is not to worship the devil (like oh-so-many ignorant people believe). The point is to scare away evil spirits.

Answer 5

It's a holiday where kids extort candy from strangers in lieu of tricks that can include toilet paper put in their trees & soap or wax applied to the windows of the persons house.

Answer 6

It started as Samhain, a festival

Answer 7

it lands on my birthday!!!