What is the origin of Halloween, why do we celebrate it today, and why is it associated with spooky stuff?

Question

Just interested. I was told it had something to do with pagan ceremonies but i was hoping for more details like what kind of pagan ceremonies, just exactly how long ago where these pagan ceremonies held, and when was the first ever Halloween. It would be a great help if you answered those questions :)

P.S Why is it called all Hallows Eve?

Answer 1

THE REAL HALLOWEEN

TREAT … OR TRICK?

'The Druid priests believed that the dead returned to their original homes that night and if food and shelter wasn’t forthcoming the evil spirits would respond by casting wicked spells on those who refused them.

The Celts offered sacrifices to these "dead spirits" and it was believed that if they were happy with what they were given they would leave you alone. Otherwise you were in trouble and horrible consequences would ensue. The Druids would go from house to house demanding gifts and cursing anyone who denied them. This is the origin of the modern-day "trick or treat".'

Answer 2

Many holidays is that they fall on or near the 4 solstices/equinoxes or at the midpoint in between. So, Halloween, variously called Samhain, and other names based on the pagan region that celebrated, falls at the midpoint between the Autumnal Equinox (around Sept 20th, give or take) and the Winter Solstice (Dec 21st, give or take). Of course, equinoxes have the day/night of equal length (12 hours each). Recall that when people did not have electricity or other modern comforts, and relied in a more direct fashion on what they grew for themselves, it was important to pay attention to these solar cycles.

So, after the Autumnal Equinox, the days become shorter and the night becomes longer, until reaching the Winter Solstice, when the night is longest and the day is the shortest. However, the Winter Solstice is usually considered a more positive time, because the days begin to get longer from that time. [The origin of Christmas is a different topic] So, All Hallow'sEve, is considered the darkest time... the days are getting shorter and shorter, and will continue to get shorter until the Winter Solstice, still a month and a half away. It was this growing darkness which associated that time of the year with the "spooky" feeling that Halloween is characterized by.

It was thought that during this time, the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead was thinnest. It might be noted that not every pre-christian religion celebrated Halloween, nor was it always considered a negative time. Some felt it was an ideal time to communicate with dead relatives and revered ancestors. [Ancestor worship was common, and still is in parts of the world.] The tradition of wearing scary masks and costumes was developed, supposedly, to scare away the dead from the world of the living, and make them want to go back to the land of the dead. After all, who wants a bunch of dead spirits hanging around in the world?

Since most of these traditions developed long ago, often in cultures that did not have much literacy, it is probable that one cannot fully answer in a definitive sense what Halloween is, especially since there is so much regional variety to how it is celebrated. However, as Christianity spread across Europe, it was common for the Church to embrace popular holiday festivals and recast them in different light, rather than just fight against and suppress them. However, Halloween, along with maybe the Feb 2 divination tradition, is one of the most pure pagan traditions still going.

Hope this helps. Cheerz!

Answer 3

One tradition that comes to us from old times and the druids is "trick or treat". The druid priests would go to houses where there were nubile young virgins and ask the father in the house for a "treat". The treat was for the young girl to give all the druids her favours. If the father said 'yes' the girl eould be taken and returned almost dead - a 'jack o lanterns' would be placed on the doorsteep of the house facing out. If the father said 'no' the lantern would be left face inward. In meant a curse out meant no curse.
The lantern? A pumkin cut out in the traditional way filled with the fat of human sacrifice and a wick.
Cursed bad things happened no curse life went on as usual.
Not so inocient.

Answer 4

Halloween is a tradition celebrated on the night of October 31, most notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting sweets. It is celebrated in parts of the Western world, though most commonly in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Puerto Rico, and with increasing popularity in Australia and New Zealand. Halloween originated among the Celts in Ireland, Britain and France as the Pagan Celtic harvest festival, Samhain. Irish, Scots, Calan Gaeaf in Welsh and other immigrants brought versions of the traditions to North America in the 19th century. Most other Western countries have embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late 20th century.
The imagery surrounding Hallowe'en is largely an amalgamation of the Hallowe'en season itself, nearly a century of work from American filmmakers and graphic artists, and a rather commercialized take on the dark,diaria and mysterious.

Answer 5

The tradition of wearing costumes was to protect oneself from the spirits of the dead who came back on halloween night, because it was on this night that they could take over a living persons body. Thus they disguised themselves as ghouls and goblins so as not to become taken over.

Answer 6

Halloween,= the eve of the Saints. It's like letting all hell loose before the Saints come marching in. And you bet we enjoy that !