Why is Halloween celebrated?

Answer 1

Halloween is an annual celebration, but just what is it actually a celebration of? And how did this peculiar custom originate? Is it, as some claim, a kind of demon worship? Or is it just a harmless vestige of some ancient pagan ritual?

The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.

One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.

Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess.

Probably a better explanation of why the Celts extinguished their fires was not to discourage spirit possession, but so that all the Celtic tribes could relight their fires from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning in the Middle of Ireland, at Usinach.

Some accounts tell of how the Celts would burn someone at the stake who was thought to have already been possessed, as sort of a lesson to the spirits. Other accounts of Celtic history debunk these stories as myth.

The Romans adopted the Celtic practices as their own. But in the first century AD, Samhain was assimilated into celebrations of some of the other Roman traditions that took place in October, such as their day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which might explain the origin of our modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween.

The thrust of the practices also changed over time to become more ritualized. As belief in spirit possession waned, the practice of dressing up like hobgoblins, ghosts, and witches took on a more ceremonial role.

The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. At that time, the favorite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates.

The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore. As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.

According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.

So, although some cults may have adopted Halloween as their favorite "holiday," the day itself did not grow out of evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new year, and out of Medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. And today, even many churches have Halloween parties or pumpkin carving events for the kids. After all, the day itself is only as evil as one cares to make it.

Answer 2

Why Is Halloween Celebrated

Answer 3

Because it is a tradition, and just like a lot of traditions the original meaning has been lost to most of those that practice it. Originally this day was a day to honor the dead. It was a time when the souls of the recently deceased would cross the veil and pass over to the next. Most people would stay inside and light jack o' lanterns at their doorways to prevent evil spirits from entering and honoring those that have past.

It is widely believed the act of trick or treating is more recent, if you want to call the middle ages recent. This started as beggars would travel door to door in Great Brittan offering prayers on All Saints Day in return for food. It wasn't until the 1930's that it became popular in the USA in the form we now know it.

Answer 4

Halloween originated as a Pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain, with Irish, Scots and other immigrants transporting versions of the tradition 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 term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallows-eve, as it is the evening before "All Hallows' Day"[1] (also known as "All Saints' Day"). In Ireland, the name was All Hallows' Eve (often shortened to Hallow Eve), and though seldom used today, it is still a well-accepted label.

Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when the spiritual world can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent

Answer 5

Halloween is the Celtic New Year or Samhain (happy new year to any pagans!). The UK Celts before the Roman invasion believed that this time was the time when the divison between the spirit world and the reality that we inhabit was at its least resistant so they could easily commune with their ancestors and their Gods.

When Chrisitanity arrived they decided to plop all saints day around the same time so people could still have their traditions but in the name of Christianity instead. Throughout the years it was abolished and reestablished several times by various kings and queens but it managed to survive until the present.

Answer 6

Hallowe'en comes from an ancient Pagan/Celtic feast known as Samhain, when the spirits of the dead are celebrated. I think Hallowe'en is about pacifying spirits and keeping ghouls and ghosts away for another year. The idea of dressing up is to fool the ghosts, and put them off haunting you. It's believed that the spirits of the dead can re-enter the world of the living on Hallowe'en and going about from door to door looking for offerings, like kids do on Hallowe'en, could have come from an old custom of leaving bits of food out for the spirits to take, so they wouldn't terrorise you and they'd leave you alone, and also to pacify them and make them happy. Anyway, it's a very old feast, and the Catholic Church celebrates All Souls' Day on November 1st, I think as a reaction against the pagan celebration of the dead on October 31st.

Answer 7

Seriously, because people are ignorant, don't want to know the true facts and do not want to know reality. It is evil, it is the occult and should be avoided. Much related to Satinism.

But if you don't want to do serious research and listen to those who know better............yeh, silly, it's fun and for the sweets. How sad.

One has to start somewhere. Do research.
No judgement intended here. Just catch a wake up call. Save your soul, Chriten or no Christen. You either partake in evil or you don't. You are either pregnant or not.

Answer 8

Because, it's for children, you get to scare people, then you get candy, WHATS COOLER THAN THAT ? I'm glad to see that Halloween made a strong come back in the U.S., it almost fizzled out there a few years ago, my house is very spooky, fog machine, strobe lights, jack o lanterns, spook tape, candy, RING MY BELL< IF YOU DARE !

Answer 9

It is a celtic festival to mark the eve of All Hallows, or All Saints day. The 1st of November is celebrated across Europe as the day of the dead, when people tend graves. The celts believed that on the eve of all saints, the spirits of the dead rose.

Answer 10

It's the celebration of the dead. The one day the veil between the spirit world world and ours is the thinnest and all can rejoice with dead hero's and family. That's why so many people dress as dead people on All Hallows Eve.

Answer 11

same reason valentine's is celebrated
IT MAKES MONEY 4 SOMEONE
think about the costumes/ sweets/ decorations/ etc..
that are sold every year. the whole thing must be worth millions.