Whats the real meaning of Halloween?

Answer 1

Halloween is a corruption of the name All Hallows Eve, the day before All Souls Day.

The Celtic name is Samhain {pronounced sow-en}, which in Gealic means 'November'.

For a lot of Pagans it is a New Year celebration, and a time to remember and honour our ancestors. The tradition of carving turnips into lanterns was to symbolise bringing light into the darkness, and people would often call on their neighbours to share food.

In Scotland they had {and in some places still have} the tradition of 'guising'. This involved children dressing up in a costume, and going from house to house performing : singing, dancing, reciting, doing card tricks, etc. In return for their performance, they were given treats.

Most of these traditions went over to American, and were turned into trick-or-treating, and Halloween as we know it today.

Answer 2

It's the Celtic festival of Samhain, the Celtic New Year.

But more importantly, this pagan holiday serves a very important and healthy psychological function. It's the holiday that acknowledges the death aspect of the life cycle (all pagan holidays celebrate some aspect of the life cycle), and invites people to 'walk around in its shoes' so to speak. By dressing up as symbols of the things we fear, and by allowing ourselves to be frightened (as in haunted houses), we acknowledge and embrace our fears and therefore, gain a better understanding of them.

This brings our fear into light and removes its power to make us afraid. So you see, it helps us process the fear and change it into something manageable. The holiday also celebrates the hope of an afterlife, so it's not just about fear either. AND it is often about honoring those loved ones who have passed on.

Conquering our fears is a primal thrill and that's why people are drawn to it, even without this analysis.

Answer 3

*** The Facts Behind Halloween—Ancient Night of Terror *** It is the last night of October. By the light of the moon, a small group of costumed figures move from house to house stating their demands with dire threats. Guarding some doorsteps are grimacing pumpkin heads glowing with burning candles—made from human fat. Other doors drip with human blood. It is the night of Samhain, Celtic lord of the dead. Perhaps in no other holiday does Satan so obviously honor himself and honor his war dead. The writer J. Garnier suggests that celebrations of suffering and death can be traced back to the ancient destruction of all of the Devil’s human followers, as well as the giant bully sons of fallen angels, at the time of the Flood. Cultures the world over have festivals for the dead, “held worldwide on or almost the exact day on which, according to the Bible, the Flood took place: the seventeenth day of the second month—the month nearly corresponding with our November.”—The Worship of the Dead, by J. Garnier. The Druids were no exception. On October 31, Samhain was said to release the spirits of the dead to mingle with the living. Druids roamed the streets with lanterns, and on coming to a house, they demanded money as an offering for Satan. Halloween is a major satanic ritual day. “It’s a religious holiday for Satan and the Demons, with satanists performing sacrifices and witches quietly celebrating with prayer circles or meals for the dead,” according to a USA Today article. It quoted Washington witch Bryan Jordan as saying, “[Christians] don’t realize it, but they’re celebrating our holiday with us. . . . We like it.” Anton LaVey, author of The Satanic Bible and high priest of the Church of Satan states, “Satanists consider Halloween the most important day of the year. Satanic, occult and witchcraft powers are at their highest potency level…Satan and his powers are at their best that night.” Traditional Halloween activities continue Samhain's spirit of celebration in the face of frightening thoughts of death and the supernatural. These include: scary movies, haunted houses, ghost stories and Ouija boards to contact the demons and the spirit realm. Greeting cards, decorations, and candy are also a big part of Halloween. The holiday is second only to Christmas in the amount of money stores make off of it