Halloween's Origins’?

Answer 1

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.

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.

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.

Answer 2

Halloween is a holiday of Pagan origin.

Falling on October 31, the church hijacked the Pagan holiday and and medieval Christian Europeans instead hung All Saints' Day (November 1) on it. So the evening before All Saint's Day is Hallow's Eve (the eve before All Hallows' Day), which changed to Halloween over time.

The Church decided All Saints' Day should fall on November 1 to make it coincide with its precursor, a Celtic festival of the harvest. By "overwriting" the Pagan origins of Halloween, the new religion intended to steal some thunder from the lingering Celtic influence in Europe in those times.

But if this was the Church's intention, the strategy backfired to some degree. Drawing on Celtic traditions, people showed much more interest in honoring dead ancestors than in honoring dead Christian saints. To curb this un-Christian tendency, the Church instituted another holiday to promote Christianity -- All Souls' Day, November 2. On All Souls' Day the people were encouraged to pray for the souls in purgatory.

All Saints' Day was instituted as a holiday in the year A.D. 609 (initially celebrated in May, it was moved to the November 1 date in A.D. 834). Prior to that, a study of the Pagan origins of Halloween reveals that the Celts had celebrated "Samhain" at this time of year.

In the modern celebration of Halloween in the U.S., most people essentially enjoy the aspects of the holiday that derive from Pagan origins of Halloween. Some die-hards of Christianity, however, still vehemently oppose the holiday, harking back to the controversies of medieval times. Nonetheless, the holiday celebrated by the great majority of people today is one of our most fun holidays. It has nothing to do with nationhood and has lost its religious signifance for most people. We celebrate it simply because it is enjoyable to do so. Modern Halloween history has become remarkably tame, belying its controversial history.

Answer 3

The term Halloween (and its alternative rendering Hallowe'en) is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day", also which is now known as All Saints' Day. It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints' Day from May 13 to November 1. In the ninth century, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar. Although All Saints' Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were, at that time, celebrated on the same day. Liturgically, the Church traditionally celebrated that day as the Vigil of All Saints, and, until 1970, a day of fasting as well. Like other vigils, it was celebrated on the previous day if it fell on a Sunday, although secular celebrations of the holiday remained on the 31st. The Vigil was suppressed in 1955, but was later restored in the post-Vatican II calendar.

Answer 4

Wikipedia?

Answer 5

Key ..."History of Halloween"( Search) it's origin is fascinating and truly needs to be researched to be completely understood.

Answer 6

go to Halloween. com they have a real detailed explanation of the whole thing, but it is Celtic in origin basically.

Answer 7

It's the time of the year where people "back in the day" believed that the barriers between the spirit word were the weakest and things could pass through. So when they did get visits from these "spirits" they left out sweets to appease them.

Answer 8

http://www.history.com/minisites/halloween

Answer 9

The holiday is Celtic in origin.

Answer 10

every1 thinks its an american thing!
NO! it's scottish. halloween means all hallow evening, like all saints day.
not american!