Halloween is an annual holiday, celebrated each year on October 31, that has roots in age-old European traditions. But modern day trends have turned it into a fun holiday when you can go trick or treating and dress up like Disney characters!
Halloween!!
The origin oh Halloween can be traced back many many centuries to when the majority of the people in Europe believed in witchcraft. And Halloween was a day dedicated to warding off the evil spirits. Halloween today however, is less about the fear of ghosts and ghouls and more about costumes and candy.
There are many more possible origins of halloween but the modern day holiday is most likely a mix of many different ones. In the ancient Celtic culture their “halloween” was a day that marked the end of the summer and the start of the harvest season.
On October 31 they believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to the earth. Kind of like the day of the dead. The myths about seeing black cats and walking under ladders also originated from ancient European superstitions.
Trick or treating most likely comes from “going a-souling” for soul cakes in ancient Europe. On this day the poor would go door to door and beg people for food and they would give them soul cakes in return for their promise to pay for their dead relatives. This eventually became popular among children and they too would go door to door asking for food, money, or even ale.
Due to concerned parents and the support of some newspapers, a lot of the more scary decorations and haunted houses are less accessible and there are less of them. Halloween has lost much of it’s religious meaning in America due to assimilation and pop culture. But it will always be one of my favorite holidays!
