The Origin of Halloween

Halloween or Holloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31 in most countries. Irish immigrants carried versions of the Halloween tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other coutries followed suit in the twentieth century. It is generally thought that the holiday originated from a Irish holiday known as Samhain, which was celebrated in Ireland and Scotland during harvest time for many many years. The time of year when harvesting was completed and animals were brought from summer pastures to shelter for the winter months was known as Samhain. Fruits, vegetables, grain, and animals, were burnt as gifts to the Gods in big bonfires during Samhain. This was done in the hope of a successful new year. The general belief was that on the Samhain night, dead people could appear on earth and the alive people were able to question the dead about the upcoming year. Some of these spirits were thought as evil and hence people started wearing scary costumes with animal heads to frighten the spirits. They protected themselves in this way.

Samhain is also known as Celtic New Year. November 1st is known as All Saints Day or by the other name - All Hallow's Day. Hallow refers to sainted ones. All Saint's Day is there to celebrate the saints and martyrs of Christian faith. This day was celebrated to diminish the importance of the Celtic rituals and the influence of the druids. Hence the day - 31st october - became known as All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween. The carved pumpkin lit by a candle inside, is one of the most prominent symbols in America for Halloween. It is commonly called a jack-o-lantern.

Common Halloween activities include watching horror movies, visiting haunted houses, trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, wearing costumes, lighting bonfires, costume parties, reading scary stories and similar activities.

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