halloween 11.2009

The History of Halloween

Another name for the holiday we call Halloween is Samhain.  Going back

2000 years, the Celts, who inhabited  the areas of the United Kingdom, Ireland

and northern France celebrated November 1st at the first day of the new

year.  On the evening before the new year,

October 31st, the Celts believe that the veil

between the  worlds of the it’s living and the dead .

 They called that day Samhain, and felt that on that night the souls of the dead could return to earth.  As well as those spirits causing mischief for the living, the Celts also believed that the thinness of the veil made it easier for their priests, the Druids, to make

predictions for the future  .

These predictions were a great source of comfort to the Celts during the long, hard winter.  In celebration of Samhain, the Celts built large bonfires to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to their gods.  In honor of the occasion, the Celts wore costumes, mostly consisting of animal skins and heads, and tried to tell each other’s fortunes.  When the celebration was over, they would re-ignite their previously doused hearth fires with torches lit from the sacred bonfire, to help protect them through the coming winter and the beginning of their new

year.

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