The History

of Hallowe’en

In the time of the Celts, summer ended on October 31st.

They called this festival Samhain.

Samhain was the Celtic new

year.

31st

The Celts believed that the spirits of the people who died would come back to Earth and look for a body to live in for the next year.

So to make their houses less appealing to the spirits, the Celts would extinguish fires

and dress up in scary clothes to

frighten the spirits away.

They would make a fire from the bones of cattle to celebrate the

year of food and harvest.What word

do we use now that

comes from the words “bone” and

“fire?”

They would also parade around the

village, making lots of noise and breaking

things.

Are any of these Celtic traditions similar to how

Hallowe’en is celebrated by some people nowadays?

In what ways is it different?

Where does the Jack-O-Lantern (Hallowe’en

pumpkin) come from?

Listen to this old Irish tale