History of Halloween

Halloween is a lovely festival to celebrate. It is observed on the 31st October of every month. The festival is widely celebrated since years, based on the history of Halloween. The History of Halloween says different things as reasons behind celebrating this amazing festival.

There is several fun and scary activities which people take part in. There are traditional activities like bonfires, costume parties, trick-or- treating and so on. There are several stories which make the rounds and tell us about the origin of Halloween. Some of which can be seen as under.

Origin of Halloween:

Halloween is a great festival which is attached to amazing stories which tells us about several beliefs and faiths which were practiced then.

The Samhain Festival:

This is a festival which is celebrated at the end of a harvest year. It is related to the Gaelic culture. During this festival, the people bid goodbye to the light part year and welcomed the dark part of the year. The Gaels believed that during this time of the year both the worlds came in contact with each other.

It was the time when the deceased would return with a vengeance over the people. They would cause diseases, death and destruction. The festival was celebrated with bonfires, weird and scary costumes to please the evil souls.

There were many important events which took place on this ominous day. It was during Samhain when Nemedians took over the Tower of Glass. There were several other mythological events which took place according to the Celtic myths.

Traditions based on the History of Halloween:

Halloween has been celebrated since many years. But the Halloween celebrations have some excellent traditions which have been followed due to their mystical importance which is carried forward from the past history. Some of the traditions include:

• Bonfires: Having a bonfire on a Halloween Day is not a new idea. It has been followed right from its inception. The bonfires were lit by the Celtic society in order to drive away evil spirits. In doing so, they would attract insects, which would further attract bats. The bats would come flying down for their prey, but this further signified the presence of deceased souls, as bats are associated with souls.
• Dressing up in disguise of a Ghost or Vampires: It is known that Halloween clothes with scary themes are common since the beginning of this festival. Such clothes were worn by the Gaels, in order to look like the evil souls and make them believe that they already existed in the world and hence, others souls were not welcomed. This was an attempt to keep the bad souls away from this world.
• Trick or Treat: This is an amazing activity which children usually love. But many do not know the real significance of this wonderful activity. Trick or treat has originated from the Celtic society too. In that era, people used to believe that souls of their ancestors, demonic souls, bad and good would come over on the night of the festival and try to cause harm to them. To avoid this, the priests wore white robes and had demon masks to trick the real souls into thinking that they are one of them and not humans. People also dressed in opposite gender clothes and disguised as ghosts to be recognized by their ancestors.

There are several more historical evidences which points out to the origin of Halloween and its practices. Even special food and drink are related to the history of Halloween. Halloween is indeed one of the most interesting festivals with immense historical values attached to its celebrations.

Try More...