Halloween

Why do people celebrate Halloween?

Halloween is a combination of holidays. As a night of ghosts and witches it was started by the Celts. They were people who lived "France" and the "British Isalnds" hundreds of years ago.

The Celts had a holiday called "Samhain" (pronounced - SAH-Win), which means "End of the Summer". They believed that the spirits of the Fruit and Vegtables, and the ghosts of people, visited the earth n Samhain, which was October 31. The Celts would light large bonfires on hill tops to scare the ghosts away.

Many years later when the Celts beame Christians, they celebrated "Allhallows Day" (now called - All Saints Day) which is November 1. It was celebrated to remember important Chirstians who had died. The Celts called the night before (October 31), "Allhallows E'en", or Holy Evening. Later in time it was shortened to "Halloween". Of course many of the customs of Samhain were continued on Halloween.

How did Trick-or-Treating start?

Trick or Treating started in Ireland. People went from house to house and begged for food on Halloween. They promised good luck to those who gave and bad luck to those who did not.

Who was Jack-o'-Latern?

To the Celts, Jack-o'-Latern was the spirit of the Pumpkin. The Celts would carve a pleasant-looking pumpkin face to show Jack was a good spirit, not a nasty one.

The Irsih claim that Jack-o'-Latern was a person who couldn't get into heaven because he was too stingy. But the devil didn't want him, either. So ever since, he's had to wander about carrying a lantern. The Irish had no pumpkins, so they made Jack-o'-Lanterns from the turnips and patatoes.

Why do people wear spooky costumes on Halloween?

The custom of wearing spooky costumes on Halloween began with a group of Irish Celts called Druids. The Irish believed that the evil spirits roamed about the earth on Halloween. The Druids wanted to fool the evil spirits into thinking that they were spirits, too. So they dresses as ghosts and goblins.