HALLOWEEN(SOM-IN)

                            HALLOWEEN(SOM-IN)



Halloween is a holiday celebration with lots of fun, partying with mouth-watering candies, night-long parties dressed in different theme costumes.
But, do you what is the origin of this festival? In this write-up, we'll try to highlight why do we celebrate Halloween?

The festival of Halloween is generally celebrated on October 31 every year. It is said that the origin of Halloween comes from imported immigrant traditions.

History

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.

 

Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

http://www.history.com/video.do?name=halloween&bcpid=1811456971&bclid=1842765416&bctid=1554375513




During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.
 In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.



It is believed that the festival has Celtic roots and related to ancient Celtic known as "Samhain," most recognized in the parts of Ireland and Scotland. It is a harvest festival that announces beginning of a new year. To mark the celebration, Celts used to burn heaps of fruits, vegetables, grain, and animals as the gifts to gods for gaining their blessings for a productive and happy new year.
http://www.history.com/video.do?name=halloween&bcpid=1811456971&bclid=1842765416&bctid=1842866701
It was also believed that the dead could walk back to the life and people can actually enquire about their future year. To scare bad and evil spirits, people used to wore animal heads and other costumes, which has become an integral part of the festival.

After the popularity of Christianity to the Celtic lands the festival of Halloween was gracefully accepted. To memorize the spirits of saints and martyrs, "All Saints Day" or "All Hallow's Day," hallow referring to sainted ones, taken up the place of old meaning.

Current Status of Halloween

Halloween is one of the widely celebrated in the US, Ireland, Scotland and other parts of the world. The day is commonly marked with carving out turnips and lighting them at homes and other party areas. People also like to dress differently and carefully chose their Halloween costumes. Besides scary dresses, people like to wear romantic, funny and other types of dresses and enjoy the festive season. Halloween costume can be designed and stitched as per desires.

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