Ghosts, Goblins, Witches and Candy! How Halloween Really Began!

 
Halloween is a time of scary stories, dressing up, eating candy until your stomach hurts and scaring your friends. But what is the history of Halloween, how did it really begin and do we really need to be scared on this spooky night? With all of the traditions and mysteries behind this holiday, it’s interesting to learn where it all began!

Halloween dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts who lived 2,000 years ago celebrated their New Years on November 1^st and this marked the official end of summer and the beginning of a dark, cold winter. The Celts believed that the night before November 1^st, the boundaries between the living and the dead became a blur and during their festival of Samhain, ghosts were believed to come back from the dead and walk this earth. They believed that the presence of the spirits would help the Celtic priests to make predictions about the future.

Although this spooky holiday has been traced back thousands of years ago, the word Halloween is formally known as All Hallows Even which simply means All Saint’s Day. It is a day that Catholics commemorate all the saints. Halloween has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic and superstition. Black cats, witches and more, Halloween has evolved in the United States that now people dress up and go out and knock on doors for candy. Some attend themed Halloween parties, festivals or parades.

Trick-or-treating can be dated back to the early All Soul’s day parade in England. On this day the poor would beg for food and families would give them pastries in return that they would pray for the family’s relatives that have passed on. The tradition for dressing in costumes can date back to European and Celtic roots. When citizens would go out on October 31^st, they would worry about encountering a ghost. So to avoid being recognized by the spirits, they would wear masks so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits.

So what are your plans for Halloween?  When celebrating this Thursday, remember what Halloween really means and where it all began! The AeroCom team wishes everyone a safe and spooky Halloween!