When people think of Halloween, some view as a holiday of fun. Its purpose in the United States is viewed as a holiday for children and adults alike, since children get free candy from trick or treating, while adults go out partying while dressed in costumes. However, Halloween’s actual purpose was more of a holiday or festival in the Celtic religion called Samhain, the holiday was to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. As time passed, Halloween went from festivals for the harvest season to a holiday for kids and adults here in the States. Halloween is a composite of many elements from the part including the influence of the Celts, the contribution of the Christians, and the customs of the people of the New England region of the United States (History of Halloween). To begin with, Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts celebrated Samhain on November 1, for this day marked the end of summer and the harvest and led to the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. However, the Celts believed that on the night before the New Year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. So on the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain thinking that the dead returned to earth. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires where they gathered to burn corps and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the fest, many Celts wore costumes consisting of animal heads and skins. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their fires from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. The festival ended when the Romans conquered all of the Celtic territory by 43 A.D. but Samhain didn’t fade out and would only serve as the beginning part for Halloween (History of Halloween). The second component of Halloween came about in the 9th century. Christian influences had spread into Celtic lands, blended with, and supplanted the older Celtic traditions. Then around 1000 .A.D., the church declared November 2 All Souls Day, a day to honor
…show more content…
Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant belief systems there. However, in the southern colonies, Halloween was more common since the beliefs and customs of European and Native Americans merged to what the American version of Halloween became. Soon, in the mid-1800s, immigrants from Ireland and Scotland brought their traditions that helped shape Halloween, including such traditions as bobbing for apples, telling ghost stories, and the early version of trick or treat which included people dressing up in costumes and going to house to house asking for food or money. By the late 1800s, the early version of Halloween was more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. However, by the 1920s and 1930s, the mischief and pranks began to turn into acts of vandalism, property damage and at several points’ physical assaults. Eventually by the late 30s, vandalism decreased due to efforts by schools and communities to curb these by encouraging a safer “Trick or Treat” concept and many groups set up school carnivals for others to enjoy at Halloween. Eventually, Halloween became more of an American holiday for both children and adults alike
Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant belief systems there. However, in the southern colonies, Halloween was more common since the beliefs and customs of European and Native Americans merged to what the American version of Halloween became. Soon, in the mid-1800s, immigrants from Ireland and Scotland brought their traditions that helped shape Halloween, including such traditions as bobbing for apples, telling ghost stories, and the early version of trick or treat which included people dressing up in costumes and going to house to house asking for food or money. By the late 1800s, the early version of Halloween was more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. However, by the 1920s and 1930s, the mischief and pranks began to turn into acts of vandalism, property damage and at several points’ physical assaults. Eventually by the late 30s, vandalism decreased due to efforts by schools and communities to curb these by encouraging a safer “Trick or Treat” concept and many groups set up school carnivals for others to enjoy at Halloween. Eventually, Halloween became more of an American holiday for both children and adults alike