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Halloween means All Hallows Eve and is so called because, in the Christian calendar, the next day November 1st is called All Hallows Day. This is another way of saying All Saints Day.
In the pre Christian Celtic world, a Summer's End festival was held at this time and it was believed that ghosts and witches roamed and had to be kept away with lights and great fires. When the Romans came to Britain, they brought their 'Harvest festival' with them and this involved gifts of nuts and apples. In the superstitious Middle Ages, masks were worn on the nigh to keep away the evil spirits of darkness.
Today, all of these practices are sort of remembered and have been changed – the American influence of Trick or treating has been added and the evening has become an event of fun for children, a far cry from its original, more sinister origins.
In the pre Christian Celtic world, a Summer's End festival was held at this time and it was believed that ghosts and witches roamed and had to be kept away with lights and great fires. When the Romans came to Britain, they brought their 'Harvest festival' with them and this involved gifts of nuts and apples. In the superstitious Middle Ages, masks were worn on the nigh to keep away the evil spirits of darkness.
Today, all of these practices are sort of remembered and have been changed – the American influence of Trick or treating has been added and the evening has become an event of fun for children, a far cry from its original, more sinister origins.
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I would like to add that the original Celtic celebration of Samhain (pronounced roughly as SOW-en) was a celebration, not necessarily sinister. It was simply that extra day. If you've heard of the phrase 'a year and a day,' this is where it originated. In the Celtic calendar, the dae that became Samhain was the extra day left over at the end/beginning of the year.
(OK, blurtit only allows comments of 500 characters or less, so I have to break it up.) A 'between time,' if you will. It was/is a day to remember those who have passed in the last year, and also the ancestors who came before us. It is on this day that the veil between the world of the living and the spirit realm become thinnest, allowing contact to occur. Compare to the Mexican Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
October 31 is now called All Hallows' Eve for the simple reason that the church in the Middle Ages decided to take all pre-existing holy days and provide them a christian sheen/veneer. This was a ploy to convince pagans to abandon their own faith and come under the subjugation and control of the church.
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