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Halloween is coming up so here is a little Halloween history for you! from warphead.com


Halloween was started by the Celts in present day France and the British Isles. On the Celtic calendar, only two season are recognized, winter and summer. October 31, marks the end of summer (the light half of the year), the birth of winter (the dark half of the year) and is the Celtic New Year. This three day holiday is named Samhain after the Lord of the Dead, Samhain. The final day of Samhain, which is November 2, is called the Last Harvest. On these days, the Celts honored the dead as living spirits, rather than mourning their departure from them. They believed that if the spirits were honored this way, they would grant them powers to see into the future.

The Celts, who were usually a highly organized society, let chaos reign during this time. For three days, women dressed as men, and men would dress as women. Children would snatch food from neighbors. Farmers would let their cattle roam free.

During these few days, Druids would attempt to contact the "World of the Ancestors." They did this ritual during the "dark moon", the nights when the moon cannot be seen in the sky. They chose this time because they believed the dark moon represented a time in which mortal sight should be obscured in order to see into the other world. During the harvest festival of the Druids on November 1, human and animal sacrifices were made to Samhain.

When Christianity began in Europe, Catholics would have nothing to do with the holiday. However, they could not stop people from celebrating it and the children seemed to be quite amused with it. Samhain was changed to "hallow'en", a contraction of Allhallows Eve, by the Catholics. November 1 was All Saints Day, and November 2 was All Souls Day. The names of the holidays were changed so the Catholics could celebrate without being associated with anything "paganish."

The Ceromony of Lating:
During the evening on Halloween, farmers in England would carry a lit candle over the hills and fields during the hour before midnight. If the candle burned steadily the whole time, it showed that the land was free of witchcraft and evil powers.

Where do our present Halloween customs originate?
Jack-o-Lanterns: Who knew people have been carving faces into gourds for centuries? It's true. Early jack-o-lanters were carved out of turnips. The faces of were made to look like skulls in order to refect the anceint custom of placing skulls around tribal fires to keep demons away.

Pranks: Pranks go all the way back to the Celts. Children would knock on their neighbor's door and ask for food or gifts. If the neighbor refused, the children would often steal the food and throw it at the house. They would also tear down the farm gate, tap on the windows at any hour of the night, and move large rocks in front of the door, trapping the residents inside.

Trick or Treating: Again, going all the way back to the Celts. The Celts left food outside their houses so that any hungry, evil spirits would take the food and leave them and their families alone.

Bobbing for Apples: Another ancient custom called "Ordeal by Water." This was performed on All Souls Day. The fruit represented the soul, the water represented the soul's current place in this world, and the person snatching the fruit represented the afterworld.

Costumes: Celts dressed up in scary costumes so that the evil spirits would either be frightened of them or think they are one of them.

My grandma is going to help me make mine! She used to make all of my costumes when I was little.