Boo! The season of Autumn leaves, scarves, pranks, and everyone’s favorite, pumpkin spice, is finally here! And one of the most looked forward to holidays of the year is just around the corner: Halloween! Even though the first thing that comes to everybody’s minds when they think about Halloween is Trick-or-Treating, spooky decor, and costumes, it is not really what Halloween was truly about when it came to be.
Origins
The Halloween we all have grown up with is filled with many exciting activities, but is that what Halloween is about? The answer is no, it isn’t—at least not originally. It originated about 2000 years ago in the ancient Celtic Festival of Samhain. The new year was celebrated on November 1st by the Celts, in what is now present-day Ireland. The day signified the closing of summer and the beginning of the winter—the dark and cold time of year commonly linked to human death. So, it was believed that on Halloween, the border between the mortal realm and the Dead faded, allowing the dead to travel into the world of the living. The Celts believed that the spirits were destructive towards farms, but also thought that the company of ghosts made it easier for Celtic priests, or Druids, to predict the future. The Druids built giant bonfires and with the Celts wore costumes made of animal heads and skins. During the festival, they told each others’ fortunes and sacrificed animals and crops to the Celtic Deities.
Costumes
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