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Halloween, a brief history...
The history of Halloween dates back more than
2,000 years. The earliest celebrations of Halloween were among
the Celtic people who lived in the areas which are now Great
Britain and Northern France.
The Celts were people who worshiped the beauty
of nature. They worshiped a Sun God and believed that without
him, they would not live. They also worshipped Samhain who
was the lord of the dead and of the cold, dark winter season.
They believed that on October 31st Samhain would call together
all of the dead and these souls would take on the shape of
an animal. They believed that all creatures wandered the Earth
on that night. This was called the Vigil of Samhain.
The Druids, which were the priests of the Celtic
people, would build fires on the hilltops in belief that the
large fires would help to strengthen the Sun God, and give
him power enough to overcome the lord of darkness so that
the sun season could continue. They believed the fires were
sacred. They burned dried crops and sacrificed animals to
help strengthen the Sun God. At midnight they stopped worshipping
the Sun God and started to worship Samhain because he would
be the ruler for the next six months. This is the start of
the new year.
They would perform ceremonies through the night
to ask the spirits to tell them the future of the upcoming
year. In the morning each household would receive an ember
from the fire, this ember was used to start fires in their
own homes with the belief that it will ward off evil spirits
in the new year.
The Celts continued with their ceremonies until
they were conquered by the Roman Catholics. The Roman Catholics
brought with them their own customs and traditions. They established
All Saints Day or All Hallows Day on November 1st. This was
a day in which all saints who did not have their own declared
holiday were honored. The church had hoped by establishing
this holiday, it would do away with the Vigil of Samhain and
the other ceremonies and celebrations held October 31st through
November 1st.
The Catholics efforts to change the customs
of the Celts were not successful. Soon witchcraft came about,
and October 31st was renamed to "Night of the Witch".
It was believed that the devil and all of his followers (demons,
witches) would come out on this night to perform unholy acts
and to make a mockery of the All Hallows Day celebration.
These ceremonies and celebrations continued and October 31st
was then called "All Hallows Eve". It was a night
for superstitious beliefs and mystery. Through the years the
name was shortened to "Hallowe'en" and then to "Halloween"
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