Halloween is a religious holiday. It offers an opportunity for religious people to honor their dead and celebrate the fact that they live on in heaven. It is a pagan festival that originated from Celtic tradition of leaving food or treats on Samhain so that wandering evil spirits could eat them instead of doing harm to people’s homes.
Essay on Halloween | Purpose, Importance, Halloween Celebration
Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31. Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would extinguish their hearth fires and settle in for the night, dedicating the dark hours to feasting and revelry with their ancestors who had passed into the other world.
On All Hallows Eve people trick-or-treated, wearing costumes and masks to ward off roaming ghosts. Today many people dress up in costume for Halloween parties.
Halloween falls on the last day of October every year. On this night it is believed that all evil spirits have full sway over earth. There are various stories about how Halloween started but the most popular story is about All Hallows Eve.
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It is believed that the Scottish Celts celebrated the New Year on November1. The day was dedicated to Samain, Lord of Death who visited his kingdom once a year with one hand behind his back. He searched every house for food and if any was found, he would put it in his cloak. The people put out food for him hoping that the next year would be plentiful. The place where Samain gathered his food supply is called Cnoc-an-Aingeal, the Hill of Angels. It is believed that on this hill fairies gather every Halloween night.
The next day known as All Hallows Day was celebrated by the Christians who wanted to thank God for preventing the Devil from plundering their food. They also prayed so that the dead would not return to earth on the holy day of All Saints.
The story of Christianity is interwoven with Halloween because it is believed that in 312 A.D., Constantine, after his victory over Maxentius, came to Rome and saw a vision of the Cross in the sky with the words, “In hoc signo vinces” (By this sign you will conquer). The next day he saw an Angel who told him to use this cross as his banner. Constantine ordered that all soldiers paint on their shields this symbol before they went into battle. He led his troops to victory against his enemy, so he kept the day sacred. This day is now known as St. George’s Day and it has been celebrated by Christians ever since.
Halloween was first introduced to America by Irish immigrants in the nineteenth century who called it “Samhain”. As time passed, people started to dress up like ghosts, goblins and witches. In the late nineteenth century, Americans started to decorate their houses with skeletons and face masks to ward off evil spirits.
They also carved turnips into lanterns called Jack-O-Lanterns that had a candle inside them. Today pumpkins are used as jack-o-lanterns instead of turnips. People also started to wear costumes and masks and it became a night for tricks and pranks as well as scares.
Halloween is now celebrated all over the world by both children and adults. It is usually celebrated on October 31st every year although some people celebrate it on November 1st or even on the last day of August. It is seen as a night of magic.
Children dress up in costume, go house to house trick-or-treating for candy and money. Trick-or-treating originated from the Celtic tradition of leaving food or treats on Samhain so that wandering evil spirits could eat them instead of doing harm to people’s homes.
Some people dress up as ghosts or goblins and go singing door-to-door. These people are called “guisers”. On All Hallows Eve, bonfires are lit to ward off evil spirits. Fireworks are also set off on that night, to scare the spirits away.
The Samhain festival is dedicated to the dead and welcome the new spirits who have come to spend the winter with their families. This is a night of light and darkness, for on that night it is believed that the boundary between this world and the other world becomes blurred. Souls from the other side are allowed to visit their loved ones again.
In parts of England people celebrate Halloween by going from house to house singing songs about Jack-O-Lanterns and asking for food in return. If they are given nothing they would put a curse on the householder.
Stories are told of witches, ghosts, demons and goblins who come out at Halloween to cause mischief or play evil tricks on humans. These spirits have various names but they are all known to be evil. Samhain is a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and a civic holiday in Canada.
It is celebrated by most countries that were part of British Isles. In Scotland Samhain is not celebrated as it has its own Harvest festival called Hallowe’en (The Eve of All Hallows). The United States has come to celebrate Halloween more than Samhain.
In the United States, children dress up like ghosts or goblins and go door-to-door singing songs for candy. Some people tell scary stories about ghosts and goblins while others tell stories of horror. Some people play jokes on their neighbors on Halloween night.
Halloween falls on October 31st every year. It is seen as a night of magic with ghosts and witches flying around the streets with trick-or-treaters trying to get candy from their neighbors. Halloween has been celebrated for over 1,000 years. It was originally a Druid holiday called Samhain which marked the end of the harvest season and honored the dead.
This holiday is celebrated all over the world especially in countries that were once part of British Isles like Ireland, England, Canada and Australia among others. It is also celebrated by people who practice Voodoo or Santeria.
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Conclusion
Halloween is a popular holiday all over the world especially in countries that were once part of British Isles, United States and those where Voodoo or Santeria is practiced. In most countries of the world Halloween falls on October 31st every year. It is a night of magic with ghosts, witches and goblins seen flying around the streets trick-or-treating for candy and money.