Why Do We Celebrate Halloween?

It is time to go trick-or-treating! The lawns are all filled with carved-out pumpkins and houses, haunted with spooky decorations. The ghost costumes and candies remain to be one of the major symbols of this festival.

The roots of Halloween can be traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the beginning of shorter and darker days of winter.

In the belief that the dead would come back to visit, the people wore masks and left food at the doorsteps. They thought that this would serve as a distraction for the spirits.

By medieval times, children started going around to different houses asking for food in exchange for poems, jokes, and songs. It was the Christian Church that modified the festival. They celebrated November 1 as All Saint’s Day in memory of deceased saints and then October 31 became All Hallows Eve or Halloween.

In the 19th century, it was the Irish and Scottish immigrants who bought these customs and celebrations to the US. It wasn’t until 1950 that the festival took to form it is seen today.

It was in the latter half of the twentieth century that trick-or-treat and dressing up started. Today, the tradition has become much more of a secular celebration where people come together to mark the age-old practice of wading off spirits.

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