What is the story of Halloween?

The origin of Halloween Halloween dates back 2000 years ago, specifically in the European islands now called Ireland, Britain, and France. It was started by peoples called the Celts, who held an annual religious festival called Samhain, marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of a new year. It is worth noting that Halloween included beliefs specific to the Celts, as they believed that the spirits of the dead return to visit the earth on this day, because the boundaries between the worlds of the dead and the living disappear on this day. The Celts also believed that these spirits bring evil to their lands and crops, so they set a day for a large and huge celebration, which included lighting fires, offering sacrifices of crops and animals to the Celtic gods, and wearing strange costumes resembling animals, to protect themselves from the evils of the spirits of the dead. Many Westerners believe that the idea of ​​Halloween has purely Christian roots, as it is an annual celebration held specifically on the last day of October, so that the date of its celebration coincides with another historical Christian holiday called All Saints' Day. Other researchers and historians point out that the idea of ​​Halloween has pagan roots, as the ancient Celtic culture (tribes that settled in Central Europe and shared language, culture and religion) knew the harvest festival or the Gaelic Samhain festival, which is similar in its celebration to Halloween, but it is likely that Halloween has unknown historical and cultural origins. History of the celebration of Halloween Halloween is celebrated on October 31 of each year in most Western countries, so it is an official holiday throughout the country, so that people can devote themselves to performing many scary and fun rituals, as it was and still is a holiday with religious and cultural origins for them. It is worth noting that the history of celebrating Halloween in the Christian religion dates back to the eighth century when Pope Gregory III moved All Saints' Day from May 13 to November 1, so that the night of October 31 combined All Saints' Day and Halloween. There are many reasons for celebrating Halloween, and the reasons that prompted people in the past and still prompt them to celebrate Halloween are many, the most important of which are the following: In honor of the harvest season that has ended, and in preparation for the winter season, which they considered the dark half of the year. To expel evil spirits from the dead that they believed were visiting them on this day. To protect themselves from the monsters that they believed would appear on that night and harm them, and this was done by wearing scary costumes. The ideas that Irish immigrants brought to the United States regarding the celebration of this holiday, later became popular and known throughout the West.Halloween Celebrations The most prominent feature of Halloween is that it is considered an official holiday in Christian countries, especially the United States of America, Britain, Ireland, and Canada. On this day, departments and institutions are closed. Among the Halloween celebrations: Wearing Halloween costumes Halloween costumes have always been terrifying. In the past, people chose to wear the skins and heads of the most dangerous types of animals, in addition to costumes that symbolize the souls of the dead. Over time, people began to wear costumes that they believed embodied spirits or demons, such as black clothes or black scarves, and wearing masks in the shape of a skeleton head. During the eighteenth century, clothes became less terrifying than they were in the past, as people began to make their own costumes at home, which usually consisted of sheets and some distinctive masks, with the use of a lot of makeup to disguise themselves, so that no one would recognize the identity of the owner of the costume. During the twentieth century, the type of costumes changed a lot, becoming an embodiment of some famous characters such as: pirates, gypsies, or clowns, and thus the scary Halloween costumes turned into more elegant costumes. Holding parties and visiting cemeteries Since Halloween is an official holiday throughout the country, many people resort to holding celebrations for entertainment and fun, where houses are decorated with lights, candles are lit, and they go to the graves of the dead to light candles on them, and some vegetables such as pumpkins are used in the form of a lamp, and they wear costumes and take some night marches that roam the streets of residential neighborhoods, and exchange gifts and sweets among themselves, and they also go to cemeteries and perform some rituals. Watching Halloween movies Western cinema has produced many films that simulate this special occasion, and many of them have already achieved huge financial profits, so people eagerly await watching them during Halloween, which often revolve around the idea of ​​​​Halloween and the scary situations that include celebrating this day. Halloween trick-or-treating is one of the most popular traditions of the holiday, where young children dress up in costumes and walk the streets at night, then knock on doors to scare people as a joke, in order to get some candy and gifts. Halloween symbols Halloween is full of symbols with multiple meanings and connotations, so you will find that the largest commercial companies in the world are keen to be present before the celebration begins, and these symbols include the following:Halloween pumpkin lanterns The pumpkin symbol began to be used a long time ago in Ireland, specifically when the Celts carved turnips because they did not have pumpkins or gourds, and on the eve of the celebration of this holiday they would put a source of fire inside it, believing that it would drive away evil spirits from them, and after moving to America they began to use pumpkins instead of turnips. Halloween witch The witch symbol is a very old tradition and is considered one of the most used Halloween symbols among people, as the witch in Western culture always represents the supernatural female, and its use has been common since that time until today. Halloween bat The Halloween bat has deep roots in Western culture, as it is believed that it has the ability to eat all flying insects gathered around the fires that were lit on this occasion at that time, and the bat symbol is also associated with vampires, which are terrifying characters that some bats are believed to turn into. The Halloween ghost was a symbol of the ghost and is still one of the symbols that people are keen to use on this occasion annually, because they believe that the souls of the dead wander in the form of ghosts on this night to visit their loved ones in old abandoned houses. The Halloween cat The black cat is one of the symbols commonly used on Halloween, because of the prevailing belief that evil people were able to transform themselves into black cats, and there was an ancient belief that some witches could also transform into black cats, in addition to the association of these animals with witches who often wander with a black cat, which are all myths woven from the imagination. The Halloween scarecrow It is known that the scarecrow symbol was used in many different cultures, and animal skulls were often placed on it and then burned during the celebration; to instill fear in the souls of evil spirits that are believed to be trying to sneak into people to harm them. Recently, the scarecrow symbol has been used to refer to the fall and harvest season. In fact, the scarecrow is not only used as a symbol on Halloween, but it has also been used on other holidays such as Thanksgiving, where it refers to the idea of ​​the earth's harvest and abundant goodness. Transferring terrifying and frightening stories On this day, people pass on terrifying and frightening stories about monsters and spirits that inhabit abandoned houses, and they weave stories and fantasies because they believe that on this day evil spirits move from their purified world to the earth, and in order to confuse and frighten those spirits, it is necessary to spread terror and fear in their hearts. Skeletons and skulls Skeletons and skulls are essential symbols on Halloween, as they are a clear and explicit embodiment of the idea of ​​death, and this holiday has always been considered a holiday for the dead and their souls, as they move from their eternal world to the human world. Blood and spiders In Western culture, blood embodies life and death, and reminds us that we as humans suffer, suffer and fear death a lot, and it also carries an explicit reference to the vampire from whom blood flows. The idea of ​​the spider and its use as a symbol on Halloween is old and rooted in Western cultures, especially since the spider is seen as weaving fate and being a companion of evil and witches, and these creatures prefer to be in dark and deserted places, such as: old houses, cemeteries and caves, and some of them are capable of killing people, so they were quickly associated with Halloween. Celebrating Halloween in the past and modern times In the past, the idea of ​​Halloween revolved around celebrating evil spirits and monsters that were believed to leave their places to attack people on the night of October 31, and deliberately destroy their property, such as crops and others. These ancient beliefs continued to occupy a large part of the lives of Westerners, but gradually these ideas and beliefs faded, and people were no longer afraid of these monsters and evil spirits, but rather celebrated them in autumn festivals that included many festive events, such as dancing, singing and telling some ghost stories for fun and entertainment. Although there are many religious voices in the West that oppose such festive celebrations, most people still live the old customs they inherited from their fathers. It is worth noting that this holiday generates huge profits for companies, as the American people spend approximately 8 billion dollars annually on costumes, candy, games and other Halloween celebration rituals.