How Did Halloween Begin?

It is believed that Halloween originated from asainted ones. All Saint's Day was to celebrate the
Celtic holiday known as Samhain, which washoly saints and martyrs of Christianity. It is
celebrated in Ireland and Scotland at harvest timegenerally believed that this was an attempt to
for well over a thousand years. Samhain was theChristianize the popular Celtic holiday and diminish
time of year (October 31st) when harvesting wasthe importance of the Celtic ritual and the
completed and animals were brought frominfluence of their spiritual leaders, the druids. This is
summer pastures to shelter for the winteralso how the day became known as All Hallow's
months. At Samhain a large festival wasEve, or Halloween. All Soul's Day was similarly
celebrated, and fruits, vegetables, grain, andadded in Christianity a couple hundred years later
animals, were burned as gifts to the gods in hugeto celebrate the dead.
bonfires in hope of a successful new year. It wasCarving out turnips and lighting them goes back
believed that during the night of Samhain, that thehundreds of years with the holiday. An Irish
dead could walk among the living, and that thelegend tells of a man named Jack who tricks the
living could ask the dead questions about thedevil to turn into a coin and keeps him from
future year. Because they believed some ofchanging back by placing the coin next to a cross.
these spirits were evil, they wore costumes withA year later, Jack dies, but is neither allowed into
animal heads to scare the spirits and protectheaven, or hell, so he must roam the earth. The
themselves.1800's brought Halloween to the United States
Christianity spread to the Celtic lands, and in thewith the Irish immigrants. Pumpkins were carved
seventh century, Pope Boniface IV declaredrather than turnips because they were large and
November 1st to be All Saints Day, otherwisemore plentiful.
known as "All Hallow's Day," hallow referring to