Halloween

Halloween is celebrated every year on 31 October. It is a festival of costumes, candy, spooky stories and ghostly decorations, enjoyed in many parts of the world.

History: Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, celebrated over 2,000 years ago in what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. Samhain marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter, the dark half of the year. The Celts believed that on the night of 31 October the boundary between the living and the dead thinned, allowing spirits to roam. People lit large bonfires, wore costumes made of animal skins, and left food for spirits to protect themselves. Roman festivals Feralia, honouring the dead, and Pomona, goddess of fruit, later blended with Samhain, which is why apples and bobbing for apples became part of Halloween. In the 8th century All Saints Day was moved to 1 November, so the evening before became All Hallows Eve, shortened to Halloween. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried the customs to North America in the 19th century, where turnip lanterns became pumpkin jack-o-lanterns from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, and trick-or-treating grew in the 1930s as a safer, community version of earlier guising and souling.

How to celebrate: carve a pumpkin jack-o-lantern, wear a costume, go trick-or-treating safely, decorate your home, watch a spooky film, and share treats.

Facts: Samhain is pronounced sow-in; jack-o-lanterns were originally carved from turnips in Ireland; Halloween is now one of the most commercial celebrations in the United States.

Related: see also the October 31 daily post at https://observancedaily.com/october-31