Halloween is the one of the oldest holidays still celebrated today. It’s one of the most popular holidays, second only to Christmas. While millions of people celebrate Halloween without knowing its origins and myths, the history and facts of Halloween make the holiday more fascinating.
Some people view Halloween as a time for fun, putting on costumes, trick-or-treating, and having theme parties. Others view it as a time of superstitions, ghosts, goblins and evil spirits that should be avoided at all costs.
As the Christian debate goes on, celebrating Halloween is a preference that is not always viewed as participating in an evil holiday. Halloween is often celebrated with no reference to pagan rituals or the occult.
Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.All Hallows Eve is the evening before All Saints Day, which was created by Christians to convert pagans, and is celebrated on November 1st. The Catholic church honored saints on this designated day.
While there are many versions of the origins and old customs of Halloween, some remain consistent by all accounts. Different cultures view Halloween somewhat differently but traditional Halloween practices remain the same.
The Celts believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night. Since not all spirits were thought to be friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure next years crops would be plentiful. This custom evolved into trick-or-treating.
Halloween Costume Ideas
The tradition of children wearing Halloween costumes originated from when the Celts lit bonfires and dressed up during ceremonies celebrating Samhain. Decked out in animal heads and full animal skin costumes, they proceeded to read each other’s fortunes and tell stories.
The costume tradition made it’s way to America and took on another form. On Halloween, it was believed that the spirits and ghosts of the dead came back to roam the earth. People then wore masks and “dressed up” in an outfit to look like one of the spirits to avoid being recognized as one of the living.
Finding that perfect Halloween costume can be a challenging task and is best planned well in advance. While there are easy costumes available in stores, it may be more practical and even realistic to try a homemade one. From adults to teens to kids, funny to scary, below are some cool Halloween costume ideas (some naughty, some nice, some unique) to get you started.
Categorised in: halloween
This post was written by Nadia Vella