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Halloween HistoryHalloween is a holiday on the night of October 31 that is celebrated in much of the Western world, nowhere more enthusiastically than in the USA, although most Western countries recognize it as an official date. The eve is that before All Saints' Day, November 1. In Catholic tradition All Saints' Day is a time of holy obligation, a feast celebrated in honor of all the Christian saints and martyrs, known or unknown. All Saints' Day was also formerly known as "All Hallows," or "Hallowmas", hence the name All Hallows' Eve, which eventually became known as Hallowe'en.
Buy this from Art.com Halloween means ghosts and goblins, Many Halloween traditions appear to derive from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the beginning of winter. This was the most magical time of the year, when the invisible "gates" between this world and the Other World were open and movement between the two worlds was possible, with malevolent spirits from the Other World freely walking the Earth. People would wear masks when they went outside, in an attempt to disguise themselves as spirits so they could travel unharmed. As the superstition faded, the practice became more tradition and the requisite spirit disguise gradually gave way to a variety of costumes, worn for trick-or-treating or guising. Commonly-associated Halloween symbols include ghosts, witches, black cats, skeletons and monsters. Black and orange are the traditional colors of Halloween. There are also elements of the autumn season reflected in symbols of Halloween, such as pumpkins (especially as Jack O'Lanterns) and scarecrows.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Halloween" and from www.ShiningRise.com
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