Paragraph About Halloween

Superior Essays
Laura Pollard
Professor Pricket
English 101 Section 40
6 October 2016 Halloween - From the Celtic Peoples to America As the air turns crisp and the trees erupt into an explosion of orange and burgundy- much like the flames of a phoenix 's fiery death- cobwebs, ghosts, and pumpkins begin to adorn the lawns and porches of American homes. Halloween is drawing near, and goblins, ghouls and witches abound in store windows and school hallways. [3] Halloween is a widely celebrated American tradition, but its origins are much older than the country itself. The beloved holiday has its roots in the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain, pronounced "sah-win". Most of the modern traditions associated with Halloween can be traced back to traditions that began
…show more content…
The Celtic year began on November 1st, which was the beginning of winter (Santino). The festival of Samhain was celebrated on the evening before; it was the most important holiday of the Celtic peoples, celebrating the end of summer and the harvest while welcoming winter (Santino; Mescher). Spirits walked the earth during Samhain, because this was the time of year when all of the people who had died in the previous year traveled to the underworld (Santino). [1] The souls of the departed would wander the earth looking for a body to possess for the next year before passing on to the underworld. The Celtic peoples would often wear costumes to frighten off the souls or to trick them into believing that the they were spirits themselves (Mescher). The Celtic people left out food for the spirits in an effort to appease them. Meanwhile in Rome, in 601 AD, Pope Gregory the 1st issued an edict to missionaries who were trying to convert pagans to use their "native beliefs" instead of trying to get rid of them - "if a group of people worship a tree, rather than cut it down, he advised them to consecrate it to Christ and allow its worship" (Santino). In accordance with the edict of Pope Gregory, when Christian missionaries came to …show more content…
All Saints Day was originally celebrated by the Catholic church on November 1st as a way to honor the saints, particularly those who did not already have their own holiday. All Saints Day was also called All Hallows Day; the day before was All Hallows Eve, which eventually became shortened to Halloween (Santino). To celebrate All Saints many young men would dress up like the saints and go begging for food for the poor (Mescher). All Souls Day was another holiday intertwined with Samhain and was celebrated on the 2nd of November as a way to honor those who had died in the previous year (Santino). People made soul cakes for the wandering souls of the deceased, and the poor would beg for them in exchange for prayers for the souls of the dead. This ritual was known as "a-soulin '" (Santino). These two traditions were no doubt related to or evolved from the Celtic ritual of leaving food for the spirits. New traditions arose as well- the jack-o-lantern for example. The tradition of creating jack-o-lanterns arose from the Irish legend of Stingy

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Every holiday is filled with their own unique traditions from the past and meaning, which is what makes each and every one special. Halloween originally known as ‘All Hallows Eve’, or ‘All Souls Days’ was the Pagan celebration of deceased loved ones. It was also known as the last day of the Celtic calendar-their holiday…

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Instead they celebrate the Day of the Dead on November 1st. This is a day dedicated to people who have passed away by honoring them. They set up an alter and put their favorite foods, objects and wine for adults and water or soda if it was a child. They gather together with the family and celebrate their loved ones life. It’s a joyous occasion instead of a time of morning, which it probably the best thing about this holiday.…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    To many, the end of October is a time of corn mazes, costume parties, and haunted houses. Many cultures celebrate harvest festivals during October, though none are as well-known as Halloween. Because Halloween is primarily descended from the Celtic festival of Samhain, when some think of Halloween, they think of bats and cats and witches. However, although Halloween as it is currently know is a wholly American creation with regional rituals handed down by generations, it did not become a “full-blown American holiday” until the turn of the century (Bannatyne). Because of the contemporary nature of Halloween, without Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus”, and George A. Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead, the holiday as we…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Halloween, an American tradition where young children can go ‘trick or treating’ around their neighbourhood, however, this has risen the debate of whether this celebration is a safe or a suitable one to be part of. An opinion piece was published on Mamamia on the 29th of October, 2015, titled ‘Why my kids won’t be doing Halloween’, written by Alissa Warren, implies that Halloween is a ridiculous and an inappropriate event to be participated by anyone. In a disconcerting and exasperated tone, Warren targets readers of Mamamia and parents, of this whole issue of the pointless festivity. The article was also accompanied by a visual image that displays some kids in costume, trick or treating, with no one around and followed by a comment, written…

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Halloween is like a horror movie, except with drunk teenagers instead of axe murders. It was about two years ago, when we were still living in Germany. It was a fairly peaceful Halloween night and the sun was about to set. My friends and I were walking around the village, what Germans call a town. After about half an hour of us walking around and talking, some acne filled, tall, muscular and older, German teenagers came up to us.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    And then that repeats itself, so it almost seems like there must be some rules that govern that behavior. As my adventure drew to a close, I thought, how appropriate that it should end on Halloween? After all, this is the day when people like to suspend their beliefs in the physical laws that govern our world. Spirits awaken from the dead.…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The origins of Halloween date back to 500 B.C in the Celtic tribe. The Celts believed that the god of death overpowered the sun god and summoned spirits of the dead to visit the living. They also wore costumes to scare off the evil spirits. Those costumes caught on to today’s Halloween celebration.…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It’s a story that haunts me every day. It was October 30th Halloween night, I got had out of work at 11:00 pm. It was raining outside when I got into my car, I was all soaked because it was heavy rainfall. Before I go home I stopped to pump gas at chevron, when I stepped out of my car there was a man who came up to me dressed as a devil I didn’t know if it was his hollowed costume. He told me that my tire needed air.…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This holiday is a combination of All soul’s day from the Aztecs and All saint’s day from the Catholics. Halloween was started by the celts over 2,000 years ago, it is celebrating the end of the harvest. Celebrations…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For the holiday of Halloween I feel it is taken less seriously than Day of the Dead due to it having no religious meaning or connections. However, Halloween does still have a lot of reasons for celebrating. The reason and background of Halloween has to do with the fact that it connects with the day of All Hallows Eve, which is said to be when spirits of the dead come out and roam the streets, and this is the reason that children dress up, to disguise themselves from the evil spirits. For the holiday of Day of the Dead, it gets very complicated. This holidays dates all the way back to Aztec customs where several rituals were held to acknowledge their dead ancestors and honor their lives.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Research Paper On Mexico

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages

    For example, the “Day of the Dead” is a well-known celebration that originally came from Aztec traditions. This event takes place on October 31st and November 1st; just as Halloween does. The “Day of the Dead” are two days that revolve around the belief that on these nights, the souls of the dead will return to Earth once more. October 31st is the night where the souls of the children pass through the underworld and back Earth, while this same event takes place on November 1st for the adults. The purpose of this day is for families to be able to reunite with their deceased loved ones and take part in board games or other activities with them, some people even go as far as to set up an altar on this occasion.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the Mayan Empire, every 20th day was a festival day. Priest will dress in fierce masks and towering hats, their hats jingled. The priest try to make loud noise to show that they are fierce and powerful. Another festival name Bloodletting, this festival was a personal sacrifice. The Maya cut themselves so they would bleed. The nobles smeared their blood on a tree and burned, to helped their blood can get to heaven and so the gods would know they do it for their…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Medieval Christmas (Intro) Most holidays during the medieval period were determined by the Church including Christmas. Christmas in medieval England was very different to modern day Christmas. It was the church that ensured that it was celebrated as s true religious holiday instead of just being a simple feast for peasants to enjoy themselves. Medieval Christmas History There was no established imperial religion until the birth of Christianity.…

    • 1494 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    But then, I felt a strange feeling, something I rarely ever felt, a tingling sensation from the tallest strands of my hair, to the tip of my toes. It felt as if I was being called by Halloween itself! As if it had been reaching me, controlling me with my innocent curiosity, pushing me to go further, to explore. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as we ventured down the dark and misty road. Looking left and right, observing the houses covered in spider webs and bones.…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Halloween or formally known as Samhain was an ancient Celtic tradition that indicated the first of November and this tradition was started before the 14th century. The first people to officially celebrate this holiday were the Celts that was first spotted in the Iron Age and Middle Ages; they lived either in Ireland or Britain. They manipulated this tradition as a way celebrate a new year for harvesting, but considered during…

    • 1990 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays

Related Topics