

The leaves have turned brown and costumes have taken over store products. Pumpkins decorate front yards and horror movies replace comedies. Most importantly, your family has stocked up on candy. Sound familiar?
Halloween is a holiday celebrated all over the world. Have you ever thought to yourself who invented this holiday? Or in this case, what exactly transformed into this holiday?


Halloween has ancient Celtic History.
This holiday all began with Samhain, a Gaelic festival celebrated at the end of summer dated back two millennia. During this celebration, people would light bonfires and wear costumes to hide from ghosts. Scary, right?


Halloween's history is not only traced back to Samhain.
Besides the festivals, it's history is connected to Roman Catholic festivals, Medieval Times, and even British politics.




Let's start with our favorite Halloween decoration and activity. So why do we carve pumpkins today?
This tradition comes from carving turnips in Ireland. The legend states that when a man named Stingy Jack passed away, his spirit stayed on Earth for eternity. He was given a lump of coal in a carved turnip to light his way. Locals soon began carving frightening faces into their own turnips to scare away evil spirits. Overtime carving turnips turned into carving pumpkins for decoration and enjoyment.



The most famous thing associated with Halloween is ghosts. They scare you in movies, books, paintings, stories, and so much more. Why are ghosts involved with Halloween?
The famous Samhain festival marked the new year transition. During this festival, the locals believed spirits walked the Earth. Much later, November 2 was named All Souls Day from Christian missionaries, or a group of people who traveled to share their beliefs of the religion Christianity. This was the day that created the idea of the living coming in contact with the dead, or ghosts.


Costumes are the most exciting part of Halloween. However, Halloween costumes during the Celtic Festival were not so cheerful.
The locals wore costumes to hide and disguise themselves from evil spirits during Samhain. Disturbingly, these costumes would often consist of animal skins and heads. While wearing these costumes, the Celts also told each other fortunes. As time passed, costumes transformed into princesses and movie stars for fun rather than to hide from ghosts.


Everyone loves free candy! Curious why a holiday would revolve around eating your favorite treats?
There are many theories about the history of passing out candy. The most popular theory is that during Samhain, Celtic locals would leave food outside their doors to please the kind spirits flying around at night. The Celtics often kept their doors open as well to invite these kind spirits inside their home in hopes they were a loved one who passed away.



So where did candy come from? Up until the mid-20th century treats given out consisted of many different things.
Most trick-or-treaters expected fruits, nuts, coins, or toys. Candy companies became inspired to make small, individually wrapped candies in the 1950s when trick-or-treating started to become very popular. Out of safety and cost, candy became the go to product.


Ever heard of the saying "Watch out for black cats?" These animals are often associated with Halloween.
Being spooked by black cats goes back to the Middle Ages. They were found to be a symbol of the devil. Witches were also found to have cats as pets, often black ones. People began to believe black cats were always involved with witches and dark magic, creating their spookiness. If you ever see a black cat on Halloween, run! There could be a witch near by.


When thinking about Halloween, the first colors that come to mind are black and orange. So why this spooky combination?
These colors also originate to the Celtic festival. The Celts believed the black represented the death of the summer, when the Celtic festival began. The orange represented the autumn harvest season.


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The leaves have turned brown and costumes have taken over store products. Pumpkins decorate front yards and horror movies replace comedies. Most importantly, your family has stocked up on candy. Sound familiar?
Halloween is a holiday celebrated all over the world. Have you ever thought to yourself who invented this holiday? Or in this case, what exactly transformed into this holiday?


Halloween has ancient Celtic History.
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