Every year on October 31st is celebrated as a holiday. Halloween traditions are thought to have started at the ancient Celtic feast of Samhain, when people dressed up as ghostbusters and built bonfires.
In North America and Europe, the great majority of people celebrate Halloween in a secular way.
History
Halloween dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was celebrated for a totally different reason than it is today.
Pope Gregory III declared November 1st to be a day honoring all saints in the seventh century CE. Traditions from Samhain quickly found their way into All Saints Day. All Hallows Eve was the prior evening, and Halloween followed.
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It was formerly a religious holiday, but throughout time, according to Britannica, it got more and more secular, and eventually, its religious overtones practically vanished entirely.
Legend has it that Halloween began with Hanukkah and Samhain in Britain and Ireland.
There was a consensus that the new year began on November 1. At Samhain, the souls of the previous year’s deceased were believed to enter the afterlife. The dead were also believed to return home after dying throughout the year.
Some folks would throw huge parties and adorn their homes on this day to appease their ancestors. Some dressed as witches or devils to escape detection and burned bonfires to ward off evil spirits.
This is how Halloween’s traditions, which associate the celebration with fairies, demons, witches, and hobgoblins, have evolved over time.
Joyful celebrations
Nowadays, those who take part in trick-or-treating dress in Halloween gear and visit doors in search of candy.
This is an occasion that is celebrated in a number of ways in the US and Europe. These include going to Halloween-themed events, playing games with a Halloween theme, and viewing spooky movies.
For Halloween’s parties, some people transform their homes into terrifying haunted mansions or zombie-infested post-apocalyptic scenarios. Some people just stop by their homes unattended.
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