You must have seen the celebration of a festival involving scary costumes, carved pumpkins, and lots of sugar candies, in Hollywood movies. This is known as Halloween. The festival is observed in many countries on the last day of October month, that is on the 31st of October. But, why we celebrate Halloween day? What is the story and history of Halloween day? Read this to know all including some facts about history of Halloween as well as fun facts about Halloween. Dive into this if you also want to know how to celebrate Halloween day.
Halloween Origins: The History Of Halloween Day
The history of Halloween day is quite vast in terms of its origin. It is believed that it was an ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. It was celebrated on 1 November back then.
Other than that, Pope Boniface IV started a celebration known as All Saints day in the 7th century BC. It was celebrated on 13th May which was later moved to November 1 as a Christian substitute for Samhain by Pope Gregory III who called it All Hallows Eve or present-day Halloween.
From Ireland, the festival quickly spread to the UK and France, and soon after, it got popularized in America despite their initial disagreement. Wondering why we celebrate Halloween or how to celebrate Halloween day? Read to know more.
Why We Celebrate Halloween?
In ancient times, Halloween was celebrated because people considered that time of the year to be when the dead and deceased souls returned to their homes in the living world. So to ward off evil, people dressed up in costumes and lit bonfires.
Later, the festival came to be associated with the harvest of the fall season which gave birth to many of the widespread Halloween traditions that we see today.
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Halloween Traditions – How To Celebrate Halloween Day?
Given below are some fun ways how to celebrate Halloween Day:
- Trick-or-treating is a must and it is quite popular among children during Halloween. In this, children go around their neighborhood to ask for candies (treats) if the homeowners don’t want them playing pranks (tricks) on them.
- Dressing up in quirky and scary costumes is also a tradition that is widely followed as a Halloween celebration.
- Spending time with family and friends while watching movie marathons or playing fun games is simply a way to indulge oneself in the festive mood.
- Decorating the house with scary decorative stuff and those must-have carved pumpkins.
- Baking sweets and cakes to share among loved ones and neighbors as a method of bonding.
Fun facts About Halloween
Here are some of the fun facts about Halloween:
- Once in 1958, in the history of Halloween day, the White House was also decorated for the festival.
- Before trick-or-treat tradition, Halloween was simply a night of pulling pranks.
- Trick or treating began very recently, in the 1930s in Canada.
- In the US, unlike European countries, the Halloween celebration generates a business of millions of dollars, with people spending $200 on the costumes and candies alone.
- The first guide on how to celebrate Halloween was published in 1897.
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Facts About History Of Halloween Day
Here are some of the facts about history of Halloween:
- Halloween may be a festival that is 3500 years old.
- People initially used to carve turnips and not pumpkins for Halloween.
- One of the facts about history of Halloween day is that it isn’t a dead people’s day but is celebrated in the honor of the dead souls.
- All Souls Day and All Saints Day aren’t the same. The former is celebrated for every soul that’s deceased, to pray they get to heaven while the latter is celebrated in honor of catholic saints.
Conclusion
While you are celebrating the festival of Halloween with your loved ones, we hope this information will help curb your curiosity about why you are currently dressed as a spider and your house is dolled up as some gothic novel plot. Happy Halloween to you!
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