Halloween Time!

Sunday October 31, 2010! Halloween is just around the corner so its about that time you put your costume on and as for the kids, its trick- or- treating time. As for college students, its put your costume on and trick- or- treat to every house that has goodies, goodies that children are not allowed to have. Halloween is a holiday everyone can celebrates to dress up of who they like to be either its funny, scary, a celebrity, a sexy waitress or a super scary Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street. Halloween is celebrated with carving pumpkins, telling ghost stories, going to haunted houses, going to costume parties, and watching scary movies. But do you ever wonder how Halloween become a holiday on our calendars.

Halloween dates back to "the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain" roughly 2,000 years ago, people known as the Celts were divided throughout modern-day countries United Kingdom, Northern France and Ireland. These people celebrated on November 1, meaning October 31, which was their New Year's Eve. The Celtics believed that the boundary between the worlds of living and the dead became blurred that night. Bonfires and animal sacrifices were common, as for costumes, they consisted of animal heads and skins.When the Romans conquered the Celts, the Samhain was combined with other holidays and when Christianity became powerful, Pope Boniface IV gave another name to what we know as Halloween. He designated November 1 as All Saints Day- day when followers could honor the dead, particularly the saints and martyrs. All Saints Day was also known as "All- Hallows" and Hallow is and Old English word for saint. The night before (Oct. 31) was known as "All- Hallows Eve", then shortened to Hallowe'en and finally to Halloween. 

Did you know that trick- or- treating and the name jack-o'-lanterns comes from Ireland. If not, this is why. Hundreds of years ago, Irish farmers went from houses to houses begging for food in the name of their ancient gods, to be used at the village Hallowe'en celebration. If the people did grant them food, they were promise good luck in the future and made threats to those who refused to give, meaning they would be cursed. One way they used to say, "You treat me, or else I will trick you!" 

And for the name for those harmless lightened pumpkin faces, jack-o'-lanterns actually is an old Irish symbol of a damned soul. Story behind was a man named Jack was unable to reach heaven due to miserliness and was unable to enter hell because he played jokes on the devil. So in results of what he did, he was condemned to wander on earth with his lantern until end of the world. And the light that was placed inside the pumpkin was to scare away evil spirits from the peoples home and wore costumes to disguise themselves.

The Irish, who arrived in America as settlers were responsible for spreading the concept of Halloween, where it eventually grew in popularity. With the advent of modern science and advancement in technology, Halloween in US, as in other parts of the world, became less and less religious and this annual event has now turned into more of a social event.

Halloween is fun for everyone and everyone enjoys have some time for themselves, but I think parents should take a minute or two to tell their children why we have Halloween because really without the history of it, we wouldn't have this exciting and crazy day to celebrate.. But really its just another way to gain another pound or two from all the candy... or for those dang college goodies! wink wink!