The story of Halloween
Lovely dog with costumes
Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with a history of thousands of years. The holiday we know as Halloween has taken in a lot from other cultures over the years.Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France,lived the Celts.The Celts believed in many gods,with the sun god as their favourite.They thought that it was”he”who ordered them what to do for their work and when they could rest,and”he”made the earth beautiful and the crops grow.On October 31st after the crops were all gathered and stored for the long winter,the cooking fires in the homes would be put out. The Druids，the Celtic priests,would meet at the top of the hill in the dark oak forest［oak trees were thought to be sacred.The Druids would light new fires，and then offered some
Charming dog with pumpkin hat
crops and animals which they killed to their God. As they danced around the fires，the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin.
The Celts kept their New Year on November 1st.It was celebrated every year with a holiday and marked the end of the”season of the sun”and the beginning of”the season of darkness and cold.”
The November 1st festival was called Sam hain(pronouncedsowen).The festival would last for 3days.Many people would walk in a line in the streets，in clothes made from the skins and heads of their animals.This festival would become the first Halloween.
Doll with costumes
- Halloween Costumes Party
Barbie wigs
Something else to do with Halloween is the Christian Religion In the year 835AD the Roman Catholic Church made November 1st a church holiday to remember all the saints.This day was called All Saints’Day，or Hallowmas,or All Hallows.Years later the church made November 2nd a holy day. It was called All Souls Day and was to remember the dead.It was celebrated with large fires,many people walking along together,and people dressing up as saints, angels and devils
But this did not make people forget their early customs.On the eve of All Hallows,Oct.31,people continued to celebrate the festivals of Sam hain and Pomona Day.Over the years the customs from all these holidays mixed.October 31st became know as All Hallow Even,later All Hallow’s Eve,halloween,and then-Halloween.
Halloween wigs
Halloween today is a mixture of all the old holidays,and that is why we have Pomona Day’s apples,nuts,and harvest,fruits,the Festival of Samhain’s black cats,magic,evil spirits and death,and the ghosts,skeletons and skulls from All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day.