Halloween Traditions In America

Many hundreds of years ago, European Celts believed that souls of the dead visited Earth on the last day of October. This belief spread to the Romans, and eventually to the region of the United States. Halloween was originally called Allhallowe’en, or the evening before All Hallows Day, a Catholic holiday that celebrated Saints. This name was eventually shortened to what we call it now, Halloween. The reasoning for some of the traditions we do on Halloween, like carving pumpkins came from a man named Jack. Jack’s behavior was too poor to get into heaven, or even hell, so he was deemed to walk the Earth with a lantern until judgement day. The Irish carved turnips to remind them to not behave as Jack did, but, since pumpkins were easier

Halloween for many Americans means dressing up as an animal, famous star, cartoon, etc. and going trick-or-treating with their family or friends. However, not many people know the meaning behind Halloween. It is always celebrated on October 31st no matter what day it lands on. Many people do not know the tradition of Halloween and where it came from. In fact, I did not know either until my High School teacher told me that Halloween came from Ireland. The purpose of dressing up is so that the spirits and demons cannot recognize human beings. Many people thought the dead would arise that day and that’s why people used masks to distinguish themselves. In addition, trick-or-treating was a way to give candy, food, or money, but throughout the years it has changed. People trick-or-treat to receive candy or get tricked, which is always fun for children and even adults. People have a choice of either staying in their homes and just give candy to people who knock on the door or receiving candy. If the light of the front door is on or the house is decorated, then it is a sign that you can knock on their door. On Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns is believed that he tricked the devil, and when he died he was rejected in heaven and hell; for that reason, he roams our world and we represent him by carving pumpkins. Halloween dealt with spirits

Every year millions of kids get dressed up, knock on doors, and beg for candy. With Halloween just around the corner, you all are probably wondering where this strange tradition came from. Every year I have experienced this holiday and have done research on this topic. According to a 2014 Smithsonian.com article, stated by Natasha Geiling, in just one year Americans spent over six billion dollars on candy, costumes, and ghoulish decor in anticipation for Halloween. Many people think all Halloween is about dressing up and going trick or treating but there's more to it than that. The roots and variations from all around are what makes Halloween what it is today. In order to understand this holiday, we will go into the history of Halloween, how it's celebrated around the world, and superstitions revolving it.

How it got its name is another story entirely the church gave Halloween its name when it changed the celebration of the Roman Festival of the Dead from February to November 1 a Church holiday known as All Saint's Day. Another way to say All Saint's was All Hallows because the term "hallows" means "holy people." The evening before the holiday, October 31 became known as All Hallows Eve, and the church service performed on that evening was called All Hallow e'en. The reason being, think along the lines of when people go to church on Christmas eve, Halloween was once seen, much like Christmas was and still is seen as a holy holiday. As for the history of trick or treating, or “guising” (from “disguising”), it began in the Middle-Ages, children and sometimes poor adults would dress up in costumes popular ones being ghosts and ghouls to scare evil spirits away, would go around door to door during Halloween begging for food or money in exchange for songs and prayers often said on behalf of the dead. This was called “souling” and the children were called “soulers”, again think Christmas and carols. But this year’s Halloween have its own new rules and traditions and as each generation cover their house in fake spiders and plaster zombies

Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated on the 31st of October across the globe. The holiday originated ancient Celtic. Celts lived 2000 years ago in the areas which are now Ireland, Northern France, and the United Kingdom. They had a similar celebration called Samhain. Samhain was celebrated on the 1st of November rather than the 31st of October. Throughout the centuries Halloween traditions have changed drastically. To see what a difference Halloween is now to back in time we must examine what traditions and celebrations were done, secondly how we celebrate the famously known holiday and finally what people have against the celebrations and traditions to this day.

The decision to celebrate Halloween and other major holidays in school has been an issue for years. Some teachers say schools should celebrate Halloween because they can take advantage of the educational aspects of the holiday. Others say it is a waste of time because it takes away from the valuable education time needed for subjects like math or science. Personally, I agree with the latter because the American school system is extremely flawed. Our students are often one or two years behind countries like South Korea and Japan. Students need to spend more time on academics than holidays. Other religious groups might not feel comfortable celebrating Halloween as well. Another thing to consider is money. To celebrate Halloween, you need decorations,

Halloween is believed to come from Celtic rituals. The Celts lived over 2000 years ago, and were found in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France. The Celts celebrated

The Celtic people would have huge bonfire celebrations in which they dressed up in costumes and wore masks to mimic and appease the spirits.”

The history of this holiday, like Halloween itself, is very interesting and gloomy. Halloween is a mix of ancient Celtic practices, Catholic and Roman religious rituals and European folk traditions. Many hundreds of years ago, when the Celts lived in Europe on the British Isles, November the 1st was their New Year's Day. They believed that the night before the New Year (October 31) was a time when the living and the dead came together. Ancient Celts lighted bonfires and wear costumes to ward off

Halloween is a night of sweets, outfits, and fun that exclusively comes around once per year on October 31st. This is a period when individuals get an opportunity to dress up and be somebody or something else. Individuals can go to parties, haunted houses, or go trick or-treating. There are things to people do no matter their age. Halloween is filled with rich with history, old religious convictions, and stories.

Halloween was brought to America after the Irish fled from their hometowns during a famine.

La dia de los Muertos dates back to as early as the maya and aztec days, nearly 3,000 years ago. “The Aztecs didn’t fear death. They believed the way a person died determines their type of afterlife.” (Sarah Massey) Families place alters in their homes with favorite foods of the deceased people, sugar skulls with their name on it, special possessions of the loved ones, and Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead). On the altar are four special elements, water, wind, fire, and earth. Candles represent fire, food represents the earth. Halloween dates back to the celt days, about 2,000 years ago. They lived in what now is known as Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. They gathered on October 31st to celebrate the end of the harvest season. The celts believed that spirits roamed the earth on this night. Celts out food out for the spirits, this was the first form of trick or treating. Some dressed up as the dead to scare away the spirits. They carved turnips and put candles in them to make lanterns. This tradition continued when the immigrants came to America, but pumpkins were easier to find so they carved pumpkins. They swapped scary stories and had a big feast. Roman Catholics began to celebrate All Hallows’ day on November 1st, October 31st became All Hallows’ Eve, later shortened to

In recent years, this holiday has been gaining more and more attention in the US. However, the growth in popularity hasn’t necessarily led to a growth in understanding of the holiday. Some people still associate it with the incredibly commercialized Halloween, but it is much more meaningful than that for those that celebrate it.

While many people associate the Day of the Dead with Halloween because they occur at the same time of the year, they are not the same. Halloween is celebrated in Western Europe

Borrowing from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money. Over time this tradition turned in to today modern “trick or treating”. In the late 1800s, America turned Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, and witchcraft. As the centuries changed Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations. Because of these efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century (Kammen).