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First is the history of Halloween all according to a 2017 article from LiveScience by Benjamin Radford. Around 2,000 years ago in the United Kingdom Ireland, and the northern part of France the people called the Celts started this holiday. They called it Samhain back then instead of Halloween. November 1st marked their new year which resulted in them celebrating on October 31st. The New Year brought wintertime which to them meant death. On the night before winter which was October 31st, they believe that the spirits of the Dead came back. They wore costumes, put on bonfires, burned crops and sacrificed animals. When the Romans

Halloween has already spread worldwide, and been given many cultural interpretations of what it represents, and how it should be celebrated. However, Día de los Muertos has just recently started spreading farther outside of hispanic culture. Día de los Muertos is a holiday celebrating death and the afterlife that death brings, as well as embracing the deceased as if they are, in a way, gods. Whereas, Halloween’s

Purpose: To inform the audience of how Halloween started and transformed to what it is now.

The fear of Halloween can stem from a dislike or fear of the holiday's history. The root word of samhainophobia is Samhain, which is a Celtic word meaning summer’s end. They celebrated Samhain with huge bonfires where crops and animals were sacrificed. The Celts believed that on Samhain the veil between the land of the living and dead was thin, which allowed for ghost, spirits, and the devil himself to pass through to the land of the living. It was also believed the Druids-the Celts priest-could predict the future on Samhain. The Celts wore costumes both as disguises and for performing the sacrifices at the bonfires. Eventually Rome conquered the

The catholic, mexican holiday, Day of the Dead and the very westernized holiday Halloween may seem very alike with their traditions and themes, but in retrospect, they are very different and have very different origins. Halloween and Day of the Dead happen at the same time, end of October and beginning of November. The background of these two holidays are very spiritual and they have an interesting story of how the Halloween and day of the dead was created. In this essay, I will be talking about the how Halloween and Day of the Dead are celebrated , the origins of Day of the Dead and Halloween, and decorations and celebrations of Day of the Dead and Halloween. Both Day of the Dead and Halloween deal with spooky traditions but they are very different than the stereotypical thought that they are just weird, scary holidays but after reading some background to these two holidays, many people realize there is a lot more to Halloween and Day of the Dead.

The catholic holiday, Day of the Dead and the holiday Halloween may seem very alike with their traditions and themes, but, they are very different and have very different origins. Halloween and Day of the Dead happen at the same time, end of October and beginning of November. The background of these two holidays are very spiritual and they have an interesting story of how the Halloween and day of the dead was created. In this essay, I will be talking about the how Halloween and Day of the Dead are celebrated , the origins of Day of the Dead and Halloween, and decorations and celebrations of Day of the Dead and Halloween. Both Day of the Dead and Halloween deal with spooky traditions but they are very different than the stereotypical thought that they are just weird, scary holidays but after reading some background to these two holidays, many people realize there is a lot more to Halloween and Day of the Dead.

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

These traditions were connected with the lower class at the time and so they were also connected with crime, rowdy behavior and other stereotypes the upper class believed about the poor. Of course people who were part of the upper class did not like this and by the 1870s they had turned Halloween into a holiday to make children into “good American citizens.” Halloween was now targeted towards children and because of that families were encouraged to celebrate it at home where food, games and other entertainment would have adult supervision. By doing this children were expected to understand the values society holds, while also learning about their proper gender roles. At this point we are able to start to see how Halloween became so heavily influenced by gender roles/stereotypes and how that led to the over-sexualized holiday it is now. Trick or treating and wearing Halloween costumes became popular in America around the 1920s and by the 1950s children’s costumes were extremely reflective of their sex. (Bannatyne.) Girls were dressed as princesses and angels while boys were army men, hobos and so on. However, as cute and adorable as this is or may have been, this creates a very thick line between genders. When that line is present it is alluding to children that

C. Thesis Statement: Going from what the meaning of Halloween is in America today and looking back at it’s roots, it has evolved dramatically. And just recently we have been seeing a comeback from one of those roots, but do we know it’s real cultural significance?

Halloween is not only one of the most popular holidays, but is also one of the oldest, and can be dated back to about 2,000 years ago. It is also known to have started

Halloween started as an ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, people would dress up in costumes, and make bonfires to defend or guard from roaming ghosts. Celts are referred to now as cultures or people from Scotland or Ireland or another place like that. The majority of the Celtic territory was conquered by the Roman Empire in 43 A.D. Rome had found a way to combine the day that Celts made, and were able to make two special days. One was called Feralia and the other day was to honor a goddess named Pomona, who was the goddess of fruit and trees. Feralia was a day to show respect to the passing of the dead. The second day was to honor Pomona.

The Celts were celebrated Halloween by sacrificing animals and wearing the animals’ heads and also pelts. The Celts put out the other fires, for a big ceremonial fire. The ceremonial fire was relit by the Druids, after the fire was put out. This was tradition was started back in 4000b.c. The animals they sacrificed were birds.

Halloween costumes at this time also reflected people's interest in other cultures. Scottish and Irish immigrants in the U.S. during the 18th and 19th centuries brought their Halloween folklore and traditions with them, which mixed in with the folklore, traditions and superstitions of other immigrants from Germany, Haiti and the Netherlands (“The History”).

Another example of a cultures belief in ghosts is Ireland’s and Scotland’s (also known as the Celt’s) belief in Samhain or All Hallow’s Eve. Samhain is a festival that is celebrated from October 31st to November 2nd. Samhain is a time of the year that celebrates the last harvest before the winter comes, and is dedicated to the “Lord of the Dead” (Guiley 19). The Celt’s believe that the dead will come out of their final resting place and mess with the crops. Also, it is believed that communication with the dead is easier during Samhain. It is said that the veil that separates the living from the dead is at its thinnest during this time. The Lord of the Dead holds a sentencing of spirits, where if they were good they can exist in the form of a human, and if they were bad, the form of an animal. Offerings of food and drink are made to the Lord of the Dead so he would not be so severe in his sentencing. Many Celt’s would dress up on Samhain to confuse the spirits that were roaming around so they wouldn’t stop, but continue to pass them by (Guiley 19). This festival is still celebrated today as Halloween. Currently, Americans hold by some of the old traditions by dressing up and making offerings by handing out candy. Many Celt’s still hold beliefs in the old ways. Celt’s also believe in what is

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Christian belief encountered significant opposition. Until then, most of the world shared the belief of the “Medieval world view” that not only was the earth positioned at the center of the universe, but that God was all knowing, all powerful and all good. God was thought to have created and sustained the wondrous workings of the universe. This belief told the people all they needed to know about the meaning and purpose of life. Then, scientific discovery and methods began to undermine religious beliefs. Scientists began to reveal that natural laws and natural forces governed the world. Opposing beliefs, e.g. the Marxism belief, criticized Christian views. People like, Bacon, Copernicus, Kepler,