The Origins of Halloween
Halloween is that one night of the year when even the suburbs admit they like the dark, you dress your kid as a zombie or their favorite…
The Origins of Halloween
Halloween is that one night of the year when even the suburbs admit they like the dark, you dress your kid as a zombie or their favorite superhero, buy overpriced sugar, and watch your favorite spooky flicks.
Yet there are interesting and older origins than this consumerist spectacle. Once America was able to commercialize Halloween, it became a day for celebrating cute ghosts.
However, Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, comes from Samhain, an ancient Celtic pagan celebration festival. It signified the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the dark half of the year. Samhain was the time when the living and the dead were said to share the same air, the “thinning of the veil.” It commenced with fire and fear, the fear of knowing that the sun was about to leave for a very long time.