Ever wondered why we are actually celebrating Halloween, other than it’s a good reason to dress up in fancy costumes and get together with friends and family and have fun?
Halloween roots back to Celtic culture in Europe. Being superstitiuous, the Celts believed that in the night following Samhain, the harvest festival, the souls of the dead were out on the streets. To put them in a good mood they left out treats for them.
Later on, approx around the early fourth century, it became more of a Catholic issue. Halloween is celebrated the day before All Saints Day, the day the Catholic Church honors the Martyrs. Nowadays it’s a pretty solemn holiday in Europe, celebrated with fasting the night before and prayers, giving thanks to the Saints. Most people bring fresh flowers to the family gravesites and remember the dead.
However, as Europeans also like to party, the American way of celebrating Halloween has been adopted. There are costume parties, kids go out trick or treatin’ and people decorate their houses.