IT'S HALLOWEEN

a short history of halloween

Halloween started with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain 2,000 years ago in Ireland, Scotland and northern France. The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1, which marked the end of summer and the harvest, and the beginning of the dark, cold winter: a time of year that was often associated with death. 

The Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, and, on the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

By the 9th century, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, and All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. 

The All Saints Day celebration was also called All-hallows and the traditional night of Samhain began to be called All-hallows Even and, eventually, Halloween.

 Reference

 http://inglese-per-italiani.blogspot.it/2011/10/halloween-31-october.html 

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