Analytical Blog Four

Essential Question: What is the history of Halloween? 

Since I am interested in scary stuff, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Not necessarily because of the candy or costumes but I love horror movies and novels. Last year around Halloween I saw It in theaters which furthered my interest in Stephen King. My topic is about suspense, mystery and horror, so Halloween falls into that category. I have briefly learned about the history of Halloween, why its celebrated and how its evolved, but I wanted to do more research. 

Halloween began two thousand years ago by the Celts, the people of modern Ireland, United Kingdom, and northern France. They considered November first the start of a new year, so on October thirty-first they banded together celebrate what they called Samhain. They associated the day with death and the entrance into a cold winter. They believed ghosts and spirits were wandering the earth this day, so they wore costumes to scare them away. They lit bonfires and sacrificed animals and crops at their celebration. They tried to tell one another's fortunes and thought they could communicate with the dead. This annual celebration continued into the Roman Empire forty three A.D. They conquered the Celtic territory, so they combined Samhain and the  Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees. They called the holiday Feralia, and that is where the tradition of bobbing for apples originated because Pomona's symbol was an apple. These two holidays evolved into All Soul's Day on November second. All Soul's Day is also known as All-Hallows day, which would later evolve into "Halloween." This celebration began around one thousand A.D when they would honor the dead by dressing up in costumes, having bonfires and parades. 

Halloween was brought to America by European immigrants who celebrated it and it began in Maryland. They would throw parties and tell ghost stories, dance, sing and even tell each other's fortunes. At this time, Halloween was not widely celebrated until the influx of Irish immigrants during the potato famine. What we know as trick or treating started when people went to their neighbor's homes to ask for money of food. After newspapers and people of authority pushed citizens to stop adding eeriness to their Halloween celebrations, the supernatural beliefs in the holiday were lost. Years later in the 1920's and 1930's, there was tons of vandalism and even violence on the Halloween, which was limited by the 1950's. Now, the Halloween is a beloved, fun holiday celebrated by people of all religions and ethnicity. 



https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween