The
Origins
of
Hallow
e'en
The
ancient Celtic festival called Samhain was the New Year's Day of the Celts
and was celebrated on 1 November. It was a joyful harvest festival that
marked the death of the old year and the beginning of a new one. It was
also a day of the dead, a time when it was believed that the souls of
those who had died during the year were allowed access to the land of the
dead.
The
previous night was the time of the wandering dead. And so the practice of
leaving offerings of food and drink to masked and costumed revelers, and
the lighting of bonfires, practiced on 31 October, became known as the Eve
of All Saints, the Eve of All Hallows, or Hallow Even (Hallow e'en). |