Halloween remains one of the most controversial. This holiday is both funny and scary, it is associated with mysticism, various unpleasant creatures from witches to spiders. Where did this tradition come from, and why is Halloween celebrated on the last night of October?

Halloween is an ancient pagan holiday that marked the transition of the world from warm and bright summer time to the darkness and cold of winter, which will last many months. This is the Celtic New Year, which is worth exploring in detail.

Who started celebrating Halloween when?

This holiday began to be celebrated more than 6 thousand years ago, it can rightly be called one of the oldest. Celebrated by the Celts, tribes living in Ireland, Great Britain. The holiday was originally called in honor of the god of darkness Samayna or Samheyna. It was believed that on the night of October 31 to November 1, he steals and hides the Sun, which marks the beginning of winter. And it was also believed that at that time the line between the worlds of the dead and the living was thinning, which allows shadows and various essences to come into the world of people, to freely walk around the earth.

Celtic traditions are distinguished by their stability, especially for such fundamental beliefs. The Romans, and then the Franks, Saxons, could not make the local population forget about the holiday, which continued to be celebrated year after year. Only its name changed.He successfully survived to our days, although today far from all people know why you need to wear monster costumes and decorate the house with images of evil spirits.

When is Halloween celebrated?

Halloween is celebrated on the night of October 31 to November 1. Despite the past millennia and the repeated change of the calendar and its features over this period, the holiday takes place at its original time. It was one for many pagan peoples of the past, the Slavs celebrated Veles night at the same time, which performs exactly the same functions as Samhane for the Celts. All of Europe, America, and now Russia celebrates Halloween at the same time, just like the pagan tribes of the past that inhabited all of Europe also celebrated their fall New Year.

Why is Halloween celebrated like this?

Everyone knows that on this holiday you need to wear scary costumes, scare friends and strangers. To decorate houses and streets use scary figures, various frightening images. It turns out that today this day is still celebrated relatively peacefully, because in the past it was supposed to sacrifice to propitiate spirits from the world of the dead. Dressing up in costumes and posing as evil is supposed to ensure that evil spirits consider living people to be also dead or demons, and do no harm to them.

Interesting fact: the skeleton costume could become a real amulet - the ancients believed that if they saw it, the spirits would decide that they were dead, and would not annoy a person. That is why frightening paraphernalia is relevant in Halloween.

Why was Samhane renamed Halloween?

For thousands of years this holiday was called Samhain, but then it was called Halloween. This is due to the advent of Christianity, which began to cover these territories around the seventh century. During this period, the pagan holiday was renamed, which the locals wanted to keep and leave under any pretext. Christianity insisted that it is necessary to celebrate All Saints Day on November 1, and the night of Samhain - to forget. But still managed to preserve the tradition, the holiday became considered the eve of All Saints Day - All Hallow`s even. The name Halloween came later, as an abbreviation for this rather long and uncomfortable name.

How was Halloween perceived in the past, and how is it perceived today

People of the past perceived the pagan New Year as a period of the descent of spirits to the earth, they treated this mainly calmly. On this day, the deceased ancestors were revered; in some European countries there is a tradition of going to the cemetery during this period to restore order there. The pagans did not perceive the spirits as something bad or good, they simply noted their presence. Moreover, the mystical aspect in the past was not the main thread in the outline of the holiday. He devoted mainly to the harvest. It was customary to “feed” vegetables and fruits and spirits - probably, the tradition of cutting pumpkins into lanterns came from precisely these beliefs. Moreover, turnips were first cut, and the “sacrifice” of pumpkins became a later trend.

But with the advent of Christianity, spirits began to be associated with devilry, an unclean force with which a person cannot communicate, because the holiday began to be considered a witch, it was not supposed to be read. But people began to guess this night, engage in various rituals. And he gained the status of a night of riots, because of which he was officially banned until 1845. Moreover, acts of vandalism, gifts in the form of poisoned sweets or sweets with blades occur today, this night, American and European authorities urge to remain vigilant.

How did Halloween appear in America?

Many people believe that Halloween is an American holiday. But this statement is not true. Having moved to America with the immigrants, he took root in these territories, acquiring his own specifics and features. But that does not change its Irish and English descent. Moreover, in America this holiday did not even become official. But he is actively supported - and by businessmen who sell on his eve a lot of costumes, paraphernalia, and the media. This night there are festivals that gather a lot of people, and therefore bring a good income. So the popularity of such an event in the United States is not at all surprising.

The legend of a pumpkin flashlight

Vegetables and fruits were a symbol of the holiday in the pre-Christian era, today this symbolism has remained and has somewhat transformed. There is a late legend about why this night they light a pumpkin flashlight in which they put a candle.It is believed that such a man lived - Tricky Jack, who was able to outwit the Devil so that he would not take his soul to hell. But this man also could not get to heaven. So he roams the earth, and the devil gave him a pumpkin lantern, which Jack now has to carry on his shoulders instead of his head.

Thus, Halloween is an ancient pagan holiday, the Celtic New Year, when the god of winter captured the Sun, and spirits descended into the world of people. But it is also a harvest festival. It used to be called Samhain, but now they have begun to call it Halloween, paying tribute to Christianity. Despite the fact that he lost his religious meaning, and today few people believe in spirits, he remained in the culture of people like a night of masquerade, sweets and entertainment.