Have a safe and fun Halloween!

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

iMAGE SOURCE: "Jack-o'-Lantern 2003-10-31" by Toby Ord - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jack-o%27-Lantern_2003-10-31.jpg#/media/File:Jack-o%27-Lantern_2003-10-31.jpg

The holiday originally comes from a people called the Celts. The Celts lived in Europe more than 2000 years ago. On November 1st they celebrated the end of summer. They thought ghosts visited the living on October 31st. They dressed up like ghosts so the spirits would not harm them. Today, many countries still remember the dead on November 1st. It is called All Saints Day. Another name for it is All Hallow’s Day. The day before, October 31st, is called All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween for short.

Halloween is an old tradition in Ireland and Scotland. In those countries, people dressed up and carried 

lanterns made of turnips. When people moved from Ireland and Scotland to the United States, they started using pumpkins. This is where the jack-o’-lantern comes from. 

They also had a tradition of giving food to the spirits. Later, they gave the food to poor people. This is where trick-or-treating comes from.

Halloween has changed a lot since its origins. New people have brought new traditions, and changed the old ones. What do you think Halloween will be like in another two thousand years?

The Wearing Of Masks - "The purpose of wearing a mask in most primitive religious traditions is to make a spiritual connection with the deity or the Nature Spirit represented by the mask. .. Though much of this has been lost or temporarily forgotten, there is still much about the tradition costumes worn by children today that tells us Halloween is a celebration of the spirits".

The Jack O’ Lantern -"it is the candle inside the pumpkin that is of magickal importance. The candle flame represents not only the element of Fire, but also the white light of pure spirit in Ireland candles are lit in cottage windows to welcome home the ghosts of the dead".

Contact With The Dead (Necromancy) - "At this time of year, the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is very thin. As the old Pagan year draws to a close, it is time to receive messages from those who had gone before . Necromancy is technically the raising of the dead for the purpose of learning the future from them".