Halloween or Hallowe’en is now celebrated across the world on the night of 31st October and it is a holiday filled with mystery, magic and superstition.
The origins of Halloween date back thousands of years, to pagan times.
It started as a Celtic festival (Samhain) during which people felt especially close to deceased relatives and friends and they would prepare places at the dinner table for the spirits and left treats on doorsteps and along the side of the road and lit candles to help loved ones find their way back to the spirit world.
Christianity arrived in England and one of the Christian Festivals was “All Hallows’ Day”, also known as “All Saints Day”, a day to remember those who had died for their beliefs.
This was originally celebrated on 13th May, but Pope Gregory had the date of the All Hallows’ feast moved to 1st November sometime in the 8th century. Some people believe that he tried to replace the Celtic Samhain festival of the dead with All Hallow’s feast.
The night or evening of Samhain therefore became known as All-hallows-even then Hallow Eve, still later Hallowe’en and then finally Halloween. A special time of the year when many believe that the spirit world can make contact with the physical world.