Hallowe'en

Origins of:

Halloween

Halloween or Hallowe'en is an original Celtic festivity, celebrated on October the 31st mostly in America, Ireland and in other countries of the world. For the Celts, Halloween was the day before the end of the Summer and of the year. For them it was a very magical day because the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead was very thin, so thin that the spirits could cross it to terrify the people. In order to keep the bad spirits away, each family had to burn a piece of the sacred wood from the Bonfire, put it into a carved pumpkin and leave it into the fireplace. On the contrary, to attract the good spirits they had to prepare their favourite dishes and place them outside the front door.

This festivity is now very popular in America and in Ireland because during the 19th century the Irish families starved to death for the winter that killed all the harvest, and so 700.000 people immigrated to America and transferred this tradition to american people.