How Did Halloween Start?

Halloween has its origins from a festival held over 2,000 years ago before the beginning of Christianity. It is not as many people believe a custom started in America, although the Americans have embraced Halloween more than any other nation.

The Ancient Celts that lived in the countries we now call The United Kingdom, Northern France and Ireland and on the 31st of October each year they had a huge celebration called Samhain - pronounced "Sow-in". The Celtic priests presided over this festival and they were called Druids, and the name of Samhain was the name of their Lord of the Dead or Lord of Darkness.

Their belief was that that leaving out "treats" for spirits would encourage them to return to earth to visit their living relatives, and they would even leave the homes open to encourage the visitation of the spirits. Their lives revolved around nature and their agriculture, and on the night of Samhain (31st October), they would make huge bonfires of crops and dress in animals skins and adorn themselves with the heads of dead animals in a ritulistic celebration.

In Ireland the evening of the 31st of October was called Hallows Eve or the night before "All Hallows". In Scotland it was know as Hallowe’en.

Other peoples of religion such as Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox Church also celebrated similar historic festivals for Saints or for the dead which was held earlier in the year on different dates.

In the seventh century Pope Boniface IV changed the pagan festival to become All Saints Day and as Chrisianity spread throughout the Celtic Lands with Rome conquering many of the areas owned by the Celts, the 1st of November was proclaimed as the day of celebration of All Saints. The festivals name has different origins but all had a similar spelling such as the Ancient English "Alholowmesse" which means "All Saints Day". The evening before this day (31st October) was called All-hallows Eve or All Hakkiwe’en in other areas, and loosely translated is the eve before All Saints. This was eventually shortened updated over the decades to become what we know as Halloween.

Today’s Trick Or Treating For Halloween & How It Started

Children love to go trick or treating at Halloween and become very excited about the prospect of being able to receive sweeties from friends and people in their neighbourhood. The tradition of trick or treating for Halloween today, is derived from the Ancients Celts leaving food and treats out for the Spirits or Ghosts of their dead relatives, to encourage them to revisit earth. By leaving out food or treats the Ancient Celts felt that they were making the Ghosts of their dead relatives over th centuries happy when they arrived on earth and their belief system was that if treats were not left then the Ghost of past generations would be angry and may hurt them, or as we now term play "tricks" on people.

Modern children of today are made very happy by receiving sweeties or treats during Halloween when they door knock at the homes in their neighbourhood and often receive sweeties from friends and relatives, the same as the ancients ghosts were made happy by the Ancient Celts by leaving out treats.

Alternatively they are supposed to play a trick if goodies are not forthcoming, the same as the spirits of the Ancients they believed would play tricks, and that has now become the tradition Trick or Treating customs of today.

History Of Halloween Costumes & Ideas For Fancy Dress

Scary costumes to celebrate Halloween has been embraced all over the world and once again this has been derived from the Ancient Celts and embroidered by generations to what is now known today. People even use Halloween concepts to have Scary parties or parties held on Black Friday the 13th.

The Ancient Celts priests called Druids, dressed up in animal skins and would wear the heads of dead animals on the eve of 31st October, and they did so in the belief that the ghosts or spirits would feel more comfortable returning to earth and participate in festivities and celebrations with living people, if the people on earth were dressed in dead animal skins and adorned with heads of dead animals.

This practice of "dressing up" in what we would today call fancy dress costumes for Halloween, was considered to be a big part of the Halloween festival and that has followed through to modern day celebrations of Halloween.

Today we dress up in costumes such of that of Ghosts, devils, monsters, witches and the Grim reaper, and carry scary swords, devils forks or sticks with gruesome faces much as the Ancient Celts. Over the centuries the fancy dress of Halloween has grown to include adults and children, but with a total sense of having fun and the scarier the better. Let your imagination run riot for Halloween and join the millions of people the world over who treat this day now as a celebration, albeit a scary one.

You don’t have to spend a fortune on your Halloween costume, if you were black and just add a cape, a scary mask, a witch’s hat or wizard hat, or dress in red and wear devil horns and carry a devil’s trident, or paint your face with face paint in black white and red, you will still be in the theme and have a blast. The alternatives are endless. Browse through our hundreds of Fancy Dress Halloween items for Halloween costumes, Halloween decorations and accessories, Halloween makeup and face paint, let your imagination go wild and have a blast of a Halloween.