HALLOWEEN

Halloween is a traditional folk and pagan festival from the Anglo-Celtic Islands, celebrated on the evening of October 31, the eve of the Christian holiday of All Saints.

Despite its English Christian name, the vast majority of sources present Halloween as a legacy of Samain’s pagan festival, which was celebrated by the Celts early in the autumn and was a kind of New Year’s Eve party for them.

Halloween is known until now as Oiche Shamhna in Gaelic. It is a very popular holiday in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales where there are many historical records of its existence.

It was from the eighth century, under Pope Gregory III (731-741) and, in the following century, under Pope Gregory IV (827-844), that the Catholic Church moved the feast of All Saints, who could to celebrate until then after Easter or after Pentecost, on November 1st, christianizing the feast of Samain.

Halloween is introduced in the United States and Canada after the massive arrival of Irish and Scottish emigrants following the Great Famine in Ireland (1845-1851).

It is gaining popularity since the 1920s. Halloween is today celebrated mainly in Ireland, Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, many other countries. The best-known modern tradition is for kids to dress up in frightening costumes like ghosts, witches, monsters or vampires and go door-to-door asking for treats.