Real Meaning of Halloween?!

Happy All Hallow Eve
So Do You Trick or Treaters Know The True Meaning Of Halloween?
Over 2, 000 years ago, the Celts celebrated a holiday they called Samhain (pronounced "Sa-wan"). Samhain was the name of the god of death. Now you would think that a god of death would be a nasty guy everyday. Well that may be true to the living but not necessarily to the dead. On the last day of October, (when the harvest season had ended and the days were getting shorter and colder) the god Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to visit the homes they once lived in.

Now this was a scary night for the Celts. On that night they would leave their homes and gather together in a field. Once at the field they would build a huge bonfire, this fire was as big as a torcher errrr tool shed, to scare away all the evil spirits and any ghost, goblins, or any other demons that may be roaming around in the night. I remember those times well. It was fun scaring those Celts silly! Oh how I miss those times. I'd go visit my own home that I once lived in but it is now a McDonald's.

The holiday of Samhain was an ancestor of the Halloween of today. Although it was not called Halloween at first. When the Romans first conquered the Celts in the first century A.D., they added parts of two of their own festivals: Feralia, a festival held to honour the dead, and Poloma, named after the Roman Goddess of fruit and trees.

Well eventually the Celt religion was replaced by Christianity. Somewhere around 800 A.D. the Christian church declared November 1st as All Saints' Day to honour all the Saints who did not have a special day of their own. On this occasion people made their old customs from Samhian and the Roman festivals part of the All Saints' Day rituals. The Catholic church also made November 2nd All Souls' Day to honour the dead.

The mass said on All Saints' Day was known as Allhallowmas. The evening before, October 31st became known as All Hallow Eve. Over time the name has been shortened to Halloween.
So to sum this story up, basically I now have 3 days in which to roam the earth scaring people as opposed to the old one night I once had. I would like to take this time to thank all the Christians for their generosity..

History taken from "The Halloween Book" by Sharon, David & Marilyn Mets.

Have a safe, kind and blessed All Hallow Eve!