WHY DO WE CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN?

• Celtic people lived in Ireland, Britain and Nother of France.
• The Celts had a tradition of remembering those who had died and keeping the evil spirits peaceful.
• They did this every year on 31st October and it was called Samhain (Summer's End).
• But their practices were opposed to the Christian way.
• Nearly seven hundred years after Christ, the Head of the Catholic Church moved an important Christian day the All Saint's Day (it's a Christian festival in honour of all the saint in heaven) to 1st November.
• He thought everyone would forget about Samhain
• Since November 1st was the day of celebrating the Holy Spirits, the evening before that became the Holy Evening or All Hallow Even. Hallow is the old word for Holy and Even is the old word for Evening.
• Soon All Hallow Even became Halloween!
• People dressed up as spirits and ghosts became a part of the All Saint's Day celebration, because people who celebrated Samhain believed that wearing scary costumes would scared away the evil spirits and keep them away.
• What about Jack-o'-latern? The pumpkin you love to carve every Halloween people keep it outside their homes to ward off evil spirits.
• In the Middle Ages children and poor people would dressing up in the spirits costumes and go around door-to-door during Holy Evening, they received food or money in exchange for songs and prayers but now children tell jokes, sing songs or perform in some other way in exchange for a treat.