Halloween Paper

Valery Duganov 11/3/12 Salem Alternative Essay American Culture Halloween Halloween was considered one of the most important religious holidays when it first originated and it is now considered one of the most popular holidays. People from countries such as Ireland, United Kingdom and Northern France, believed that on the night of Samhain, the living world and the dead originated together. This day was the first day of November; it’s considered the end of summer and the beginning of a cold, dark winter, which is associated with many deaths. It was a festival of the dead. They honored each other’s ancestors and remembered their deceased family members. Today, Halloween has morphed into parties, festivals and candy giveaways. Both children and adults dress up in different kinds of costumes and do things such as trick or treating, visiting haunted houses, attending costume parties, carving pumpkins, watching scary movies and much more. November 1st was the New Year’s Day. Celts believed that the night before the New Year was a time when the living and the dead came together. Halloween falls on October 31st, in the fall. The similarity between Halloween from the past to present day is that people are still sharing the same traditions but in a more moderate way. Costumes and masks are a huge part of the Halloween tradition, which reminds people of what we used to fear. One of the similarities is the jack-o’-lantern. People use to dress up and carry lanterns made of turnips, yet today we carve jack-o’-lantern into pumpkins instead of turnips. Food was something that was given out to the spirits and today; people give out candy to those who trick or treat at their door. Halloween does differ from what it first originated from. Halloween has evolved into a celebration where people visit haunted premises, attend costume parties and receive candy. Witches, cats and bats play a large role in this holiday because they symbolize bad omens,