Origins of Halloween
Halloween is celebrated for over 3,000 years and originates from the Celts, warlike people inhabiting a part of Ireland, England, Scotland and France.
It was October 31, the Celts celebrated the end of the year (Samhain) - a pagan holiday. From a European immigration to the United States, mostly Irish Catholic, in 1846, with their traditions of Halloween came to America. Talking about Halloween or Day of the Witch, we think about the costumes, makeup, parties, candy and children; but tradition says that his end was not always so festive and fun, and the rituals that were practiced during the night was clearing and religious.
The Celts came from Asia and formed a branch of the Indo-Germanic peoples settled in Western Europe in the twentieth century BC, and then populated central and northern Europe. By 1000 BC they appeared in northern France, part of Switzerland and northern Italy. Then they invaded Spain in the ninth century BC. Their language was Indo-European, from which there is very little literature records.
By the fourth century BC, the Celts were forced out of Central and Northern Europe, other nations, mainly from the German group.
Of particular importance for the Celts had a date of the first Samonisa, which means "gathering", which is roughly equivalent to our November 1, when the Celts began to count down the new year. The spread of Christianity has transformed this day, All Saints' Day (and all souls). Samonis called Samain the ancient Irish, and Samhain in modern times.
On this day also held amorous rites by the river with Morrigan, the Goddess of the tribe, the patroness of the masculine and the lady of the underworld. She was the only Celtic goddess in the image of women and ruled the underworld and war; it is called the "Queen of the ghosts". The holding of this ritual was important, as the goddess of the soldiers opened the secrets of how to emerge victorious in the upcoming battle.
For folklore Halloween (remember that the Celts lived in the northern hemisphere), it marks the beginning of a dark year. The Celts, like other ancient peoples, beginning the countdown cycle dark side: the day ended with the sunset, and the next day began with the darkness of the night - the same night the coming New Year.
This festival is also associated with air. Water, fire, earth and air were not only key elements of the pre-Socratic Greeks, but also the categories of management a reality for all Indo-European cultures.
October 31 is the date associated with the dead, lost souls, witches and spells. These features are associated with the proximity of a day of remembrance, which has led the Catholic Church to the remembrance of the dead November 1st. The Celts practiced human and animal sacrifice in honor of Samhain.
This magical day marked the end of a warm summer and the beginning of the cold winter season, which is sometimes compared people with death and all its attendant trappings. The Celts were that the boundary between the measurements of living and dead people disappear at night. The most unpredictable night of October 31 they worshiped Samayn'u (Samhain), the day that was believed to have transferred the souls of dead people on the ground.
During the ceremony, 31 October Celts lit bonfires dressed in the skins of slaughtered humans and animals, to tame the demons. From the ashes of the remains of the victims were held ceremonies to know the future for the coming months.
In the United States first began to celebrate Halloween small communities of Irish Catholics in the mid-nineteenth century, and then in the twentieth century, this tradition spread to the rest of the world.