Costume party and trick-or-treating goes around on the 31st of October every year. The
Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the
United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on
November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the
beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often
associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before
the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the
dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated
Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to
earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts
thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier
for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the
future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural
world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and
direction during the long, dark winter.
People on Halloween
Halloween
has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic and
superstition. It began as a Celtic end-of-summer festival during
which people felt especially close to deceased relatives and friends.
For these friendly spirits, they set places at the dinner table, left
treats on doorsteps and along the side of the road and lit candles to
help loved ones find their way back to the spirit world. Today’s
Halloween ghosts are often depicted as more fearsome and malevolent,
and our customs and superstitions are scarier too. We avoid crossing
paths with black cats, afraid that they might bring us bad luck. This
idea has its roots in the
Middle
Ages,
when many people believed that witches avoided detection by turning
themselves into cats. We try not to walk under ladders for the same
reason. This superstition may have come from the ancient Egyptians,
who believed that triangles were sacred; it also may have something
to do with the fact that walking under a leaning ladder tends to be
fairly unsafe. And around Halloween, especially, we try to avoid
breaking mirrors, stepping on cracks in the road or spilling salt. In India, superstition has a big part of the society and culture. Lots of the Celtic culture based on deceased is embossed on Indian cultural background. Likewise India has much of the essentials for Halloween to be a platform. It may be celebrated by a very small percentage of population mostly those below 23 years of age. But one doesn't need a reason for celebration. HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!!
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