- By Ashita Singh
- Wed, 26 Oct 2022 11:52 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
It's the Spooky time of the year! Halloween 2022 is just a few days away and people have already started preparing for the scary festival. Halloween is also known as All Saint's Eve or All Hallow's eve as this day was traditionally celebrated to mark end of the harvest season and the beginning of cold and harsh winters. However, over the period of time, the same day got different meanings as a section of people started to dedicate this to the dead and honour the land between the living and dead where spirits roam freely.
Halloween is basically a day to pretend and play dress-up nowadays. People on this day party and roam on streets wearing the spookiest costumes. Kids especially enjoy this day as they get heaps of candies while 'trick or treating'.
To your knowledge, the ritual of knocking on people's doors and saying 'trick or treat' started in the 16th century in some European countries. There was a belief that people dressed in spooky costumes were saving themselves from evil spirits.
This year, Halloween is celebrated on Monday, October 31, 2022 as it falls on the same day from the very start. People celebrate this day by decorating their houses with spooky stuff such as artificial skeletons, etc. Also, since October is known as pumpkin season, people in the United States carve it into a spooky face and decorate it in their gardens with some lighting.
Halloween 2022: History
Halloween originated with the Celts, who lived two centuries ago in the areas now known as Ireland, England and northern France. On October 31, they celebrated the festival of Samhain to mark the end of summer before the new year started on November 1.
However, some Celts believed that on the night before the new year, ghosts had the ability to return to the earth. Traditionally, people visit the church to pray for the dead and light candles on their graves, but gradually the traditions evolved and they wore costumes to ward off evil spirits, made bonfires and tried to predict the future through fortune-telling.