Witches, gobblins, and ghouls...Oh, my!

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year, can you tell? It's a time for devishish fun and an opportunity to put on a costume and, for a few hours, pretend to be somebody else...maybe someone from our fantasy. Do you know the history behind this one-of-a-kind holiday? October 31st, falling between fall and winter, the richness of harvest and the poverty of a long winter, between the death of summer and rebirth of spring, this day was originally tied in with the Celtic festival of Samhain. Pope Gregory, in the the eighth  century, declared November 1st as a day to honor the Saints and martyrs...All Saints Day. The night before was known as All Hallows' Eve or Halloween. People would light fires and wear costumes to scare off the roaming ghosts. The Celtic area, originally was Ireland, United Kingdom, and northern France. November 1st was celebrated as their New years. The eve before, it was thought, the  boundary between the living world and spirit world was blurred. The ghosts of the dead would return to the land of the living. The Celts thought that these spirits would cause trouble and damage crops. Thus the lighting of bonfires and the waering of costumes, usually the heads of animals, in hopes of chasing them away. To read the full history:
http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween
Eventually, it became a secular, community-based holiday with activities for children. Today, one quarter of all candy sales, in the US, occur in October.  
I wish everyone a happy and safe Halloween...whatever your activity of choice is. See you back here on Monday!

"From ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night...
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