Halloween

Each year on October 31, we dress up as superheroes, ghosts, witches or wizards and head out the door collecting candies. As a child, we would go to parties, bob for apples, carve pumpkins and tell scary stories. It was a night to scare people with Halloween scenes throughout the yards in the neighbourhood, with the possibility of someone jumping out to frighten us as we walked by.

Now as an adult, I share the Halloween traditions with my daughter. She has been trick or treating since she was one, not that she could really eat much of the treats, but we certainly enjoyed the ones she couldn’t have. We even received treats of our own, simply by dressing up in a costume.

Do you know the meaning of Halloween?

When did this all begin and what are the reasons behind Halloween?

Halloween, All Hallows Eve and even Samhain (Sah-win) has been celebrated from sunset on October 31 to sunset November 1. It is the day of the dead, a day to celebrate and honour our loved ones past. Candles were lit to guide the departed to the afterlife. The Eve of November, marks the end of harvest season and the beginning of the winter, the darker half of the year.

The way we celebrate today, is thought to have come from folk custom and beliefs. They come from Celtic speaking countries that have both Pagan and Celtic Christianity roots. No one will ever really know. There are so many different stories.

Do you dress up on Halloween with your children? Do you have a scary scene in your yard?

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