HALLOWEEN 31 ST OCTOBER HALLOWEEN HOW MANY WORDS CAN YOU FIND WITHIN THE WORD HALLOWEEN? HALLOWEEN wheel, when, now, lean, owl, low, how, allow, whale, halo, Lean, wean, wall, won HALLOWEEN Halloween is not exactly a typical holiday. Other holidays, like Christmas and easter, celebrate an event. Halloween celebrates a lot of things, including the lives of people who aren't with us anymore. (The dead) HALLOWEEN THE NAME Many hundreds of years ago, people called the Celts lived in Europe and on the British Isles. The Celts believed that the souls of the dead visited Earth on the last day of October. They had a festival in honoUr of these souls of the dead, and they called it Samhain. In time, the Roman Empire conquered the Celts and took over some of their beliefs as well. This included Samhain. The Romans combined it with their own festivals. And since the Roman Empire spread across a great part of the known world, the idea that the souls of the dead visited Earth on the last day of October spread far and wide. (americas) HALLOWEEN the name In the 8th Century, the Catholic Church November 1 was picked to be the day to honor all saints. (all saints day) The mass = Allhallowmas HALLOWEEN THE NAME the night before all saints day became known as Allhallowe'en, which was short for "evening before All Hallows' Day. which was shortened again to HALLOWEEN Evil spirits It was believed at this time, souls could wander freely across the earth. Hallowe'en was seen as a time when evil spirits, the devil and witches were at their most powerful. Nowadays, the festival is characterised by decorations of this sort in their homes. COSTUMES When Halloween started many years ago people believed that if they appeared scary, they would scare away the spirits of the dead who were roaming the earth on All Hallows' Eve. For this reason Children dress up as witches, black cats and vampires. Souls of the dead These people also left food as a sacrifice to the dead hoping the spirits would eat that food and not come raid the village. Now on haloween many bake apple cakes with money inside for Hallowe'en parties.." TRICK OR TREAT it was traditional for some people to go from door-to- door collecting bread, money, eggs, nuts and apples. It was felt that these offerings gave protection against bad luck. Nowadays, this practice is known as "Trick or Treat", with the household which gives the least amount of candy/money becomes liable to have a "trick played on them. FIREWORKS lighting a Hallowe'en bonfire continues in some parts to this day however now a days fireworks displays are more common. The sacrifice marked the end of the final harvest period of late summer and the move into the winter season. It was believed that the gap between the living world and the spirit world was at it's weakest and interaction between these worlds was easiest at this point in the ancient calendar. TRICK OR TREAT SONG "Hallowe'en's coming on and the goose is getting fat, Would you please put a penny in the old mans hat, If you haven't got a penny, a halfpenny will do, If you haven't got a halfpenny, God bless you."