Halloween holiday developed because of church
Hallow: Old English term for
holy
Ween: Old English term for
eve
Put these two terms together
and you have one of the most celebrated Holidays in America. While the usual
association with this celebration is candy and costumes, there's more to it
then meets the eye.
Halloween as most people
celebrate it came from Celtic Druids.
They used a different calendar from Christians, so their beginning of
the year coincided with what is now October 31. In their beliefs, the beginning
of the year commenced with all dead souls wandering the earth. People, in turn,
would try to disguise themselves as these wandering spirits in order to hide.
If someone was caught without a disguise, they would give the spirit or person
who stopped them a treat to appease them.
In response to this pagan
celebration, Christianity has "All Hallows Eve." This celebration came from a
Benedictine monastery in France. In the "old days," there were many more
saints' days; so it was decided to have a holiday that celebrated all
saints/people in God's presence. All Hallows eve is the eve of All Saints Day,
November 1, which celebrates all those known and unknown that are in God's
presence.
The following day is All
Souls Day, and that holiday celebrates all those who are in purgatory. These
two holidays together celebrate the Communion of Saints, which is the communion
of the living, the dead in purgatory, and the dead in Heaven.
Another interesting fact is
that Halloween coincides with the Lutheran celebration of the Reformation. It's
the day when Luther pinned his famous 95 theses to the local church's door.