Halloween!
Not only is the 31st of October a favourite in both our households because its our very own Hannah's birthday, its also Halloween which we all love!
We spend a good few months planning out our costumes and its become quite a tradition now.
This month is a busy one as we have two weeks of school holidays and so our days are full of crafting, baking and playing which means we have plenty of blog content but little time to publish!
So lets take a closer look at the origins of Halloween.
Contrary to popular belief, it originated in Europe from the Celtic festival Samhain which is still celebrated by Pagans and Wiccans today. Samhain was the Celtics New Year and it was believed that on that night the lines between the living and the dead became blurred and that the Ghosts of the dead could return to Earth. These spirits would damage houses and crops and cause mischief so people would make large bonfires in their towns and wear costumes aimed at scaring off ghosts and bad spirits. These were usually made of animal hides and heads.
November 1st was declared as All Saints day by Pope Gregory III which also included some of the Samhain traditions so eventually Samhain began being called All Hallows Eve and eventually Halloween which we all know today.
In Britain the pheasants would carve faces into vegetables to ward off unwanted spirits, usually our of turnips as that is what was available back then, it wasn't until Americans started carving that Pumpkins because the new symbol of the festival.
There you have it! A mini insight into how Halloween became the festival that we love and celebrate now.
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