2. SAMHAIN NIGHT
~ The origin of Halloween ~
•From ancient Ireland
•Celtic festival for the
end of the harvest season
•The Celtic new year
3. The ancient Irish believed that
on Samhain the boundary between
the dead and the living dissolved,
and the dead became dangerous,
causing sickness or damaged crops.
Traditional ways of
warding off evil spirits:
←Bonfires
Carrying a
carved turnip with
a candle in it→
4. Holidays for the Dead in Other Countries
• Day of the Dead (Día de
los muertos)--Mexico-November 2nd
• Todos los santos--Spain-October 31st
Why do the holidays
around this time of year
have to do with death/the
return of the dead?
5. Where is Halloween celebrated?
Canada
United States
Ireland
Scotland
Sweden England
Recent tradition:
Netherlands New Zealand Australia
Germany
Spain
Japan
South America
6. Halloween in the USA
•Began with the flood of Irish immigrants in the 1850’s
•Less of a spiritual/religious holiday in the USA; more
for fun and mischief.
•Emphasis on the dead remains
8. Tradition: Dressing Up
Traditional Halloween disguises are figures of death: Witch, ghost,
devil, bat, cat, zombie, mummy, vampire, skeleton…
9. Tradition: Trick-Or-Treating
•Children dress up and go door to door soliciting candy on the night of
Halloween. Younger children start going trick-or-treating in the early
evening, before dark; older children trick-or-treat later, until ten or
eleven p.m.
•When the door opens, the children say, “trick-or-treat!”
11. Tradition: Corn Mazes
•Farmers plow their corn fields into mazes and
labyrinths.
•Actors, dressed up as monsters, hide in the corn
and try to scare the people in the maze.
12. Tradition: Haunted Houses
•Old houses that
have been made to
look spooky and
have scary/strange
things inside
(ghosts, eerie noises,
etc)
