Halloween Celebrated On October 31: A Festival to Honor Martyrs and To Ward-Off Evil Spirits

Ashburn, Virginia, USA 

      Scary Halloween outfits

Halloween or Hallowe’en* is a contraction of "All Hallows' Evening" and is an annual festival observed around the world. Hallowveen is a festival honoring the dead saints and observed on October 31, the night preceding All Hallows Day. It is like the ‘day of the dead’ celebrations. This has ancient origins connected with the seasonal changes and coinciding the harvest time. 

Carved Pumpkins on Halloween 

Spanning the line between fall and winter that is ‘plenty’ and ‘paucity’ or ‘life’ and ‘death’, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is believed that Halloween had originated out of the ancient Celtic** festival of ‘Samhain’, when people used to light bonfires and wear fearsome costumes in order to ward off roaming ghosts and spirits.

Pumpkins in high demand on Halloween 

Pope Gregory III, in the eighth century, designated November 1 as an occasion to honor all saints and martyrs and incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The previous evening was known as All Hallows’ Eve and was later named as the present day ‘Halloween’. 

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Synonyms:
*Hallow= bless, consecrate, sanctify (Hindi- पूजना, पवित्र करना, पाक करना)
**Celtic = an Indo-European group of languages that includes Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, and Breton and has Brythonic and Goidelic subgroups. 
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