Happy Halloween! It is now Spooky Season, which means scary movies, dressing up in costumes, and candy! Halloween is commonly celebrated, but a majority of people don’t know why we all celebrate it in the first place. Halloween originated in Europe during ancient times, prominently in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Northern France. You may wonder, what is the reason why Halloween started and continued as a holiday for 2,000 years? 

During ancient times, Nov. 1 was celebrated as the new year. This was celebrated as the new year because this day was considered the last day of summer, and the beginning of the winter which was a period of time during the year that death was more common. This meant that on the night before the change of seasons, Oct. 31, it was believed that spirits of the dead came back to life. This could be thought of as a bit scary and that is why we commonly dress in scary costumes such as monsters or why we carve faces into pumpkins. Those scary costumes were believed to scare off the spirits that would appear in the night before New Year’s, and the carved pumpkins on your doorstep may be scaring away evil spirits. That is a win-win situation for us!

Throughout the years, Halloween has been modified in other civilizations and cultures. This has resulted in the Halloween that we celebrate today, which seems more enjoyable than fighting off evil spirits or having sacrificing rituals at a bonfire –and if you’re concerned, no humans were burned in these rituals. The most pleasant result of Halloween is the treats and candy given to one another (or buying said treats for ourselves –no judgement). Nowadays, we don’t all dress up as scary things; people  dress up as other people, like celebrities which can make the celebration more enjoyable for those who aren’t fans of being scared. The way that Halloween has been altered throughout the years, it has intrigued other countries, resulting in them celebrating Halloween just like us.

To find out more about how teachers in Lodi High School celebrate Halloween, check out the video!