Halloween Costumes: Why Do We Dress Up For Halloween?

Halloween for many Americans means dressing up as an animal, famous star, cartoon, etc. and going trick-or-treating with their family or friends. However, not many people know the meaning behind Halloween. It is always celebrated on October 31st no matter what day it lands on. Many people do not know the tradition of Halloween and where it came from. In fact, I did not know either until my High School teacher told me that Halloween came from Ireland. The purpose of dressing up is so that the spirits and demons cannot recognize human beings. Many people thought the dead would arise that day and that’s why people used masks to distinguish themselves. In addition, trick-or-treating was a way to give candy, food, or money, but throughout the years it has changed. People trick-or-treat to receive candy or get tricked, which is always fun for children and even adults. People have a choice of either staying in their homes and just give candy to people who knock on the door or receiving candy. If the light of the front door is on or the house is decorated, then it is a sign that you can knock on their door. On Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns is believed that he tricked the devil, and when he died he was rejected in heaven and hell; for that reason, he roams our world and we represent him by carving pumpkins. Halloween dealt with spirits

Every year millions of kids get dressed up, knock on doors, and beg for candy. With Halloween just around the corner, you all are probably wondering where this strange tradition came from. Every year I have experienced this holiday and have done research on this topic. According to a 2014 Smithsonian.com article, stated by Natasha Geiling, in just one year Americans spent over six billion dollars on candy, costumes, and ghoulish decor in anticipation for Halloween. Many people think all Halloween is about dressing up and going trick or treating but there's more to it than that. The roots and variations from all around are what makes Halloween what it is today. In order to understand this holiday, we will go into the history of Halloween, how it's celebrated around the world, and superstitions revolving it.

Thesis Statement: How Halloween has evolved from what it once was to what is now.

The fear of Halloween can stem from a dislike or fear of the holiday's history. The root word of samhainophobia is Samhain, which is a Celtic word meaning summer’s end. They celebrated Samhain with huge bonfires where crops and animals were sacrificed. The Celts believed that on Samhain the veil between the land of the living and dead was thin, which allowed for ghost, spirits, and the devil himself to pass through to the land of the living. It was also believed the Druids-the Celts priest-could predict the future on Samhain. The Celts wore costumes both as disguises and for performing the sacrifices at the bonfires. Eventually Rome conquered the

Halloween is believed to come from Celtic rituals. The Celts lived over 2000 years ago, and were found in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France. The Celts celebrated

La dia de los Muertos dates back to as early as the maya and aztec days, nearly 3,000 years ago. “The Aztecs didn’t fear death. They believed the way a person died determines their type of afterlife.” (Sarah Massey) Families place alters in their homes with favorite foods of the deceased people, sugar skulls with their name on it, special possessions of the loved ones, and Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead). On the altar are four special elements, water, wind, fire, and earth. Candles represent fire, food represents the earth. Halloween dates back to the celt days, about 2,000 years ago. They lived in what now is known as Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. They gathered on October 31st to celebrate the end of the harvest season. The celts believed that spirits roamed the earth on this night. Celts out food out for the spirits, this was the first form of trick or treating. Some dressed up as the dead to scare away the spirits. They carved turnips and put candles in them to make lanterns. This tradition continued when the immigrants came to America, but pumpkins were easier to find so they carved pumpkins. They swapped scary stories and had a big feast. Roman Catholics began to celebrate All Hallows’ day on November 1st, October 31st became All Hallows’ Eve, later shortened to

[3]During, Samhain (sow-in), the tribal people would pay tribute to their conquerors and then the ancient mounds might reveal the magnificent palaces of the gods of the underworld. differences as well. Basically, both the festival of Samhain (sow-in) and our present day Halloween involved costumes and they were both celebrated in the fall. The differences, however, outnumber the similarities. Costumes had change from a disguise that was terrifying to the eye and fearful to costumes made in a factory somewhere that is sometimes at an outrageous price. Girls costumes have changed the most, they used to cover your whole body to something skimpy and ridiculous. For example, a sexy Donald Trump costume….it even sounds ridiculous. In Conclusion, Halloween has changed over the years but some traditions have remained the same but not for the same

C. Thesis Statement: Going from what the meaning of Halloween is in America today and looking back at it’s roots, it has evolved dramatically. And just recently we have been seeing a comeback from one of those roots, but do we know it’s real cultural significance?

Halloween is not only one of the most popular holidays, but is also one of the oldest, and can be dated back to about 2,000 years ago. It is also known to have started

Imagine if Halloween as we know it was entirely different? What if Halloween colors were green and yellow instead of orange and black? Well, orange and black are the main colors of Halloween because death is mostly represented through the color black. Like at a ceremony for a person who has passed on. Orange traditionally represents harvest where the Celtics lived, such as England, Scotland, Ireland, and northern France, is where the ancient Celtic people lived. On October 31st, or the eve of the Celtic’s new year, they thought that the world of the dead and the living merged. In 800 AD, Halloween we know today began, and Christians finally reached the Celts. The Christians sought out to Celts’ Samhain festival (pronounced

The Celts were celebrated Halloween by sacrificing animals and wearing the animals’ heads and also pelts. The Celts put out the other fires, for a big ceremonial fire. The ceremonial fire was relit by the Druids, after the fire was put out. This was tradition was started back in 4000b.c. The animals they sacrificed were birds.

Halloween costumes at this time also reflected people's interest in other cultures. Scottish and Irish immigrants in the U.S. during the 18th and 19th centuries brought their Halloween folklore and traditions with them, which mixed in with the folklore, traditions and superstitions of other immigrants from Germany, Haiti and the Netherlands (“The History”).

Many people ask me why I don’t celebrate Halloween and here is the reason why. The word Halloween dates to around 1700-1800s and is of Christian origin. It means holly evening, which comes from the Scottish term (The evening before all hallows day). Development of artifacts and symbols affiliated with Halloween formed over time.

Halloween comes from an ancient Celtic festival where people would wear costumes to ward off ghosts.

Furthermore, there are many traditional rituals and superstitions associated with Halloween. Since the ancient Celts thought the nonliving roamed the earth, they created costumes out of animal pelts to ward off evil spirits. Fortunetelling and the utilization of large bonfires for sacrifices and purification were also early customs. After the Christianization of the holiday to commemorate saints and martyrs, the same festivities, bonfires, and guising remained, but October 31st was renamed All-Hallows Eve. This inevitably turned into Halloween. Similar to European traditions, America’s Halloween has also evolved throughout the years. Halloween’s recognition was originally restricted in colonial America due to its non-Christian beliefs and practices, and it was practiced at a more local level. According to an online source, “The first celebrations included ‘play parties,’ public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead and tell each other’s fortunes, dance, and sing” (“History of Halloween”). Festivities were akin to European traditions, but also included ghost stories and pranking. Beginning in the twentieth century, Halloween