The Spooky History Of Halloween

Halloween is a little different from other holidays, in that it doesn’t celebrate an event. Other holidays, such as Christmas or Easter, celebrate a single event in history, but Halloween celebrates a wide variety of things; including the memories of the dead.

Why We Celebrate Halloween

While Halloween’s history isn’t quite clear, historians things it began something like this:

Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, the Celts, who resided on the British Isles, believed that the souls of the recently dead would roam the Earth on the last day of October. Because of this belief, the Celts began to hold a festival on October 31^st, known as Samhain, in order to honor these souls.

The Roman Empire eventually conquered the Celts and adopted some of their beliefs and celebrations, including Samhain. The Romans combined Samhain with a few of their own unique beliefs and festivals, but the one thing that stuck was the idea that the dead would roam the Earth on the 31^st of October.

Why Do We Dress Up?

Now that we know why Halloween is celebrated, lets talk about a few of the traditions that go along with it. Mainly, dressing up on Halloween. These days we see many friendly characters roaming about on Halloween, such as superheroes and Disney princesses. But the original tradition was to dress up as vampires, goblins, and ghosts in an effort to scare away the spirits of the dead.

Trick or treating is an attempt to bribe these spirits so that villages wouldn’t be raided or tormented.

Halloween may have a strange history, but it’s a beloved American holiday! From all of us here at Lockett Orthodontics, we wish you a safe and Happy Halloween.

To make an appointment, please contact our Colorado Springs orthodontics office!