Halloween

H a L l O w E e N

IS

COMING

I looked up on the internet "How did Halloween start" and found the following information:

* Halloween has its roots in the ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of Samhain, which WAS celebrated on the night of October 31st. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, believed that the dead returned to earth on the Samhain.

* Halloween is the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows' Day (also known as All Saints' or Hallowmas) on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2 November, thus giving the holiday on 31 October the full name of All Hallows' Eve (meaning the evening before All Hallows' Day.

* Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of Hallows' Even or Hallows' Evening), also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a celebration observed in several countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observation of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.

   Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-laterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divinatin games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stores, as well as watching horror films. …

   The word Halloween or Hallowe'en dates to about 1745 and is of Christian origin.  The word "Hallowe'en" means "Saints' evening". It comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows' Eve.

The above information barely scratches the surface of the wealth of information found on the internet.
AND, do not forget all the symbols representing Halloween:  jack-o'-laterns, witches, skeletons, ghosts, cobwebs, black cats and headstones to name a few.

Enjoy the 31st of October!