Halloween History

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Halloween is the remnants of an ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain.  The holiday marked the Celtic New Year, and included celebrations of the harvest, feasting, and general merry-making.  It was also believed to be a time when the veil between the physical world and the spirit world was at it's thinnest.  In this sense Samhain was a celebration of the spirits of departed ancestors and the faerie.
No archaeological or written evidence exists to mark any celebration of evil.  The gods of the Celts were celebrated during Samhain.  These gods were, after the conversion to Christianity, equated with the Devil and evil spirits.  It is logical to assume that this conversion led to the evil undertones of the Pagan holiday.

Archaeologists and historians are sharply divided over whether or not Celts or their Druid priests practiced human sacrifice.  The only written account of such sacrifices derives from Julius Caesar.  His writings on the subject have been looked at skeptically for some time by scholars, however, as he was attempting to conquer the Celts at the time.  Certainly animals were sacrificed to the gods during Samhain, but evidence that humans were sacrificed is practically nonexistent.

Don't be afraid

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