Origins of Halloween (Infographic Style)

ORIGINS OF HALLOWEEN

Info graphic Style

This is not a trick but rather a treat!

“The picture that you see above was created by yours truly. This is my way of interpreting the origins of Halloween and graphically designs it in an Info graphic Style. Hope you will enjoy it as well as the narrative below”.

Did you ever wonder where “Halloween” came from? It is very timely though since nowadays, you will see a lot of people celebrating it even outside America where it is very commonly observed. After doing some homework, I would like to share what I have gathered and even put it through my own customize Info graphic above.

So according to several articles that I have read, the word “Halloween” is short for “All Hallow’s Evening or Hallow’en. This means, “Hallowed Evening or Holy Evening”. A special holiday celebrated on the night of October 31.

Halloween has thought to have originated with the Ancient Celtic Festival of Samhain (read as sah-win), who lived 2000 years ago. This is celebrated on the last month of harvest going to the winter season. They believe that there is a thin line between the world of the living and the world of the dead on that time. These ancient people would light up bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts that crosses over to the living world. By 43 A.D., when the Roman Empire had conquered and ruled over the island of the Ancient Celtic, the previous influenced the festival with their similar Roman festival to commemorate the passing of the dead. A lot was then changed on that time.

In the 18^th Century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as time to honor the Saints and Martyrs which incorporated the Samhain traditions. By the 19^th Century, Irish and Scotish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to the North America. Only in the late 20^th Century, other Western Countries embraced the holiday. Today, Halloween falls on the evening before the Christian Holy Days of All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Soul’s Day (November 2).

So, what are the common activities in this popular holiday? Well, the top most activities would include Trick-or-treating, costume parties and bonfires. Trick-or-treat is where children would dress up on their favorite scary and cute costumes and goes house to house through their neighborhood to ask for some candies or “treats” to home owners. If the latter would not give, which is not so common, the children would play a “trick” on them. Different countries have different versions of this popular holiday. But whatever way they celebrate it, we should not forget where it came from and the reason for doing so. It is truly entertaining to see people celebrating it and I hope it will not defeat its purpose and reason.

HAPPY HALLOW’S EVE EVERYONE! BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

TRIVIA!

-          There really are so-called Vampire Bats but they are not from Transylvania. Actually, they can be found in Central and South America and they feed on the blood of animals like birds, cattle and horses.

-          Christmas is the top most commercially successful holiday followed by Halloween.