Entry #2 October, the month of Halloween

Whenever I think of October, I usually think of Halloween, many people associate October as spooky month. Halloween takes place on October 31st every year, it is a holiday where people dress in costumes that are either scary or based on fictional characters or celebrities. I love Halloween because I get to spend time with family, even if I'm not really a family person. I love trick or treating because I get to eat a lot of candy, even if its not good for me. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays in the year but I wonder, why is October of all months spooky?

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Halloween originated all the way back 2,000 years ago where the Celts celebrated their new year, known as the festival of Samhain. That day between October 31st and November 1st marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter. The celts associated the cold winter with death. On October 31st, they would celebrate the dead returning to earth. Crops die during winter so it makes sense that they would associate winter with death. During Halloween people wear costumes of their favorite characters, celebrities, or anything scary. The reason people wear costumes for Halloween also has to do with Samhain. The Celtic priests, known as Druids would build huge bonfires where they use crops and dead animals as sacrifices. The Celts would use the skin and heads of the animals they sacrificed as costumes. Trick or treating has originated much later when Americans began going to every house in their neighborhood asking for candy while dressed up in costumes. Halloween eventually became a holiday where families could get together, dress up in costumes, and go trick or treating. This article from History.com goes more in depth about the origins of Halloween and it is where I learned about the origins of Halloween.

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Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and learning about the origins of the holiday was fun. It's fascinating to see how Halloween became what it is today and I'm surprised that people actually dressed in costumes all they back 2,000 years ago. I am looking forward to dressing up and trick or treating in Halloween later this year.