Although the name “Halloween” was first used in the mid 18th century, it’s roots go back much earlier than that. Going back about 2000 years or so “Samhain” was a Gaelic celebration marking the beginning of winter. Besides harvesting crops and deciding which animals to slaughter for the upcoming cold months they the believed that fairies, spirits and even the dead would roam around too for “hospitality”!.
Today we celebrate a fun day & night with children dressed up in various costumes, many with a touch of macabre looking for THEIR HARVEST…CANDY or a little money. The term “Trick or Treat” came about in the Middle Ages and the “trick” was usually just a phony threat that some damage would occur on the house that turned them down. Today, it proceeds two Christian days of reverence, All Saints and All Souls day, on the first and second of November.
Local communities also have “Halloween Parades” with the largest in the world happening right in Greenwich Village which has been running for nearly 50 years from 7-11PM up 6th Avenue. These photos on the right by In SapphoWeTrust, LA show how massive it is.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!