Samhain (sow-in)

On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

People thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes…

...so they made costumes! This way, the ghosts couldn’t recognize them!

The Christian Influence

As the influence of Christianity spread into Celtic lands, in the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs, to replace the Pagan festival of Samhain. It was observed on May 13th.

A change of date

In 834, Pope Gregory III moved All Saint's Day from May 13th to Nov. 1st. Oct. 31st thus became All Hallows' Eve ('hallow' means 'saint').

All Souls Day

November 2nd, called All Souls Day, is the day set apart in the Roman Catholic Church for the commemoration of the dead.

Trick-or-treating began with the poor in the 15th century

During the All Souls Day festival in England, poor people would beg for “soul cakes,” made out of square pieces of bread with currants.

Families would give soul cakes in return for a promise to pray for the family’s relatives

The practice, which was referred to as "going a-souling" was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.

In 1848, millions of Irish emigrants poured into America as a result of the potato famine. They brought with them their traditions of Halloween.

They called Halloween Oidche Shamhna (`Night of Samhain'), as their ancestors had, and kept the traditional observances.

The Irish used to carry turnips with candles in them to light their way at night and to scare away ghosts.

When they arrived in America they found that pumpkins were both plentiful and easier to carve than turnips.

Let's watch

Our friend Bill sent us a video driving through his neighbourhood

Let's play some games!

Let's watch a scary movie

HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND HAPPY HAUNTING!

Bibliograpgy and special thanks to

• Bill Mitchell
• Teachers Pay Teachers
• World of teaching
• Halloween-prezi by Marinko Uremović
• Escape room by Alenka Papak Miljević
• The history of Halloween by Adrijana Rozd