The Origin of Halloween

• Halloween traces its roots back to Samhain, an annual Celtic ritual that occurred each year on November 1st. Samhain was the Celtic lord of death, and his celebration marked the beginning of winter. On the eve of Samhain (October 31st), the Celts believed the separation between the living world and spiritual world was blurred, allowing ghosts and goblins to bring harm upon the living. When the Romans conquered the Celts in 43 A.D., they combined Samhain with holidays that celebrated the passing of the dead and the goddess of fruit and trees. Between the sixth and tenth centuries, the Catholic Church officially named November 1st as the Feast of All Saints or "All Saints Day." Many believe this was done by the church to replace the pagan Celtic rituals. However, October 31st quickly evolved into "All Hallows Eve" - soon shortened to "Halloween" - a day on which the people lit bonfires, held parades, and dressed-up in costumes like saints, angels and devils.

Trick-or-Treat

• Say "trick-or-treat," smile, extend your Halloween bag and voila - Halloween candy! A long-standing Halloween tradition, the door-to-door giving of Halloween candy didn't always include Snickers minis, Reese's cups, and candy corn. In the spirit of England's All Soul's Parade, poor citizens received "soul cakes" in exchange for saying prayers. Today, New York City hosts the biggest Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village called New York's Village Halloween Parade. Similar to England's parade, New York City packs its streets on October 31st with Halloween street festivities, including music, Halloween costume contests and, of course, trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

Halloween Costumes

• Originally, Halloween costumes were used as disguises from evil spirits. Today kids and adults embrace this opportunity to be silly and creative with their Halloween costumes. According to the National Retail Federation the most popular kids Halloween costumes in 2005 were princesses, witches, Spiderman, monsters, and Darth Vader. The most popular adult Halloween costumes were witches, vampires, actors/famous people, monsters, and pirates. There are also many great Halloween costumes and Halloween costume ideas available online. When your kids are ready to go trick-or-treating in their Halloween costumes, take this opportunity to snap the perfect picture of your little witch or superhero. Then, add this photo to a Halloween photo ecard and send it to all your family and friends. These Halloween photo ecards come in a variety of themes including jack-o-lanterns and spooky bats.

Halloween Parties

• Our own research here at American Greetings indicates that Halloween is now the third biggest party night of the year! Think you're ready to host a house of goblins, ghouls and celebrity impersonators? Be sure to include the elements that make the party a Halloween party. Must-have music: The Monster Mash by Lenny Capizi and Bobby Pickett. Most popular game: bobbing-for-apples. Most wanted sweet: candy corn. Before the celebration can begin however, you need to send out Halloween invitations to everyone on your guest list. These free online Halloween invitations are sure to get your guests excited about your Halloween party. After the last jack-o-lantern has burned out and your Halloween party has come to and end, dont forget to thank your guests for joining in on all the Halloween festivities by sending them a thank you card.

Bobbing for Apples

• As it evolved through the centuries, Halloween picked up a number of traditions, many of which we still observe today. One of these traditions is the game of bobbing for apples. Back in the first century A.D., the Romans had a day to honor Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees. When the Romans co-opted Samhain, they merged it with Pomona celebration. Since Pomona's symbol is the apple, historians believe that the tradition of bobbing for apples at Halloween came directly from the Romans.