A lot of people think Halloween is just a fun party – and it is fun, as long as it doesn’t get mean

Halloween is actually an older celebration than most people give it credit. Maybe your great-great-great-great-grandparents didn’t dress up like ghosts or cowboys, but something has been remembered at Halloween-time for 1,000’s of years.

The Usual Scoop

We’ve often heard this “pagan festival” originated with the Druids. Lighting bonfires, believing in ghosts…. The Celts (in Britain, France and Ireland) adopted Druid practices. They believed the spirits of the dead roamed the earth. November 1st was their New Year, remembered as “the Day of the Dead”. Christian missionaries tried to convert these people as far back as A.D. 400. They declared November 1st “All Saints Day”, and the eve before “All Hallows Eve”. They continue to remember the dead and believe in roaming spirits.

That’s why children dress up as skeletons and ghosts!