Why Do We Wear Halloween Costumes?

Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated each year on October 31. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. This blurriness caused the ghosts of the dead to come back to the earth world on Halloween. People are usually afraid of ghosts, so we needed to do something to ward them off, right?

Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. Folks thought that they would have an encounter with a ghost if they left their homes. To out smart these ghostly beings, people would put on masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would think they were fellow spirits.

Young women believed that on Halloween they could do some sort of spells or Ouija Board game to receive the name or see the face of their future husband. Women would do things with yarn, apple parings or mirrors to get answers. Imagine using a Ouija Board to give you all of life’s answers! If only that could be true!

The idea of dressing up in costumes and going house to house asking for food or money may seem a bit bizarre to folks back then, but, I am very happy to celebrate the way we do today… ghost free…. costumes, parties, games and candy for both all.

Have a Safe and Happy Halloween – Beware of the Ghosts! – Maryann Morgan

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