A presentation I've made for my students on the origins of Halloween. I do not own any of the pictures, which are wallpapers freely distributed on the internet.

1. Halloween is celebrated on 31st
October.
“Hallow” is an archaic word that
means “Saint”.
“Halloween” comes from the name
“All Hallows’ Eve”, which means the
evening before All Saints’ Day,
celebrated on 1st November.

2. The origins of Halloween go back to
B.C.500, to the Celtic festival of
Samhain. For the Celts this day marked
the end of the season of Sun and the
beginning of the season of Darkness.
It was believed that on Samhain the
borders between this World and the
Otherworld opened, allowing the spirits
to pass through.

3. The Celts used to dress
up in scary costumes
and masks. They
believed that if they
looked like monsters
themselves, the spirits
wouldn’t notice them
and so they wouldn’t
harm them.

4. People used to put out the
fire in their homes.
They gathered and lit
bonfires. Sometimes they
sacrificed animals and threw
the bones in the fire.
They kept the bonfire
burning till morning.
Then they took embers
to light the fire in their
hearths.

5. They also used to empty large pumpkins
and carve scary faces on them. They lit a
candle inside the pumpkins and used them
to light their way in the dark and scare the
evil spirits away.

6. People also used to leave
some fruit and nuts
outside their doors for the
hungry spirits.
They believed that the
spirits wouldn’t harm their
house if they found
something to eat.
Today’s “trick or treat”
tradition has its roots in
this ancient belief.

7. Present day British, Irish, Welsh
and Scottish people are all
descendants of the Celts.
This is why Halloween is mainly celebrated in
Britain, U.S.A. and Canada.

8. What have you learned about Halloween?
Answer the questions:
1) What does “Hallow”
mean in archaic
English?
2) Which Christian holiday
is celebrated on 1st
November?
3) What did the Celtic
Samhain festival mark?
4) Who could visit Earth
on that day?
5) Why did people wear
scary masks?
6) Why did they leave
some food outside their
door?
7) What did they use the
pumpkins for?