Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, celebrating the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. Celts believed the boundary between the living and the dead became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits to walk the Earth. People wore costumes and carved turnips to ward off spirits. As Christianity spread, the holiday blended with All Saints' and All Souls' Day, becoming Halloween. Immigrants brought Halloween traditions to America in the 19th century, where trick-or-treating and carving pumpkins instead of turnips became common practices still celebrated today.

1. Hallo
weenOrigins and
Traditions

2. Origins
 Halloween began 2000 years ago in
Ireland with the ancient religion of the
Celts (Paganism).

3. They celebrated their
New Year on
November 1st
.
 This day marked the end of summer and the
beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of
year that was often associated with human
death.

4. 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.

5. Costumes
 People thought that they would encounter
ghosts if they left their homes…

6. So they wore costumes.
 This way, the ghosts couldn’t recognize them!

7. Symbols
 Nuts, fruits and apples were part of the
Samhain harvest ceremonies.
 Apples were sacred and
lucky!
 The colours of Halloween
are Orange and Black -
they represent harvest
(orange) and death (black)

8. Now people do apple
bobbing

9. And eat toffee apples

10. 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.
 Oct. 31st
thus became All
Hallows' Eve ('hallow' means 'saint').

11. 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

12. then children…
 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.

13. Today:
 Children still go from house-to-house, but
instead of food, and money, they get sweets.

14. Halloween went to
America
 In the 19th
century, millions of Irish emigrants
fled into America as a result of the potato
famine. They brought with them their
traditions of Halloween.

15. The Jack-O-Lantern
 The Irish used to carry
turnips with candles in
them to light their way
at night and to scare
away ghosts..

16. When they arrived in America they
found
that there were lots of pumpkins and they
were much easier to carve than turnips.

17. Now, Jack-O-Lanterns are
used for decorating people’s
homes.

18. There are competitions for advanced
carvers….

19. People have recently started carving
less traditional Jack-O-Lanterns

20. Teenagers and adults go to
parties….

21. Some people watch scary
films…

22. Children go trick or treating!

23. Everyone eats lots of
sweets!

24. THIS IS HALLOWEEN SONG:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHLgob-PpIk
Gap Fill Exercise: http://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables_page?id=4112