What Is The Meaning Of Halloween Day

Scarecrows are more than just halloween symbols they are a symbol of the fall season and the harvest.

What is the meaning of halloween day. While it takes its name from all saints day modern halloween is actually a combination of several different traditions. By the 1930s halloween became almost completely secularized while all saints day became more of a religious holiday. In scots the word eve is even and this is contracted to e en or een over time all hallow s e v en evolved into hallowe en although the phrase all hallows is found in.

The direct predecessor of modern day halloween is the festivity that began all saints day which started at sundown on october 31. The history of halloween goes all the way back to a pagan festival called samhain. The word halloween or hallowe en dates to about 1745 and is of christian origin.

In fact a lot of the things we do on halloween predate christianity entirely. The meaning of halloween today is far removed from its darker origins in ancient britain ireland and northern france when people believed it was a night when the dead literally returned to the. The name halloween originally spelled hallowe en is a contraction of all hallows even meaning the day before all hallows day better known today as all saints day a catholic holiday commemorating christian saints and martyrs.

To this day some devout people are strictly against celebrating the. Long after all the witches bats and ghosts have been put into storage the scarecrow remains. Although many affirm that samhain was the origin of modern day halloween it is significant to note how many cultures throughout the world have celebrated a day of the dead often with sacrifices occurring at the end of summer and fall.