Halloween: Right Or Wrong?

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Halloween started with the festival of Samhain. It was celebrated by the Celtics of Ireland on November 1st and was considered the end of summer; the date on which the herds were returned from pasture. It was also believed to be a time when the souls of those who had died would return to visit their homes. Villages lit bonfires on hilltops for the lighting of their hearth fires, which kept their houses warm in the winter, but also to frighten away evil spirits. They sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts thought to be present. It was in these ways that creatures such as goblins, fairies, and demons came to be associated with the day. When the Romans conquered the Celtics in the 1st century, they added their own festivals of Feralia, remembering those who died, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV established All Saints Day on May 13. In the following century it was moved November 1st in an effort to mix the pagan and Christian holiday. The night before All Saints Day somehow became a holy or hallowed eve and started to be celebrated. This is where we get the name Halloween. The Reformation banned All Saints Day, but in Ireland, Halloween continued to be celebrated as a secular holiday. Along with other festivals, the celebration of Halloween was forbidden among the early American colonists, although in the 1800s there developed festivals that marked the beginning and end of harvest and included parts of Halloween. When large numbers of Irish immigrants started travelling to the United States in the mid 19th century they took their Halloween traditions with them and in the 20th century, Halloween became one of the principal U.S. holidays. Like in the 1700s, when Halloween was not allowed to be celebrated, some parents believe that it is in their power to forbid their
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