Halloween can be traced back to the Celts living in northern Europe nearly 2000 years ago. They celebrated a holiday called Samhain which marked the end of the summer and harvest times and the beginning of the long, dark, cold winter months. They believed that on Samhain night witches, ghosts and evil spirits ruled the world and that the souls of the dead would return to the places where once they had lived. The Celtic people would build huge bonfires to scare away the spooks and witches but set out food and lanterns to welcome the souls of the dead.
To try to eradicate this pagan custom, the Christian Church set November 1st as All Saints' Day and the night before as All Hallows' Eve. Over time, Halloween became associated with many more rituals, such as trick or treating where money or food was given by householders to those wearing Halloween disguises. The custom migrated to the USA with the many Irish immigrants in the 19th century and now "trick-or-treating" is popular all over the world.
Halloween is a global celebration with party games and costumes, seasonal recipes and decorative displays. Halloween is no longer seen as an evening to dread, but more a time to be light hearted, to let children make mischief and coax treats and candy from resigned adults.
You can decorate your table with scary Halloween images, Halloween Party Bunting and make spooky lights from carved out pumpkins and enjoy games such as apple bobbing or House of Horrors. For this game you completely darken one room, play scary music and guide children, a few at a time through such delights as:
peeled grapes (eyeballs)
dried fruit slices - apple or pear slices are good (ears)
cooked cold pasta (brains)
yoghurt (slime)
And so on ... Happy Halloween to you all!
Helen Dickson is the owner of the Party Bunting Store. She designs a wonderful range of party bunting and other great downloadables for you to print. Many of her designs are based on real vintage fabrics, so realistic that once you've decorated the room with your bunting your friends won't be able to tell the difference. She also offers a two great ranges of alphabet bunting - wonderful for kids rooms or personalizing messages. Visit her site at http://www.partybuntingstore.com
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