HALLOWEEN

October 31 is Halloween. It is a fun event in the United States of America, Great Britain and, now, in many other countries too. Halloween has Celtic origins. The Celtic calendar was in tow parts: summer and winter. Summer was from May to the end of October, and winter was from November to the end of April. The ancient Celtic festivity Samhain celebrated the end of the year: the start of winter. It began on the evening of October 31 and continued until the next day. Druids were Celtin priests. On October 31 they performed religious rituals and talked about future events. The Celts believed that ghosts, witches and evil spirits entered the body of a person or animal. they wore frightening costumes and mad big fires to send them away. The colours of Halloween - orange and black - are of Celtic origin too. Orange was the colour of the harvest, and black was the colour of winter and long nights. The Druids believed that black cats had special powers and could feel if spirits were near. So black cats have become symbols of Halloween. The Romans invaded Great Britain in AD 43. After this invasion Samhain became a harvest festival, and on October 31 the Romans honoured their goddess of fruit trees, Pomona. During centuries, the Roman Catholic Church put Christian festivities in the place of pre-Christian festivities. In the eighth century the Church decided to call 1 November All Saint´s Day. Another name for this day was All Hallows´Day. The evening of 31 October was All Hallows´Eve. This became Halloween.