Carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, and wearing scary costumes are some of the time-honored traditions of Halloween. Yet, the Halloween holiday has its roots in an ancient Celtic festival that welcomed the harvest at the end of summer, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century Pope Gregory III designated November as a time to honor saints. Soon after, All Saints Day came to incorporate some of the same traditions of the earlier Celtic Festival. The evening before All Saints Day was known as All Hallow Eve, later Halloween.
Ellen Drake will look at the origins of some of the classic Halloween traditions we know today—carving Jack-o-Lanterns, wearing scary costumes, trick-or-treating, black cats, bats, and bobbing for apples, among others. Ellen’s presentation is part of our annual series, Grave Matters, which is presented each October.
Refreshments will follow the program, which is free and open to the public. It is being sponsored by Business Partner Eric Ehrhardt, Realtor with Davis R. Chant Realtors in Hawley.
