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What Was the Beginning of Halloween Costumes?

By Gail Duckett

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 29Oct2009 Word count: 531 Viewed: 181 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

While Halloween is such a common celebration to us now, many of us are not aware of its origins or why it is that people have come to wear costumes at Halloween. What was the beginning of Halloween costumes anyway?

The history of Halloween actually goes much further back than one might think. It is generally thought that it began about 2000 years ago with the ancient Celts. The Celts relied heavily on agriculture for their subsistence, and they considered the end of the harvest season to be the end of the year. Winter was considered a time of death and so the end of harvest season came to mark the time when a transition of sorts was made between life and death. Over the years other cultures also had some influence on the development of Halloween. Celebrations and beliefs held by the Druids and the Romans were both incorporated into Halloween traditions.

It is widely believed that the beginning of Halloween costumes was actually an earnest attempt that people would make to disguise themselves from evil spirits. The first Halloween costumes consisted mostly of faces blackened with soot. As time went on, costumes would become more elaborate, because people probably accumulated clothes and materials that they had used in past years. Over the years the costumes were less about a disguise and came to be more and more about having fun. The Christians accepted Halloween traditions;however, in order to do so, it had to be looked upon as a celebration instead of a method of warding off evil spirits. Even so, many of the costumes that represent those early beliefs and traditions persist today. Every Halloween we see plenty of ghosts, ghouls and goblins which were the beginning of Halloween costumes and are enduring symbols of Halloween like black cats which were thought to hold the spirits of people who had previously passed away.

Thankfully, Halloween has become a time of celebration and a time of fun. Most people become quite excited about dressing up for Halloween. Perhaps there is still some element of disguise involved, as we feel that we can be somebody else if only for just for one day. Halloween costumes are now as varied as the candies that children receive in their bags every year; pirates, vampires, witches, wenches, football players and cheerleaders all appear on Halloween. Not everybody knows about the origins of Halloween, but knowing how it started and why traditions have been passed down through the years actually adds to the mystique of the holiday. Halloween becomes even more spooky and scary when you know about the origin of Halloween costumes and that the costumes were once worn by people who wanted to ward off or fool evil spirits.

It is important to know about our history, and if you have children you should ask them if they know about the origins of Halloween. At the very least it will be a fun story for them, and you might actually be able to slip in a little learning without them even knowing it. They will have much more fun putting on their Halloween costume when they know about the beginning of Halloween costumes.

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