Halloween 2025: Its History And Significance, How Does It Differ From 'The Day Of Dead'? And More

Just a wait of a few days, and our IG feeds will be filled with people celebrating Halloween, donning scary outfits. Halloween is one of the most famous holidays, celebrated mostly in the US. It is observed on October 31, each year, and on the same night, people dress in some unusual outfits like vampires, ghosts, superheroes, scary pumpkins, and more, decorate their homes, arrange parties, take part in community events, while kids roam from door-to-door, shouting 'trick-or-treat'. While in today's time, Halloween is seen as a celebration, it has a long history dating back 2,000 years.

Halloween 2025: How does this holiday differ from the Day of the Dead?

Before we begin to discuss the history and significance of Halloween, it should be noted that it's not similar to 'The Day of the Dead', which people often confuse. The Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico on the evening of November 1 each year, when families gather together at the cemeteries and honour the spirits of their deceased relatives.

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This is also an occasion of celebration, filled with candles, flowers, and food, which is very similar to what happens on Halloween, but both of these festivals differ in some ways. While Halloween is celebrated on October 31, the Day of the Dead falls on November 1. Another thing is that while Day of the Dead originated in indigenous Mexican traditions, mixed with Spanish Catholic influences, Halloween originated in the Ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. While the main purpose of Halloween is to ward off evil, the Day of the Dead honours and remembers ancestors.

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History and significance of Halloween

For those who don't Halloween's history dates back 2000 years, and it originates from the Ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Years back, the Celts used to celebrate the end of the harvest season on October 31. They used to believe that on that very night, the line between the living and the dead blurs, on October 31, allowing spirits to roam freely on earth. Following this, when the Romans conquered the Celtic lands, they amalgamated the festival of Samhain with two other festivals of their own, Feralia and Pomona.

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While Feralia is a festival of honouring the dead, Pomona is a festival of the goddess of trees or fruits, and thus, the traditions that we witness even in today's time can carry hints from the past, which can be described through the games of Halloween, like bobbing for apples and dressing like ghosts, vampires, and more. Halloween can also mix Christian and pagan traditions, because, as per History, in the 8th Century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as All Saints' Day, while marking October 31 as All Hallows' Eve, therefore shortening it to Halloween. So, as it seems, over the years, Christian and Celtic customs have blended to mark this holiday, Halloween.

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Traditions of Halloween

There are several traditions associated with Halloween, such as dressing in scary outfits. The reason for the same was that, as per the origin, the fine line between the evil and the dead becomes blurred on this very day, which means this tradition is to ward off evil spirits or to blend with them. Kids often move from door to door, shouting "trick-or-treat," and the neighbors offer them candy. As per old stories and Celtic custom, people believed that offering food to spirits could bring good luck, which is why kids dress as ghosts and in scary costumes and go from door to door asking for treats.

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On the other hand, this tradition can also date back to medieval soulling in Europe, wherein poor people would arrive door-to-door to offer prayers to the dead in exchange for food. Another famous tradition of Halloween is Jack-O-Lanterns, whose origins are tied to Irish folklore about 'Stingy Jack', who tricked the devil twice and, for the same reason, couldn't be welcomed in heaven or hell. The devil provided him with only one burning coal to light his way as he roamed around the world, which he placed inside a turnip. So, in this Halloween tradition, people carve pumpkins into lanterns to ward off the evil spirits.

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What do you think about the history and significance of Halloween?

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