A holy evening? No, it’s witchy woman time… Halloween 2017 is here! It’s going to be a truly spooky, thriller night tomorrow. All that red and black fancy, gothic and ghostly outfits and gears are ready and you just can’t wait to knock someone down with the spookiest look of yours.

Held before the Christian festival – All Saints’ Day, Halloween is a much awaited day of the year for many. Although it is considered an Irish festival, Halloween is associated with Western culture and traditions and is one of the most popular unofficial festivals in the US. And today it has come to be celebrated by people across communities worldwide.

But why is a “hallowed” or a “holy evening” celebrated as a spooky Halloween day?

How did the Halloween celebration come about

Halloween, as it takes place just before All Saints Day, is believed by some to be a Christian festival, and is said to have been coined from the word Hallowe’en meaning “hallowed” or “holy evening”. In fact, there is a long story to it. To cut the story short, the day was observed as “All Hallow Evening”. The church then shortened the name to “All Hallow’s Eve” or “All Hallow’s Even”. After years, the name evolved to “Hallowe’en” and finally came to stay as Halloween.

But some researchers say the word Halloween has a Celtic origin of about 2000 years ago, and was observed as a Celtic harvest festival–Samhian. The festival, according to ancient stories, involved sacrifices of crops and animals to appease the spirits of the dead. So, it came to be known as the festivals of the dead.

According to Celtic traditions, bonfires were lighted on this day to ward off evil spirits from other realms that passes through the earth in the night at this time of the year. And the tradition of scaring off evils with the spunky and spooky gowns and mask followed. In fact the ancient Celts marked November 1 as a new beginning and celebrate it as the New Year’s Day. And they brought the festival to the US during their migration in the 1900s.

Although some Christians celebrate the festival and attend churches on this day, many consider it as a pagan tradition. However, today, Halloween has come to be greatly celebrated by young people and celebrities the world over as a big fun fancy festival and Halloween parties are organised in a big way.

Check out the market for some Halloween wears and lights. Throw a thriller night or a black witchy woman party. Hold a dark night dinner and spring a scary surprise to your guests. Dare to scare and have the spookiest and craziest Halloween time ever.