Dia De Los Muertos: Day Of The Dead

Halloween, a day of dressing in costumes, going door to door collecting candy and other treats. Watching scary movies going to “haunted” houses and traditional activities in fall such as hayrides, and even “haunted” hayrides. (True History of Halloween, 2008) We will be exploring a few different variations of Halloween. One from a religious view and another from the library of congress both very interesting. Following this you will learn how it crosses over to the Hispanic holiday “Dia de Los Muertos” better known as day of the dead. Originally Halloween was an acient Pre-Christian Celtic Festival of day of the dead (American folklife center, 2008) It marks the “eternal cycle”. Sahmain which is pronounced sow-en, (because mh is pronounced “w” in the Irish language) ”.Is the celtic name used so many years ago. They believed that the dead could walk among us.
At this time the barrier form the two worlds would be removed (Celtic Mythology, p127). Celtics didn’t believe in demons as such they believed in witches spirits, gods and fairies. They were viewed as mischievous and hostile. The Christian church added the concept of heaven and hell. Now this is all according to a “New Life” research on history of Halloween. The other interesting concept which parallels in this way is the samhain was a time of the year “the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living.” They lit bonfires to guide them on their journey and keep them away from those living. The Celtic druids were considered evil worshipers by the Christians because of their belief in faries, gods and spirits. The Celtic underworld became the Christian