Halloween has Celtic roots

By JOSEPH LAY

Danville High School

According to an article recently published by the history channel, Halloween’s origins date all the way back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The ancient Celts lived over 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and Northern France.

Halloween originally marked the end of summer and the beginning of the dark and cold winter nights. Winter is often associated with human death, and the Celts believed the night before New Years (Nov. 1), the line between the living and the dead became blurred and ghosts would return to Earth to cause trouble and destroy crops. 

To celebrate this event, the druids would build massive bonfires where the Celts would gather and sacrifice crops and animals by throwing them into the bonfire. After the celebration was over, the Celts would re-light their hearth fire from the bonfire to protect them from the winter to come.

By the ninth century, Christanity had made its way into the Celtic region. The church eventually made November second All Souls Day, which was celebrated much like Samhain, in that there would be huge bonfires and people would dress up as saints, angels and devils.

All Souls Day was a day to remember and honor the dead. It is widely believed that the church was trying to replace Samhain with All Souls Day. So there you have it — that’s how the ancient celtic holiday of Samhain turned into Halloween.

Joseph Lay is a journalism student at Danville High School.

 

From Halloween’s roots to today

By OLGA BETTONI

Danville High School

Pumpkins, witches, black cats, ghosts, skeletons, jack-O-lanterns, trick or treat … but let’s start from the very beginning. 

The celebration has its roots over than 2,000 years ago into the Celtic traditional festival of Samhain — the first and most important of the four days in the medieval Gaelic calendar. On that occasion, people would wear costumes and set fires in order to keep ghosts away. 

Celts, who used to live in Ireland, the United Kingdom and France, were celebrating the new year on Nov. 1. In fact, that date was the end of summer and of harvest and the beginning of the dark and cold season that was associated with death.

To commemorate the events, Celts dressed up with animal heads and skins, set massive bonfires in order to burn animals and crops as a sacrifice to their deities, wishing each other’s fortunes.

Finally they re-lit their fires to protect them during the tough times of winter. Along the years, the celebration of Halloween has been changing more and more and every corner of the world has taken its own version, even if some symbols still remain the same. 

Olga Bettoni is a senior journalism student at Danville High school. 

 

Opinions on candy vary

By JULIANA TECPILE

Danville High School

Many people have their own opinion on which candy is better. Each person has their own type of candy they prefer better than the rest.

Each culture has their own type of candy. For example, hispanic culture has more spicy candy while American candy is more on the sweet or sour side.

According Candyhistory.net, the first candy was made by Egyptians who would eat with figs, nuts, dates and spices with honey to satisfy their sweet tooth. Today, most children enjoy eating candy like skittles, M&M’s or Starburst. Some of the most common and favorite candy in America is M&M’s.

When asked about what their favorite candy is, most people had a different response. Hunter Buntain said that his favorite candy Reese’s. Olga Betonni said that she enjoys eating candy corn. Joseph Lay said that Sour Patch Kids are his favorite.

In a poll given via Instagram, more people stated that they enjoy eating chocolate over any other candy. An anonymous person stated that “chocolate is more common because it has a taste that no one can resist,” while another anonymous follower stated that “chocolate is nasty and I don’t understand why people enjoy eating.”

In the end, no one might know what the best candy is. Everyone has a different perspective on their taste and well the best candy is for everyone to decide on their own. 

 

Juliana Tecpile is a journalism student at Danville High School.