Like every year, Halloween will be celebrated on the evening of October 31.
This pagan festival has only been celebrated since the 1990s in France, on the eve of All Saints' Day, but its origin dates back more than 2,500 years in County Meath (Ireland).
The spiritual festival of Samhain
Halloween hasn't always been synonymous with sweets, horror movies and pumpkins.
Originally, Halloween ("the eve of all saints" in Old English) was called Samhain, or Samhain.
This Celtic festival was intended to celebrate the transition from bright summer to dark winter.
It lasted six days, from October 29 to November 4, and had great spiritual significance, explains
Bretagne.com
.
According to some theories, disguises were already in use at the time and were intended to frighten fantastic beings from beyond.
During these six days, the fires had to remain lit in each house.
October 31 was dedicated to the memory of the deceased.
The origin of the pumpkin
Halloween would then have been imported to the United States by Irish immigrants in the 19th century.
Many of the symbols of Halloween thus find their origin in this Irish heritage.
The carved pumpkin refers, for example, to Jack, a character from a famous Irish tale condemned to wander aimlessly with a hollowed-out turnip as a lantern, explains
Sortir à Paris
.
In France, Halloween is celebrated on the eve of All Saints' Day, when it is customary to put flowers on the graves of the deceased.
However, this Catholic holiday has not always been celebrated on November 1st.
Until 610, it was celebrated on May 13.
It was Pope Gregory III who finally moved this date to November 1.
The Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), a Mexican tradition, takes place on November 2.
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