HALLOWEEN'S ORIGIN

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

UPCOMING FILMS & DVD Releases Tim Burton's 9 Movie movie release Sept 2009 Whiteout movie release Sept 2009 Saw VI movie release Oct 23 2009 NEW Where the Wild Things Are movie release Oct 15 2009 Tinkerbell: The Lost Treasures DVD release Oct 2009 Sleeping Beauty DVD release Oct 2009 Snow White (Platinum Edition) DVD release Oct 2009 Toy Story 1 re-release in 3D! Oct 2009 Michael Jackson Movie release Oct 2009 The Fantastic Mr. Fox movie release Nov 2009 2012 The Movie movie release Nov 13 2009 The Wolfman movie release Nov 2009 The Princess & The Frog movie release 12/25/09 Alice in Wonderland movie release March 2010 NEW