Halloween or Hallowe'en, is the yearly celebration on October 31st that signifies the first day of Allhallowtide, being the time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints and all faithful departed Christians | Don't Know Much About Mythology: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned Davis , HarperCollins, page 231• Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night |
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Finns visit cemeteries and light candles in remembrance of the deceased | In Ireland, it was commemorated on 20th April, a chronology that contradicts the widely held view that the November date was chosen to Christianize the festival of Samhain |
Festivals commemorating the saints as opposed to the original Christian martyrs appear to have been observed by 800.
15Hallowtide covers the three days — 31 October All-Hallows Eve or Hallowe'en , 1 November All Saints and 2 November All Souls | Halloween and the Day of the Dead share a common origin in the Christian commemoration of the dead on All Saints' and All Souls' Day |
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But both are thought to embody strong pre-Christian beliefs | ; Village, Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield 1988 |
In England and Germany, this celebration took place on 1st November | The night before was called All Saints' Eve or hallowed eve meaning holy evening |
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Most funerals are Lutheran, and nearly 98 percent of all funerals take place in a church | In fact, during All Hallow's Eve and Christmas Eve, cemeteries are known as valomeri, or seas of light |