1. The History of Halloween Presented by: Matthew S. Gardiner

2. Table of Contents Introduction History- -originations -Through the Centuries -Today Importance/ Teaching it Conclusion/ Cool Pictures - Sources/ Links

3. History Originations The Celts that lived 2,000 years ago celebrated this time of year which ended summer and the harvest. It began the time of winter, often associated with death.

4. Originations Cont’d On the 31 st of October Druids(Priests) would light fires and people would wear animal skins and heads to scare off the evil spirits. The reason for scaring away the bad spirits because it was believed they damaged crops and prevented the Druids from foretelling a positive future in the spring. It was important for people who lived so close to the land.

5. Through the Centuries Traditions changed as groups/ societies of people adapted to new surroundings and cultures. As time passed so did traditions. It is very different in the United States, then when it started.

6. Halloween Today

7. With the “mixing” of different cultures came different adoptions of the holiday. Focus eventually shifted to a communal, neighborly one. Trick or Treat originated from England…Soul cakes given out in exchange for prayers of dead souls. Food is left outside the house to prevent ghosts from entering. $ 6.9 billion spent annually

8. Importance/ Why teach it? The importance is that it is a way for us to teach how many cultures can come together to make something unique, its celebrates diversity. It’s fun It’s still history It’s different

9. Conclusions Halloween has an extensive history It has many different cultures The internet has many different pictures we can find on the computer (see next slide)

10. Cool Pictures Spooky huh :-o Animated skeletal ghost

11. A few more… alright I am done

12. Links/ Sources www.webweaver.nu/clipart/halloween/www.webweaver.nu/clipart/halloween/ - Good source for clipart http://www.history.com/content/halloweenhttp://www.history.com/content/halloween - Good source for history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween - Good general source for students to learn about history