Elon University - Phi Psi Cli Yearbook (Elon, NC)

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I With the full-moon, the ghools came out around Elon. (whether it ' s Halloween or ? not); College students spend more time planning and preparing their costumes than kids do.

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Halloween; Yesterday ' s stories, Today ' s pictures here at Elon College. The Celtic festival of Samhain is probably the source of the present- day Halloween celebration. The Celts lived more than 2,000 years ago in what is now Great Britain, Ire- land and northern France. Their new year began on November 1 . A festival that began the previous evening hon- ored Samhain, the Celtic lord of death. The celebration marked the beginning of the season to cold, darkness, and decay. It naturally be- came associated with human death. The Celts believed that Samhain al- lowed the souls of the dead to return to their earthly homes for this even- ing. On the evening of the festival, the Druids, who were the priests and teachers of the Celts, ordered the people to put out their hearth fires. The Druids built a huge new year ' s bonfire of oak branches, which they considered sacred. They burned ani- mals, crops, and possibly human be- ings as sacrifices. Then each family relit its hearth fire from the new year ' s fire. Duhng the celebration, people sometimes wore costumes made of animal heads and skins. They told fortunes about the coming year by examining the remains of the animals that had been sacrificed. Many early American settlers came from England and other Celtic re- gions, and they brought various cus- toms with them. But because of the strict religious beliefs of other set- tlers, Halloween celebrations did not become popular until the 1800 ' s. During that period, large numbers of immigrants arrived from Ireland and Scotland and introduced their Hal- loween customs. I Today, Halloween is celebrated across the country and knows no age limits. | y y

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