History of Halloween

I love Halloween. There is a catharsis in being able to hide from the world as someone else, even if it is only for a few hours. I have found though there is a lot of misconception and folklore surrounding the origins of Halloween.

November 1^st is the date the ancient Celts of Ireland, United Kingdom, and France celebrated their new year. It signified the end of summer and the fall harvest and the start of bleak, dark, and dead winter. The night before, October 31^st, was the night that the boundary between the living and the world of the dead became it’s thinnest and was marked by the festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). On this night, the dead would once again roam the earth. They would destroy crops, play tricks on the living, and cause general havoc. This was also the night the ancient Celtic priests, known as Druids, had their greatest power. The Druids would use their connection with spirits to make predictions for the coming year. In fact all people would take turns telling each other’s fortunes. What great people were to be born, who would die, and who would be married was all foretold on this night. The Celts were an agricultural society and relied heavily on these predictions to survive the harsh winters. Bonfires would be lit, the people would dress in animal skins then animal and crop sacrifices were made to the Gods to ensure a good harvest and survival through the bleak months ahead. At the end of the night, each person would take a piece of the sacred bonfire home to relight their hearths. This hallowed fire was thought to protect the household for the coming year. 

By 43 A.D. the Roman Empire had spread to Celtic lands and the traditional festival of Samhain took on some additions. The Romans celebrated two festivals at the end of the fall harvest. The first was Feralia, a day to celebrate the passing of the dead.  The second was a day to honor the Roman Goddess of fruit and the trees, Pomona. The symbol for Pomona is the apple and many scholars believe that this is the origin for the Halloween tradition of “bobbing for apples.”

In the years that followed, spreading Christianity left its mark on this decidedly pagan holiday. It was a common practice in Christian missionary work to set Christian Holy Days to coincide with the native holidays. 

The Christian feast day of All Saints Day (All Hallows) was set on November 1^st and meant to supplant the now devil worshiping festival of Samhain. Missionaries drew parallels between the Celtic underworld and the Christian Hell, making all the specters rising from this underworld demons and evil spirits.This new connection with the demonic did not succeed in killing off the holiday entirely. It is actually thought that the native peoples need for a connection with the dead (both good and bad) was too strong to be slaked by an abstract holiday celebrating Saints. 

A second attempt by the church was made to eliminate the holiday and in the 9^th century the celebration of All Souls Day was set on November 2^nd. While November 2^nd became a day to pray for all lost souls, people continued to celebrate Samhain, now All Hallows Eve as a time of the evil, wandering dead. People continued to please those spirits (and their masked impersonators) by setting out gifts. Subsequently, All Hallows Eve became Hallow Evening, which became Hallowe'en or Halloween. 

What does any of this have to do with trick-or-treating? Next time we'll find out.

History Channel. Halloween. 1996-2011. 17 October 2011 <http://www.history.com/topics/halloween>.

McGlynn, Katla. The History Of Halloween Plus 5 Things You Didn't Know About The Holiday! . 30 October 2009. 17 October 2011 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/the-history-of-halloween_n_321021.html>.