Since it’s early July, it’s time to start thinking about everyone’s favorite holiday! Halloween, celebrated annually on October 31st, is a holiday rich with history, cultural significance, and a variety of traditions. Its origins trace back thousands of years to ancient festivals, and its evolution has been influenced by various cultures and religions. This article explores the history of Halloween, from its ancient roots to the modern-day celebration known for costumes, trick-or-treating, and spooky fun.
Ancient Origins: The Celtic Festival of Samhain
The history of Halloween begins with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in), celebrated around 2,000 years ago in the area now known as Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France. Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, a time often associated with death. The Celts believed that on the night of October 31st, the boundary between the living and the dead was blurred, and ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
To celebrate Samhain, the Celts built bonfires and wore costumes made of animal heads and skins to ward off roaming spirits. They also believed that the presence of otherworldly spirits made it easier for Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. These prophecies provided comfort and direction during the long, dark winter months.
The Roman Influence
By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered most of the Celtic territory. Over the next 400 years, two Roman festivals were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which may explain the tradition of bobbing for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day
As Christianity spread into Celtic lands, it began to blend with and supplant older pagan rites. In 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV established the feast of All Martyrs’ Day in the Western Church. Later, Pope Gregory III expanded the festival to include all saints and martyrs and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1.
By the 9th century, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic territories, where it gradually blended with older pagan rites. In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It is widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls’ Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. The All Saints’ Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day), and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
Halloween Comes to America
The celebration of Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant belief systems there. Halloween was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups and the American Indians meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included “play parties,” which were public events held to celebrate the harvest. Neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other’s fortunes, dance, and sing.
Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the 19th century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.
In the second half of the 19th century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing the Irish Potato Famine, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Borrowing from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition.
Evolution of Traditions
Young women believed that on Halloween, they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors. In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season, and festive costumes.
Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations. Because of these efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.
Modern Halloween
By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide Halloween parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague some celebrations in many communities during this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism, and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated.
Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second-largest commercial holiday after Christmas.
Halloween Around the World
The celebration of Halloween in America is a relatively modern phenomenon, and while it is most widely celebrated in the United States, other countries have their own traditions and ways of celebrating the holiday. In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, the “Día de los Muertos,” or Day of the Dead, honors deceased loved ones and ancestors. The three-day celebration begins on October 31 and ends on November 2. The customs combine indigenous Aztec rituals with Catholicism, brought to the region by Spanish conquistadors.
In Ireland and Scotland, many of the old Halloween traditions, such as the bonfires, costumes, and divination games, are still practiced. In some parts of England, children participate in a tradition called “Punkie Night,” where they carve faces into turnips and carry them through the streets, singing and begging for money. In Canada, Halloween is celebrated much like in the United States, with trick-or-treating, parties, and pumpkin carving.
Halloween has a long and varied history that spans cultures, religions, and centuries. From its ancient Celtic roots in the festival of Samhain to its modern-day celebration as a fun and festive holiday, Halloween has evolved and adapted to the times. Today, it is a beloved holiday for children and adults alike, filled with costumes, candy, and community. Whether you’re trick-or-treating, attending a Halloween party, or simply enjoying a spooky movie at home, Halloween is a time to embrace the fun and mystery of the season.
~David Albaugh