I want to wish all of my readers a Happy Halloween! I know some people don’t celebrate this holiday, and others aren’t sure what this holiday is even all about. So, in honor of the day, I’ll give a short history lesson on the origins of Halloween.

Halloween takes place every year on October 31. Originally, the ancient Celts celebrated the last day of October as Samhain (pronounced ‘SAH win’). Two thousand years ago, the Celts (mostly in Ireland, Britain, and parts of France) celebrated November 1st as their New Year. It was a celebration of gratitude for the harvest and a hope that everyone would survive the dark winter. It was also considered the day that the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was the thinnest (because it was the longest night of the year), thereby allowing ghosts to walk the earth.

Because of this, light (bonfires and lanterns) became a huge part of the their celebrations. If one carried a light around (or a candle in a cut-out squash or pumpkin) as darkness fell, the light would keep away the spirits. And, if someone were really worried, they’d dress up as something or someone else to confuse the spirits.

Yet, at the same time, the druids (the Celtic priests) welcomed the spirits as it would allow the druids to make predictions about future harvests and the length of the winter. These predictions were a huge source of hope for a people who depended entirely on nature for their well-being and survival. When darkness fell, all the Celts would put out their hearths and light a sacred bonfire. Once the sun rose the next morning, everyone would relight their hearths from the sacred fire.

After the Romans invaded Britain and took control, around 43 A.D., they brought their own holidays with them including a costumed festival commemorating Feralia (the passing of the dead) and Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. (Apple bobbing, anyone?) Over the centuries, the Roman and Celtic festivals morphed into one–still on October 31– and still pagan.

In 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated May 13th to honor Christian martyrs, Then Pope Gregory III added all Christian saints to the day and moved the celebration day to November 1. Now, in the Christian church, November 1 is known as All Saints Day.

By the 9th century in Ireland, Christian traditions had blended with the Celtic ones. Then, in 1000 A.D., the church designated November 2 as All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. All Souls’ Day was celebrated with bonfires and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and demons. All Saints’ and All Souls” Day celebrations were also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (in Middle English, alholowmesse is translated as All Saints’ Day). People began calling the night before All-hallows–aka Samhain–All-Hallows Eve which eventually became Halloween.

In the New World, Halloween was forbidden in colonial New England. The Puritans believed it was a pagan rite that could summon the dead. But it was celebrated in the southern colonies where people weren’t bound by the puritanical restrictions. As different ethnic groups of people (Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans) merged, an American version of Halloween appeared. Halloween events were called “play parties” which were public events that celebrated the harvest, where fortune-tellers and ghost storytellers fascinated the young.

Besides ghost stories, Colonial Halloween festivities also included all sorts of mischief-making. By the mid-nineteenth century, fall festivals were common. But it wasn’t until the second half of the 19th century, when the Irish immigrants appeared (after fleeing the Irish Potato Blight) that Halloween became popular. Although the Irish had been mostly Catholic for centuries, they still carried all of the ancient Celtic beliefs and traditions. And, as they integrated into American society, these traditions transformed Halloween into a National American holiday.



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