The History of Halloween

October 27, 2009 9:00 AM
by Pete Tremblay

All Hollow’s Eve; Halloween as most know it today is a holiday that resonates with fear, excitement and morbidity. For most children (save Jehovah’s witnesses) this ghoulish holiday is a chance for youngsters to journey deeply into their imagination with the aide of makeup and costume and become anything their little black hearts desire, all for the thrill of collecting candy anonymously from their neighbors (and leaving bags filled with dog excrement on the doorsteps of the unwilling too join in.)

For older ghouls, the parties abound and the chance to drop their inhibitions (and most times clothing) is greeted with a combination of over the top sexually explicit garments inspired by everyday fantasies (naughty nurse, naught police officer, naughty librarian, naughty teacher etc.) and nightmare inspiring masks and costumes based on the latest and greatest Hollywood freight fest to hit theatres (Saw VI debuts Halloween Day). No matter what your motivation or inspiration for your haunting hullabaloo, more likely than not most people at least attempt to get into the mood in some way shape or form.

But what is the inspiration for all of this Halloween fanfare? How long have people been running around in costumes, trying to scare (or seduce) other people? What is this fascination with death anyway? Well, to answer these questions we have to look wayyyyy back into the annals of human history for the answer.

The Origins of Halloween

Our journey into the origins of the “celebration of scare” takes us back to the BC era. About the same time that Jesus was walking around scaring the Romans and Hebrews (for much different and more political reasons), a group of people known as the Celts inhabited the modern day United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales).
On the last day of the Celtic year, October 31, the Celts believed that the barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead was blurred long enough for the spirits of the dead to walk the earth. During this overwhelmingly spiritual day, known as Samhain, Celtic Druids would prophesize about the coming winter, a time that the Celts associated with death due to the severity of the winters that they endured. The people would then make huge bonfires where animal sacrifices would occur to celebrate these prophesies as well as appease the gods for their blessing of a safe winter. During these sacrificial events, the Celts would dress in animal skins and other costumes and attempt to tell the fortunes of others.

In 43 AD the Romans conquered the land that the Celts inhabited, and with it absorbed many of the cultural festivals that the Celts celebrated. Over the next 400 years, the celebration of the Celtic Samhain would be combined with Feralia, a Roman holiday, commemorating the dead that was typically celebrated in October.

As the spread of Christianity came to the Celtic lands around 800 A.D. the pope would declare November 1st to be All Saints Day, which was known in Middle English (as descendent of Gaelic and Celtic language) as Alholowmesse or all Hallowmas. The night before became known as All Hallows Eve, which eventually evolved into Halloween.

Halloween Traditions

Halloween is a holiday that carries with it very specific and completely recognizable traditions. From dressing up and trick-or-treating to bobbing for apples, the fun of the holiday often times overshadows the traditions that they were born upon. Like the holiday itself, these traditions come from a very sorted and celebrated past that should not be forgotten. Trick-or-treating, for example, stems from a medieval tradition of Celebrating All Souls Day, the day after All Saints day, when Christian followers would celebrate loved ones who have passed on into purgatory to wait for their judgment and hopefully get into heaven. Traditionally on All Souls Day, children would go door to door “Souling” asking for “Soul Cakes”, a simple bread cake that the people would bake especially for the holiday. For every cake that was collected, the children would offer a prayer for the souls of the bakers loved ones to help them move into heaven.

Bobbing for Apples, another Halloween tradition, comes to us from the original absorption of Halloween into Roman Culture. Annually, Romans would honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The apple, the Goddess’s symbol, was then incorporated into other Celtic traditions, and eventually evolved into the tradition of that is celebrated today.

Whether you are celebrating the scariest holiday of the year with candy or cocktails, remember, any holiday is more interesting when you know the origins of why you are celebrating to begin with! Happy Halloween!

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