History of Halloween

Halloween was not always called Halloween. Halloween is a modern name given to an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced sow-in). Samhain (The Festival of the Dead) was a new year celebration by the Celts in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France. November 1 marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred.

On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth as spirits could cross over and walk on the earth. As evening drew near, the Celts began preparations for the igil of SamhainV (The Lord of Darkness). Celts thought that the presence of the spirits made it easier for the Celtic priests to make predictions about the future as all magical powers were enhanced greatly.

The people built huge bonfires outside to sacrifice crops and animals to the Celtic Deities and to drive evil spirits away. However, there has been some debate of whether or not they sacrificed humans during the celebration. People have suggested that sick animals that would not have survived the winter were sacrificed along with criminals, since they were possessed by evil spirits. Once the fires had nearly stopped burning, the Druids or Celtic priests would read the remaining bones to foresee the coming harvesting year. Then the people would light torches from the bonfire and go home to re-light their own hearth fires to protect them from evil spirits during the winter.

During the celebration, the Celts dressed up in costumes consisting of animal heads and skins, furs, and scary masks and attempted to tell each other's fortune. This inevitably led to our dressing up in costumes for Halloween. The reason behind them dressing up in costumes was to make the evil spirits mistake them for animals or scare away evil spirits so they would not possess their bodies.

Another tradition was for the peasants to go door to door, begging for food. The food would be left out to appease the spirits, speeding them on their way back to the spirit world. Whoever gave food would receive a prayer from the peasants for good fortunes for the coming year. Those that were not generous received eggs and rocks thrown at their homes, among other pranks. These beliefs led to many of our traditions for Halloween.

As this was also the beginning of the New Year as well, many fortune activities also took place, aside from the bone reading of the priests. This was a time when fortune telling, tealeaf readings and other divination methods would be the most powerful for the future. One of the fun celebrations we still uphold is bobbing for apples. The Celts believed that the first person to bite an apple would be the first to marry.

Another tradition was to peel an apple from top to bottom. The person with the longest unbroken peel would be assured the longest life. If you threw the apple peel over your shoulder, the initial it forms upon landing is the initial of your future mate.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory and brought many of their own traditions. One of these was the celebration of All Saints Day, which was originally celebrated in May. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the Catholic Church hoped that by combining the pagan celebration of Samhain with their own church-sanctioned festival they could convert more people to follow the Catholic religion. At this point, Samhain became known as All Hallow's Eve (the eve before the hallowed day of All Saint's Day). In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints (All Hallow's Eve), All Saints, and All Souls were called Hallowmas. Eventually, All Hallow's Eve was shortened to Hallow E'en and then to Halloween, as we know it today.

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