The History of Halloween

I remember being asked quite often when I was younger. The question that I’m sure everyone has asked or been asked.

“What’s your favorite holiday?”

Of course answers differ, but usually, it goes between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and “My Birthday!” (and then you must explain that their birthday is in fact, not a true holiday but a personal anniversary).

Me, if I were a Halloween pumpkin

Yet for me, the answer has always been Halloween. I love fall, and Halloween is smack dab in the middle of it. Plus, you can dress up and have an excuse to wear whatever you want for a whole day! Capes, plastic vampire teeth, a tutu-no one can really judge you-it’s Halloween!

(Plus, there’s free candy.)

Yet, where did Halloween come from? The origins of popular holidays like Christmas and Easter are usually quite well known, but could most people give a proper recount of the history of Halloween?

Actually, the Halloween tradition started with the Celtics. The Celtics had a festival called Samhain to welcome in the beginning of winter and mark the end of the harvest and summer.

They believed that on this holiday, barriers between the physical and spiritual world broke down, allowing “interaction between humans and denizens of the Otherworld”.

The Celts believed that the “presence of otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids...to make predictions about the future”. The Celtic were a people quite dependent on the natural world, therefore these prophecies were an essential comfort for the winter.

To celebrate, they would light huge fires, where they would burn sacrifices such as animals or crops to the Celtic deities. They would wear costumes to ward off any unfriendly spirits.

Once the celebrations finished, they relit the fires to “help protect them during the coming winter”.

By 43 AD, most of the Celtic territories had been conquered by the Roman empire. Two Roman holidays were combined with Samhain. The first was a day to honor the dead (known as Feralia) and the second was in honor of the goddess of fruit and trees (Pomona).

In 609 AD, the pope dedicated the Roman pantheon to all Christian martyrs, establishing the celebration of All Martyrs Day in the western church. The holiday was made to be observed on November 1.

In the 9th century, Christianity had spread into the Celtic lands, blending their newer traditions with the classic traditions of the Celtic. In 1000 AD, the church made All Soul’s Day (a day to honor the dead) on November 2.

All Souls Day was similar to Samhain (big bonfires, parades, donning costumes such as angels, devils, and saints). It was also known as All-Hallows or All-hallowmas. The traditional Celtic holiday of Samhain, which was the day before All Souls Day, began to be called “All-Hallows Eve”, which eventually led to “Halloween”!

Halloween began to emerge in America when European ethnic groups and Native American groups began to interact. The first few American Autumn festivals were similar to “play parties” where people came together to celebrate the harvest by sharing stories of the dead, dancing, singing, and predicting each other’s fortunes.

Around the second half of the 19th century, America flooded with millions of Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine. This sudden increase of population helped popularize Halloween celebrations on a national level.

There eventually was a movement to encourage Halloween into a holiday rather than a community get together. Halloween parties for children and adults became popular. These parties focused on games, foods of the season and festive costumes.

People, especially parents, were encouraged to remove anything frightening from Halloween. Due to this, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious aspects by the 20th century.

So, Halloween definitely had a long and enriched history. The celebration of Halloween is ever-changing. And, despite it being so different from its original roots, it remains my favorite holiday!