When most people think of Halloween, the first things that come to mind are skeletons, ghouls, pumpkins, and, of course, loads of candy. However, the holiday hasn’t always been about going door to door in crazy costumes and coming home with pounds upon pounds of sweet, tooth-rotting snacks.
The origins of Halloween can be traced back two thousand years to the Celts, who occupied modern Ireland, the UK, and France, and their ancient festival of Samhain (sow-in). The Samhain festival was meant to precede the new year, which they celebrated on November 1st, as a signal of the end of the summer harvest and the beginning of the cold winter, a time of death. The Celts believed that on the night before, October 31, the line between the realms of the living and the dead became blurred, and ghosts would return to the mortal world. Spirits were seen as pesky vermin who would cause trouble and damage crops. However, their presence also made it easy for Celtic priests, known as Druids, to predict the future, messages that the Celtic people found comfort in during the harsh winter months. To honor this event, the priests would extinguish the hearth fires and light huge bonfires, around which the people would gather to sacrifice animals and crops to their deities. The Celts then donned costumes, which were commonly made of animal heads and hides, and told each other’s fortunes. When the night was over, the hearth fires would be relit from the light of the bonfires to keep them safe through the winter.
By the year 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered most of the Celtic territory and combined two of their festivals with Samhain. A day in late October was designated as Feralia, when the Romans would celebrate the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor the goddess of fruit and trees, Pomona. Interestingly enough, bobbing for apples is a current Halloween tradition stemming from this festival, as Pomona’s symbol was the apple.
When the 9th century came around, Christianity had gained influence in the Celtic lands. In 1000 A.D., the church made November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor those who had passed. The holiday was very similar to Samhain, as it included bonfires, parades, and costumes. It was also known as All-hallows or All-hallowmas, and the night before was known as All-Hallows Eve. Eventually, it began to be known as Halloween.
In America, Halloween was quite limited in colonial New England, as the colonies were strongly based on Christian beliefs that spoke against it. In Maryland and the South, however, it was more commonly recognized. A new form of Halloween was born as different groups and Native Americans forged together their cultures. The first celebrations had “play parties” with public events to celebrate the harvest. The community would share stories of those who had passed, dance, sing, and tell each other’s fortunes. Colonial Halloween began to rely heavily on telling ghost stories and making mischief. However, it lacked the aspect that many people know the holiday for: candy.
Trick-or-treating only became popular in the late 1800s, when people tried to mold Halloween into a holiday about community, not ghosts, mischief, and witches. Halloween parties for all ages became the most common way to celebrate, with celebrations focusing on food, games, and costumes. Parents took out the “grotesque” and “frightening” aspects of the holiday, causing it to lose its superstition by the early 1900s. However, modern celebrations are leaning more into the horror aspect of Halloween, with the rise of horror movies, serial killer characters, and terrifying ghosts. As the years progress, humanity is finding more interest in the early superstitions and scares that made Halloween into such an iconic holiday.
