Halloween or All Hallows Eve, as it is sometimes
referred to, is a lot different now than it may have been celebrated many
centuries ago. With October 31st coming around the corner, I thought it would be
interesting to find out what the origins of Halloween were.
Earliest Trace
Peter Tokofsky, an assistant professor in the
department of folklore and mythology in UCLA states, "The earliest trace (of
Halloween) is the Celtic festival, Samhain, which was the Celtic New Year. It
was the day of the dead, and they believed the souls of the deceased would be
available" .
Samhain
Samhain (pronounced sah-win or sow-in) means "summer's
end" by the Celts. In old Germanic and Celtic societies, what we call equinoxes
and solstices marked the middles of the season, not the beginnings." Therefore
if there exist an autumnal equinox, winter solstice, spring equinox and a summer
solstice, there are also the beginning of autumn, winter, spring and summer. All
of these eight dates were important. Summer's end which meant the beginning of
winter was an important time for people who survived on plants grown in the
field and animals that were kept in pastures. "This day 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" It is most likely this reason
that the Druids (Celtic pagans) believed that the spirits of those who died the
preceding year roamed the earth the night of Samhain
Descriptions
The Druids celebrated this holiday "with a great fire
festival to encourage the dimming Sun not to vanish" and people "danced round
bonfires to keep evil sprits away, but left their doors open in hopes that the
kind spirits of loved ones might join them around their hearths". On this night,
"divination was thought to be more effective than any other time, so methods
were derived to ascertain who might marry, what great person might be born, who
might rise to prominence, or who might die" Also during the celebration, the
Celts "wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and
attempted to tell each other's fortunes". Crops were burned and animals were
sacrificed History Channel Exhibits.. The spirits were believed to be either
"entertained by the living", or to "find a body to possess for the incoming
year". This all gives reasons as to why "dressing up like witches, ghosts and
goblins, villagers could avoid being possessed."
Roman Influence
By 43 AD, "Romans had conquered the majority of
Celtic territory." For the 400 years they occupied Celtic lands, two Roman
festivals: Feralia (the commemoration of the passing of the dead) and a day to
honor Pomona (the Roman goddess of fruits and trees). The apple served as a
symbol for Pomona and which might have been incorporated into Samhain by the
practice of "bobbing for apples"
Christian Influence
When "local people converted to Christianity
during the early Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church often incorporated
modified versions of older religious traditions in order to win converts." Pope
Gregory IV wanted to substitute Samhain with All Saints' Day in 835, but All
Souls' Day (Nov. 2nd) which is closer in resemblance to Samhain and Halloween
today, was "first instituted at a French monastery in 998 and quickly spread
throughout Europe" In the 16th century, "Christian village children celebrated
the vigil of All Saints' by doing the Danse Macabre. The Seven Brethren whose
grizzly death is described in the seventh chapter of the deuterocanonical book
of Second Macabees" is also said to have resulted in children dressing up in
grizzly costumes to signify these deaths.
Modern Halloween
Halloween came to the United States when European
immigrants "brought their varied Halloween customs with them". In the second
half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants
including the Irish fleeing from the potato famine in Ireland in 1846. By
combining Irish and English traditions, Americans began the "trick-or-treat"
tradition. In the later 1800's the holiday became more centered on community and
in the 1920's and 1930's, Halloween became "a secular, but community-centered
holiday". In the 1950's leaders changed Halloween as a holiday aimed at the
young to limit vandalism. This all led to what Halloween actually is like today.
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