Halloween marks the time of dressing up in creative costumes, wandering the streets and hunting for candy, going to Halloween themed parties and frequenting haunted houses and carving jack-o-lanterns. But where and when did our much-loved holiday start?
Halloween is believed to date back 2000 years ago, to the Celts in modern-day Ireland, who celebrated an ancient harvest festival called Samhain. Although Samhain was technically on November 1st, the celebration started the night of October 31st, which was the last day of the Celtic calendar and was believed to be the where the rift between the worlds of the dead and living ceased and where the ghosts would come back to Earth.
They would build giant bonfires and people would dress up in costumes, mostly animal related, to ward off and hide from ghosts and made sacrifices of crops and animals to the Celtic deities. Since spirits and supernatural forces were believed to wander the streets, good and bad alike, a variety of gifts and treats would be left out in hopes that they would placate the evil spirits and result in plentiful crops the following year. This ties to the saying “Trick or Treat” which represented the belief that the spirits would curse them or cause mischief, “trick”, if not provided with a “treat.”
This tradition may have influenced All Saints Day, also known as All-Hallows, from Pope Gregory. It is part of a three-day holiday called Allhallowtide that is dedicated to recognizing the dead and the saints. All Saints Day is celebrated on November 1st, making the 31st All Hallows’ Eve. This later became what we now know as Halloween.