Centuries before Spirit Halloween was popping up in abandoned stores across the country, celebrations looked quite different. For a celebration that predates Christianity, it’s amazing how closely Halloween resembles the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain (pronounced Sow-un).
Samhain
The exact dates this would be celebrated aren’t known, but it’s believed Samhain was celebrated from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. Celts would welcome the harvest and spirits of the dead, believing the veil between the two worlds thinned. A large bonfire would be lit, and at the end of the celebration, everyone would bring home some of the fire to relight their own hearths.
Offerings were left outside homes for spirits, and cakes were left on tables for any that came inside. Celts would dress up in costumes to prevent fairies from kidnapping them. In the Middle Ages, they began carving turnips, an early version of a Jack-O-Lantern. People would gather and feast, telling stories and playing games. Of course, Catholicism showed up.
All Saints’ Day
Pope Boniface IV began the All Martyrs Day celebration in 609, with it later being moved and combined with a celebration for saints to Nov. 1 by Pope Gregory III, becoming All Saints’ Day. All Souls’ Day was Nov. 2, and its practices were similar to Samhain. It’s believed that the church did this to make Samhain be church sanctioned.
All Saints’ Day was also called All-hallows, making Oct. 3, the night of Samhain, All-hallows-eve, which later became Halloween.
Halloween
When pilgrims first came to America, Halloween was not widely celebrated because of religious views. Over time, from a combination of the different European groups and Native Americans, a celebration for the harvest came about. They would put on plays, tell stories, and tell fortunes. This lasted until the mid-19th century, when Halloween was still not widely celebrated.
The Irish Potato Famine brought many Irish immigrants over, which helped to popularize the holiday. It started with the Celts, and the Celts brought it back.
The latter part of the century had a move towards community-focused events instead of the focus on the dead and tricks. This brought back trick-or-treating and Halloween parties between the 1920s and 1950s. Over time, we got more Halloween-themed movies, and costumes evolved from being scary to being fun and pop culture-based.
Even though Samhain was thousands of years ago, modern American Halloween isn’t all that different. We still dress up, interact with people in our communities, and drink. A lot. People still believe in spirits being out that night, and while it’s not turnips anymore, we still carve pumpkins. Even bobbing for apples can be linked to Samhain! It’s nice to know that even through this much time, traditions can still live on.
Sources:
History.com Editors. “Halloween: Origins, Meaning & Traditions | HISTORY.” HISTORY, 18 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/articles/history-of-halloween?ef_id=Cj0KCQjw6bfHBhDNARIsAIGsqLhQO24Ng5BH3Y-YAgB9gqFhMs8AE4EwObTK_AJDLkpXGSg3NLPG2SkaAuBZEALw_wcB:G:s&s_kwcid=AL.
History.com Editors. “Samhain – Traditions, Halloween, Wicca | HISTORY.” HISTORY, 6 Apr. 2018, Samhain – Traditions, Halloween, Wicca | HISTORY.