Halloween : Origin - History - Story
What is the origin of Halloween ?
The origin or history of Halloween or story of Halloween has its roots in the ancient, pre-Christian, pagan festival of Samhain, known as the "Feast of Samhain" [also transliterated from Gaelic into English as: Sambain or Saman; pronounced either as "Sah-win" or "Sah-van" or ""Sow-in" (where "ow" rhymes with "cow")", depending on the interpretation; the feast takes its name from the Gaelic word "Samhraidhreadh", which means "summer's end" in Gaelic. The feast was a communal celebration of the final harvest, and featured bonfires, food, dancing, and costumes; Samhain was also the name for the God of Death in Druidic, Celtic culture]. The current festival of Halloween is a culmination of secularized customs from the Samhain festival as well as secularized customs from the Christian festival of All Saints' Day which was transferred from May 13th, where it had been celebrated since 609 A.D., to November 1st and thus replaced the Samhain festival celebration on November 1st in the 9th century A.D. by incorporating its pagan customs into All Saints' Day. In the 11th century, the Roman Catholic Church stated that November 2nd was to be known as All Souls' Day, a day which honored all the souls of the dead; specifically those that had died during the past year.
Origin of Halloween - History of Halloween - Story of Halloween
In pre-Christian times, more than 2,000 years ago, the Celtic people had migrated from northern Gaul (now France) on the European continent into what is now Ireland (including present-day Northern Ireland), Scotland, Wales, and England. Their religious leaders consisted of an order of priests (who also served as teachers) known as the Druids, which means "knowing the oak tree" in Gaelic, referring to the fact that their religious rituals were often performed in what they believed were sacred groves of oak trees. The Druids had two major Gods: the God of the Sun and the God of Death, each for which they had a festival. The festival of the God of Death or God of the Dead, known as Samhain (also: Sambain or Saman), was most often held on November 1st, which also happened to be the first day of the Celtic New Year. The Samhain festival was an end-of-summer harvest festival that celebrated the ingathering of the summer crops, and also symbolized the beginning of the winter season, meaning the season of coldness, darkness, and death. On this day, it was also believed by the Druids that Samhain called together all the souls of the wicked who had died during the past year. On the eve of the festival, the evening of October 31st, the Druids began to honor their God of the Dead, Samhain. The Druids also believed that on the eve of the Samhain festival and the Celtic New Year, meaning the evening of October 31st, evil spirits such as hobgoblins, ghosts, witches (who sometimes took the shape of black cats), demons, elves, fairies, and other spirits of the dead would come out of their graves to fly around and roam the earth in search of revisiting their homes while playing evil tricks on the living. It was also believed that in the evening on October 31st, all the witches would come together for the purpose of worshipping the devil. In order to protect themselves from these evil spirits, huge bonfires consisting of sacred oak branches were lit on hilltops to frighten away the evil spirits, the Druidic priests offered good things to eat for the evil spirits, and the Druids also disguised themselves in the belief that the evil spirits would mistake the disguised Druids for fellow evil spirits, and so not harm members of their own kind, in their opinion. This custom would later be played out in medieval times by 14th century Black Plague-era (1347-1351) French citizens in France in their custom of "La Danse Macabre" ("Dance of Death" in French; La Danse Macabre consists of the personified death leading a row of dancing figures from all walks of life to the grave; the purpose of this allegory in the form of a dance was to stress the universality of death) and still later on in 20th century North America with the custom of children dressing up in Halloween costumes with masks and playing a "trick-or-treat". The Druids also burned animals, crops, and perhaps other human beings as sacrifices in order to placate Samhain. In addition, using methods to foretell the future were also part of the customs of the Samhain festival on the evening before November 1st, as it was believed that one could receive predictions for one's life for the upcoming year on the eve of the New Year. October 31st was also the only day of the year in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon culture in which the help of the devil was invoked for these purposes. Later on, in Britain, Ireland, and Scotland, based on the Celtic custom of foretelling the future, divinations concerning marriage, health, luck, and death were invoked in the evening on October 31st. Young people in Scotland would gather together in the evening on October 31st to determine their marital prospects for the upcoming year and would play specific games to determine who would get married in the upcoming year and in what order the marriages would take place. This custom eventually developed into Halloween games played by children.
Based on the aforementioned origin, history, and story of Halloween, we have developed the following contemporary Halloween customs: (1) the Halloween custom of dressing up as an evil spirit and wearing a mask, which comes from the Druidic belief of disguising oneself from the evil spirits; (2) the Halloween custom of lighting candles on Halloween which comes from the bonfires that were lit to scare away the evil spirits; (3) the Halloween custom of offering sweet treats to the evil spirits to placate them and avoid the evil tricks that they played, which is played out today in the form of children disguised as evil spirits going from house to house, ringing the doorbell, and saying "trick or treat" to the member of the household that answers the door, meaning, in long form, "I will not play a trick if you give me a treat"; (4) the Halloween custom of displaying autumn leaves, cornstalks, apples, and nuts, which comes from the Samhain festival of honoring the end of summer and the ingathering and fruits of the summer harvest as well as the Roman festival of Pomona (the Roman Goddess Pomona was the Goddess of the orchards and hence, of fruits, and so fruits were brought on this day), which was brought to Britain by the Romans in the 1st century A.D. and celebrated on the same day as the Samhain festival; and finally, (5) the Halloween custom of playing fortune-telling games comes from the ancient Celtic custom of trying to obtain divine predictions for the upcoming year in the evening on October 31st, which was the eve of the Celtic New Year. Fortune telling methods that were used as omens by young people in Scotland and Ireland to determine their marital prospects included throwing apple parings over one's shoulder or throwing nuts into a fire so that they would burn. Other fortune-telling games involved placing a ring, a coin, and a thimble into a recipe for either a cake or some other food on Halloween. The belief was that the person who found the coin in the cake or other food would become wealthy, and the person who found the ring in the cake or other food would soon marry, however, the person who found the thimble in the cake or other food would never get married. In addition to these traditional methods for determining one's future on Halloween, contemporary methods for determining one's future on Halloween include palmistry and card-reading, among other techniques; and finally, (6) the Halloween custom of storytelling about ghosts and witches grew out of the Samhain festival, with its Druidic beliefs about the reawakening of evil spirits in the evening on October 31st.
Regarding the origin of the Halloween custom to do a "trick-or-treat", its roots are traced to the Celtic Samhain festival, in which foodstuffs were collected for the feast that was held on the festival day. Much later on, in England, this custom was interpreted in a different way by English children, who would knock on doors begging for soul cakes, which evolved into doughnuts (round cakes to remind one of eternity). In the late 19th century, after Scottish and Irish immigrants brought their Halloween customs to the United States, the Irish belief that the "little people", namely, elves and fairies, played pranks on Halloween led to boys and young men playing destructive practical jokes in the evening on October 31st, the evening of Halloween. However, in the 20th century, a less destructive practise based on this belief became common in the United States: the Halloween custom to perform a "trick-or-treat", meaning children who dress up in a costume that is in the form of an evil spirit while wearing a mask and going from house to house, ringing the doorbell, and promising the one who answers the door not to play a "trick" on them (which is rarely played) if they receive a "treat".
Regarding the "Trick or Treat" Halloween custom, a new Halloween Trick-or-Treat custom was developed in 1950 in the United States with the theme of doing Trick-or-Treat for others. In 1950, children in a Sunday-school class in Philadelphia created "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF", when they collected $17.00 in decorated milk cartons on Halloween to help kids left vulnerable by World War II. UNICEF is the United Nations International Children's Fund, a body of the United Nations that was created in December of 1946 which focuses on the protection, welfare, and basic needs of poor children, such as food and medical care as well as other services. Other children gave back their candy and apple treats to household members and instead, began asking for pennies, nickels, and dimes to give to UNICEF. From these outstanding examples created by these children, the Halloween custom of asking for change to give to UNICEF has been followed ever since across the United States and Canada. Children dress in Halloween costumes but also carry special orange and black colored cartons with them that are provided by UNICEF to show that the children are taking part in the work of UNICEF. The money that is collected helps needy children around the world. Therefore, Halloween can provide a two-fold benefit for children that participate in the UNICEF Halloween program: the joy that is felt by helping children that are in need worldwide as well as the joy felt when participating in the Halloween customs.
When the Romans invaded and conquered and controlled parts of Britain from 43 A.D. until 410 A.D., calling the island "Britannia", they introduced two festivals of their own to the Celtic "Feast of Samhain" festival that was held on November 1st. The first Roman festival was called the "Feast of Feralia", which honored their dead, and the second was called the "Feast of Pomona", where Pomona was the Roman Goddess of the orchards, and hence of apples. From the Roman festival of Pomona, we get the Halloween custom of bobbing for apples, or imbibing apple cider. Some people also place a coin into each apple that serves as an extra reward (great, but watch that you don't swallow the coin!).
In the 9th century A.D. [specifically, in either 834 A.D., 835 A.D., 837 A.D., or 844 A.D. (according to various scholars)], Pope Gregory IV (ruled as pope from 827 A.D. - 844 A.D.) of the Roman Catholic Church stated that the feast of All Saints' Day was to be transferred from May 13th, where it had been celebrated since 609 A.D., to November 1st to coincide with the Celtic pagan Samhain festival. All Saints' Day was a day which honored all the saints of the church, both known and unknown, and this included saints who did not have a special day of their own. Since saints were known as the hallowed ones or holy ones, the day that honored them was to be known as All Saints' Day or All Hallows' Day, the latter name which was used particularly in medieval Britain. At the same time, to make it easier for those who maintained the ancient pagan customs of the Samhain festival of the Druids to accept this newly-transferred Christian holy day, the night or evening before November 1st was to be known as All Hallows' Even ("Even" was the Old English word for "Evening"; "Eve" is a shortened version of "Evening"), and the associated ancient Celtic pagan customs for the evening before November 1st were incorporated into the new Christian holy day. Later on, "All Hallows' Even" as a phrase was shortened to "Halloween", that is, (All)Hallow(s) E(v)en. In short, the name transition went as follows over time: from "All Hallow(s) Even", to "All Hallows' Eve", then "Hallowe'en", and finally, "Halloween".
The Halloween custom of creating Jack-O'-Lanterns (a shortened form of "Jack of the Lantern") comes from a Scottish and Irish belief (more specifically, originating in Irish folklore) that there once was a night watchman named Jack (actually, "Jack" in this sense referred to any man, and so "Jack-O'-Lantern" actually means "man with a lantern") who could not get into Heaven because of his miserliness; he also could not get into Hell because he had played tricks on the devil. Instead, he was condemned to walk the Earth with a lantern to guide his way until Judgement Day, hence the name Jack-O'-Lantern. According to this folklore, the lantern was a turnip which was carved up and hollowed out by Jack and lit inside with an infernal ember that was coaxed from the devil. Thus, in England, Ireland, and Scotland, either a turnip, beet, or potato was used to create a Jack-O'-Lantern, which is a carved up and hollowed out turnip, beet, or potato with a candle affixed inside it. The custom of carving Jack-O'-Lanterns out of turnips and lighting them with embers or oil continued for centuries among Irish households. The concept of being "guided" by the lantern comes from the figure of the Celtic God of Death - Samhain - guiding spirits with a spectral light. When the Irish and Scottish immigrated to North America, they discovered that the pumpkin, native to the United States, was easier to carve, and they changed from using the turnip, beet, or potato to using the pumpkin as a Jack-O'-Lantern. Today, Jack-O'-Lanterns are mainly used for decorative purposes on Halloween.
What is the Origin of the Name Halloween ?
Origin of Halloween - History of Halloween - Story of Halloween
Halloween Customs in the United States
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