Ancient Origins of Halloween
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The
Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the
United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on
November 1. 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. Celts believed that on the night before the
new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead
became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain,
when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In
addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the
presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or
Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people
entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were
an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark
winter.
To
commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the
people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic
deities.
During
the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of
animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes.
When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which
they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to
help protect them during the coming winter.
By
A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the
course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two
festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic
celebration of Samhain.
The
first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally
commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor
Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is
the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain
probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is
practiced today on Halloween.
By
the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands.
In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All
Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed
today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of
the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration
was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English
Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the
night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually,
Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2
All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to
Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as
saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve
of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.
