THE (NOT SO SPOOKY) TRUE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

Introduction

When you think of Halloween, what springs to mind? For most in America, Halloween night is a time of fun and frolic for both young and old alike.

People of all ages come out and dress up in unique costumes as whoever or whatever they desire one night of the year. A chance to step outside of ourselves. A moment to forget about the everyday grind stresses that await the morning after. It is a time for smiles, treats, and often time tricks or pranks in the spirit of good-natured fun.

For others amongst us, Halloween may be considered an evil, outlandish ritual that should never be participated in being avoided at all costs. Or a terrifying night when spirits of the dead come back to haunt us. A dark time for horrifying deeds that lead to no good.

But what do we truly know about the ancient traditions that sparked our modern Halloween celebrations?

Are they spawned from tainted, sinister places in the past?

Or could they have been created and intended for something else entirely?

That’s what these passages will reveal to you—the True History of Halloween. If you never knew and were curious, this will enlighten you on all that Halloween is based on the facts throughout history.

The Ancient Roots of Halloween

Around 2,000 years ago, in the Northeastern region of Europe, centralized around the areas of Ireland, the UK, and Northern France, a group of people known as the Celts held sacred religious rituals on the night of October 31st to celebrate the upcoming new year on November 1st. This celebration was known as Samhain, pronounced like “sow-in” and a word that means “Summer’s End.”

The purpose of celebrating on October 31st was because the Celts believed that this night, the night before the beginning of the new year, was the one night the spirits of the dead came back to their earthly realm and could potentially cause havoc.

On this night, they believed that their priests, also known as the Druids, would be able to communicate with these spirits to predict the outcome of the new year more accurately.

For the Celts, October 31st signified the end of summer, the lot of their harvest time, and the start of harsh winter months that many would not survive. This was precisely why the Celts looked to their priests to help them understand what to expect in the coming winter months. To them, it was a matter of life or death.

At the beginning of the Samhain celebration, a sacred bonfire would be lit by the Druids. Participants would burn crops and animals considered sacrifices to their gods to appease them with a prosperous new year. The animals used in these ceremonies were selected carefully, and they believed they were unable to survive on their own throughout the harsh winter months ahead.

Throughout the festivities, Celts would wear lavish costumes constructed mainly of animal skins and heads.

After all the celebrations had ended, each participant would take a bit of the bonfire back to their homes and relight their fireplaces that were extinguished earlier in the evening before the ceremonies. They did this as a form of protection to keep themselves safe and their farms prosperous during the dark, cold winter.

While these traditions were practiced for many years, they were about to change when the Romans conquered the Celts around 43 A.D. This would last for the next four hundred years.

The Romans combined the Celtic celebration of Samhain with two of their own that occurred around the same time. The first was called Feralia. This traditional Roman celebration was for remembrance of the dead. It lasted for one day towards the end of October. The second celebration was a day of honor for the Roman goddess Pomona.

An interesting fact about the goddess Pomona is that she was associated with fruit and trees. Her main identifying symbol was the apple, and she could explain why people bob for apples at some modern-day Halloween gatherings.

With the changing and combining of the three traditions, it gained a new name that we are familiar with today. This unique celebration, conducted on November 1st, was deemed All Saint’s Day. It was a day in which all people were granted permission to worship their deity of choice freely.

However, many people decided also to keep the older traditions and celebrate on October 31st in the ancient ways of their ancestors. This day was given the name All Hallows Eve. Now what we commonly refer to as Halloween or Hallowe’en.

Bringing Halloween to America

When the first settlers came to America, they left behind many traditions and celebrations from the ancient world, including Halloween. Many puritans believed it was a pagan holiday and had no place in developing their new life.

So, Halloween was all but forgotten. Until the mid-nineteenth century, millions of immigrants came across the ocean to America. With them, they brought along their long-practiced cultural traditions.

Not long after their arrival, America was changing into a veritable melting pot of cultures. And so, adaptations began changing the custom of Halloween into what we now recognize it as today.

Instead of having huge bonfires as part of traditional Halloween celebrations, people would use pumpkins, carving portions, and light candles inside as lanterns. Ancient costumes worn went from animal skins to more modern attire, such as dressing up as ghosts, ghouls, and witches.

And trick-or-treat candy collecting is believed to have originated from another old tradition called “Souling.” Souling was the practice of people going door to door, praying for the souls of the departed at their neighbor’s homes. In exchange for the prayers, the homeowners offered their visitors food.

Others also believe trick-or-treating could have stemmed from people leaving food offerings out on their porches during All Hallows Eve to appease the spirits in letting their homes and family be at peace.

The true origins of trick-or-treating are still not known for sure. But what we do know is that it sure is loads of fun!

Even with these changes, some regions of America still frown upon celebrating Halloween. In places like New England, strict Protestants did not participate in Halloween. Nor did they allow others to take part in such pagan rituals in their communities.

However, places like Maryland and many southern colonies celebrated Halloween regularly in the earlier years. And today, thanks to the Irish immigrants coming over during the mid-nineteenth century, Halloween has become a nationally celebrated holiday all across America.

Early Halloween Celebration Customs

When colonial Americans first began participating in Halloween celebrations, they would conduct “play parties.” These parties were held as public events in celebration of harvesting crops. During the play parties, neighbors would get together and tell tales similar to the ghost stories we speak about today. They would also experiment in fortune telling, plus throw in some dancing and singing. Sometimes, there would also be some prank being played. Or “tricks,” if you prefer.

Not everyone across America would participate in these play party gatherings, however. Even though annual autumn festivals were commonplace, these were not classified as Halloween parties until a bit later.

Around the mid-nineteenth century, after the Irish immigrants had arrived in America somewhere in 1846, Halloween became more popular throughout the country. Combining old Irish and English traditions, people began the more modern-day custom of dressing up in costumes and going trick-or-treating. During the early days, treats consisted of food items or money, unlike the candy traditionally passed out to trick-or-treaters today.

By the end of the nineteenth century, Halloween was mainly celebrated with home-hosted parties. These would be thrown for both children and adults. During these upgraded get-togethers, partygoers would play festive games, eat seasonal foods, and wear stylish costumes that were popular in the period. Most hosts would steer clear of things considered too frightening such as ghost stories, so that everyone could have a fantastic night of fun.

Halloween festivities received yet another update when the 1920s and ’30s rolled around. Many celebrations were centered around community activities such as parades and city-wide parties.

In the 1950s, Halloween became a celebration geared towards the youth of America thanks to the baby boom. During these years, community-based parties were drummed down into classroom festivities and home-based parties. And it was also during this time that trick-or-treating came back into fashion.

It brought back the tradition of trick-or-treating and provided communities with a way to enjoy and share the holiday without needing huge “town hall” type gatherings. This was considered a great American tradition of being able to celebrate the holiday as a community while keeping costs and vandalism down.

Today’s Halloween Customs

Many of the customs we practice to celebrate Halloween today have deep seeded roots in the traditions of ancient times.

Trick-or-treating, for example, originated from All Soul’s Day parades held in England many years ago. The reason is that destitute people would plead for something to eat during these parades as they could not afford to buy this sustenance. Other families, in turn, would present them with unique pastries deemed “soul cakes” as a promise to pray for those in the family that had passed on to the afterlife.

Not to be forgotten, many families would leave food and drink outside during All Hallows Eve and All Saint’s Day to keep wandering spirits at bay. Some would say that this tradition could be where children dressing up as ghouls and goblins represent the wandering spirits, and the candy/food would coincide with that custom.

This brings us to why we dress up in costumes today for both parties and the act of trick-or-treating. Long ago, during Celtic times, special ceremonies were held to signify the ending of Summer and the beginning of winter. This was called Samhain.

During these ancient festivities, Celts would wear costumes made from animal skins. The Celts believed that on this night, October 31st, the dead could cross over from their world to ours. To keep the spirits from recognizing them, they would dress in costumes to hide their true identities from the wandering souls.

They believed that wearing masks would conceal them and make the roaming spirits think they were other kindred spirits simply wandering about and leaving them at peace.

By incorporating the disguises and leaving food offerings outside their homes, people of the past believed it would keep restless wandering spirits distracted, protecting themselves and their homes from becoming infested with unwanted spirit guests.

Today, there are many other types of costumes we don on Halloween. Not just the traditional witches, goblins, and ghosts of the past.

All of this explains why in current times, we wear costumes, throw parties, and go out trick-or-treating on Halloween. To date, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion every year celebrating Halloween. That’s a whole lot of candy and costumes!

Conclusion

Halloween has come a long way from where it began many years ago. Whether you love or despise it, Halloween is the second largest commercial holiday celebrated across America today. And it looks like this ancient tradition isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

After reading where our version of Halloween stemmed from, you should have a much clearer understanding of what it’s all about. And, while some people still consider this an evil and fearsome holiday, it all comes down to having a little bit of fun.

People love stepping away from reality and humbling life to become someone else. Halloween allows us to do this, even if it is only once a year.

Have A Happy Halloween!!!!