A Brief History of Halloween

A Brief History of Halloween

With its origins rooted in Celtic culture, Samhain is last harvest and beginning of the much darker and colder parts of the year. During this time there was said to be an overlap in the worlds of the living and the dead. A time when the thinning of veils between worlds allowed spirits to roam freely.

The Halloween traditions we see in the popular culture here in America have origins embedded in this holiday. Although we have gotten farther and farther away from the origins of the traditions and Halloween has morphed into something completely new. 

This holiday now is a time to dress up and be someone else, as well as a time to dance with our fears.
Masks did have origins in the festival of long ago. These were worn when out after dark during this time to keep away the spirits and/or to blend in with them and thus remain safe. 
The classic ghost costume which used a bed sheet as a drape finds its origins in the burial shroud. It has been suggested  that ghost impersonation was taken up by criminals as early as the 16th century 

Trick or treating might have begun with the tradition of offerings of food that were left outside the home to appease spirits and keep those indoors safe.  Or perhaps the origins of this are found in the church’s celebration of all saints day on November 1st, when soul cakes were made to commemorate the dead and door to door visits for food were made primarily by the young and the poor. 

 In 1st century AD Samhain celebrations were enfolded into some Roman celebrations like the festival of Pomona a Goddess of fruit and trees. This may be the origins of the the bobbing for apples game. 

Later the Church created All Saints Day nov 1 and All HallowsDay to All Hallows eve or as we now know it, Halloween

The pumpkins we carve into jack o’ lanterns were originally carved from a turnip. 
The story was:

Jack was so bad he got kicked out of hell 
He was given a coal to take with him’
He put it into a turnip to create a lantern 
Children then began to carve these in homage to jack 

Later pumpkins took over the turnip phase, whether this came from the abundance of this squash this time of year or the ease with which they were carved is unknown. 

Scots and Irish brought Samhain/All Hallows lore to the US in the 1840’s and Halloween began to become a night of mischief and trouble making which actually turned into mayhem. 

By 1920’s Halloween pranks in the US were becoming out of control; this was primarily adolescent boys and there was even talk of canceling halloween. Some work was done by different communities to make this night safer and more controlled and thus the more organized event of trick or treating was born. 

According to a Smithsonian article “The effort to restrain and recast the holiday continued after World War II, as adults moved Halloween celebrations indoors and away from destructive tricks, and gave the holiday over to younger and younger children. The Senate Judiciary Committee under President Truman recommended Halloween be repurposed as “Youth Honor Day” in 1950, hoping that communities would celebrate and cultivate the moral fiber of children. “

Divination was often practiced at this time of year as a means to discover one’s future husband
Apple peels, burning hazelnuts and eating sugary walnut goodness that created dreams were all forms of love divination practiced during this time

In 1998 when I spent Halloween in London, my American roommates and I were shocked that there were so few celebrations occurring to mark this holiday. There was very little in the shops by way of decoration or costume. In the early 2000’s however changes occurred around this celebration in the UK shifting to a more Americanized version of this holiday.

In addition to Samahin, there are other celebrations of the dead during this time. 
Perhaps the most popular and well known is the Day of the Dead- this celebration corresponding with the same dates as Halloween and All Souls Day is said to have origins with the Aztecs who would use skulls to honor the dead. In the 16th century when the Spanairds conquered the Aztec empire they brought with them All Souls day and these traditions merged. 

There are many cultures that celebrate and honor their dead but not all do it during this time of year. 

How do you celebrate Samhain? 
What traditions do you hold for this time? 

Simple ideas for celebrating

• Create an Ancestor Altar
  
• Have a dinner party and invite guests to bring a dish favored by their beloved dead then spend time sharing stories about them (what is remembered lives)
  
• Volunteer to help tend graves at your local cemetery
  
• Practice divination
  
• Write a letter to your ancestors and one to your descendants.