Did you know that jack-o-lanterns were originally carved out of turnips?
Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia! My name is Kelly and today's video is all about
Samhain and the history of Halloween. Don't forget, the easiest way to support us is by giving
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who subscribe. Your support helps us create videos twice a week, so make sure to check it out via the
pop-up in the top corner of the screen or via the Patreon link down below. Every year, Halloween is
celebrated around the world on October 31st with the festivities being most popular in the United
States and Canada. The modern-day Halloween is celebrated with relatively recent developments
but the ancient tradition can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.
Attempts to demonize the observance of Halloween by Christian groups occur routinely based on the
incorrect claim that the Celtic god of the dead is Sam Hain and Halloween is his feast.
The error was written down in the 18th century by Charles Vallancey who had a poor understanding of
both Celtic culture and language but chose to write about the Samhain festival anyway.
Samhain was an ancient Celtic festival celebrated halfway between the autumnal equinox and the
winter solstice. It started on October 31st at dusk and probably went for three days.
It was a celebration of the transition from the lighter half of the year to the darker half.
Three other celebrations marked the changing of the seasons throughout the year, but Samhain
was the most significant because it's thought to have represented the Celtic New Year. It's likely,
however, that the celebrations of Samhain predate the arrival of the Celts in Ireland
some 2,500 years ago as archaeological evidence suggests some sort of autumnal observance.
It was a time to prepare for winter by harvesting the crops, bringing the animals in for sacrifice
or breeding and for feasting, in celebration of the harvest with lots of food and alcohol. Samhain
was also a sacred time for settling important matters like the inauguration of new kings.
The Samhain fire festival was celebrated on the Hill of Tlachtga or the Hill of Ward in County
Meath and people today are once again celebrating at the sacred site. There's a bit of mystery
surrounding Samhain, but we know that the ancient Celtic priests, known as druids, would light
a new bonfire after everyone had extinguished their hearths at the beginning of the festival,
and then onto the bonfire, they would throw animal bones from the animals that had been sacrificed.
It is from this practice that the name bonfire from "bone-fire" came into use. From this large
bonfire, everyone would light their torches and then carry that flame to re-light their hearth;
thereby taking personal light and warmth from the communal fire and symbolising the individual's
connection to and reliance upon others. In addition to animal sacrifices, historians
also think that dancing in costumes made of animal skins were a part of the festivities.
During Samhain, the ancient Celts believed that the veil between the other world and the physical
was lifted, which made it a good time for druids to practice divination. It was also considered
a perilous time because the passage between the two realms was easier and the spirits could act
with more powerful agency in the human world. The concept of liminality or "the in-between"
was an integral component of ancient Celtic spirituality, and Samhain did not simply mark
the change from summer to winter but represented a liminal period in between the two seasons;
Samhain was outside of time, belonging to neither summer nor winter. It is also thought to have
been a time of peace as earthly arguments and struggles were temporarily suspended.
When Christianity arrived in Ireland in the 5th century CE, the Christians found it easier to
convert people to their faith by incorporating some of the pagan celebrations into the Catholic
calendar, and that's exactly what happened with Samhain. In addition to pagan symbols, temples,
festivals and legends being Christianised, All Saints Day also known as All Hallows' Day, which
was initially observed on May 13th, was moved to November 1st by Pope Gregory III in the 8th
century, and then November 2nd became All Souls Day, which was used to absorb elements of Samhain
that couldn't be absorbed into All Hallows' Day. By the 15th century, writings on what had become
the widespread celebration of All Saints Day show it was beginning to resemble Halloween as we know
it today. The Christianisation of Samhain follows the same pattern as other ancient observances of
combining pagan myths and figures with Biblical characters and themes, exemplified in the tale
of the Rape of the Druidess by the sons of a well-known Biblical villain. The story of the
druidess the Hill of Tlachtga was named after, comes from the Christian era, which relates how
the druidess Tlachtga was raped by the three sons of Simon Magus and then gave birth to triplets and
died on the hill that bears her name. It's the Biblical villain, Simon Magus, who tried to buy
his way into God's grace, according to the Book of Acts that dates this legend to the Christian era,
and it's believed the original myth was Christianised after Saint Patrick came to Ireland.
During this time, the celebration of Samhain was turned into a night of prayer,
vigil and fasting. Bonfires were still lit but now they were for Christian heroes, and
the changing of the season was still observed but now for the glory of Christ. By the 16th century,
the observance of "souling," the act of knocking on people's doors and asking for a soul-cake or
soul-mass-cake in return for a prayer, was an integral part of All Hallows' Day. The
evening before All Hallows' Day, - All Hallows' Evening - eventually became known as Halloween.
A further development in the holiday came about after a failed assassination attempt in England;
on the 5th of November 1605, a group of dissident Catholics tried to assassinate the
Protestant King James I and his parliament. This attempt is known as the Gunpowder Plot
which ultimately failed, and one of the men Guy Fawkes was caught with the explosives and so his
name was attached to the observance. Guy Fawkes Day was celebrated by the Protestants of Britain
as their triumph over Catholicism, and the night of November 5th, bonfires were lit and unpopular
figures -often the pope were hanged in effigy. There was also drinking, feasting and fireworks.
Children and the poor would go door-to-door with a Guy Fawkes effigy in a wheelbarrow,
begging for money or treats and this practice eventually was incorporated into Halloween.
To this day, Bonfire Night is still celebrated in many towns throughout England.
The 19th century famine in Ireland which caused the movement of many Irish to America, meant that
the traditions and beliefs associated with All Hallows' Day, including the jack-o'-lantern,
arrived with them. The jack-o'-lantern began with the Irish folk tale of Stingy Jack, who was both
a clever drunk and a con man who had fooled the devil into banning him from hell, but because of
his life of sin, he couldn't go to heaven. After Jack died, he was condemned to walk between heaven
and hell - constantly wandering the land. He carried a lantern made of a turnip which had a
red-hot ember from hell inside it to light his way as he travelled around the world, still looking to
con unsuspecting people. On All Hallows' Eve, the Irish would hollow out a turnip carve a face on
it and place a candle inside to protect themselves from Stingy Jack. When this tradition travelled to
the United States, a pumpkin was used instead of a turnip because it was easier to carve.
Halloween took another step toward its familiar form in response to the antics of young people
in the town of Hiawatha, Kansas, USA. In the hopes of tiring out the young people of her town
enough to stop the vandalism which had become the norm on October 31st in the early 1900s,
Elizabeth Krebs threw a party for them. Her first attempt was in 1913 and it failed with
her town still being vandalised because she wasn't inclusive enough. The next year she tried again,
but this time she invited the whole town and had a band, a costume contest and a parade
with the entire town celebrating and partying. There was no destruction or vandalism,
the word spread and the tradition of Halloween parties, costume contests and parades were
added to the dancing, music and feasts of the traditional celebration. Mrs Krebs is sometimes
considered the mother of modern Halloween, but she didn't contribute one of the essential
aspects of the night - trick-or-treating which was firmly established in Canada by 1927, with
young people going door to door asking for sweets in return for them leaving the home in one piece.
The celebration of Samhain has gone through many changes since its early beginnings and
this is entirely in keeping with its central theme and focus - transformation, which is
continued today through Halloween observances. For the ancient Celts, Samhain marked the transition
from the light half of the year to the dark and in the modern-day tradition of Halloween,
transformation is embodied in the wearing of costumes and masks which alter a person's persona,
changing their identity even if only for an evening. The ancient Celtic goddess most closely
associated with Samhain was the Morrigan, whose acts of transformation feature in
every one of her myths. The most popular figures and costumes for modern-day Halloween
such as superheroes, werewolves, vampires and ghosts all have to do with the transformation
of one thing to another - from the natural to the supernatural, and for one night a year,
anyone can become anything they want to be. What is your favourite tradition during the spooky
season? Let us know in the comments below! If you enjoyed this video, make sure to give it a thumbs
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