Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31, mostly associated with death
and the supernatural.
For some Christians, it is the beginning of the three-day observation of Allhallowtide,
a time of remembering saints, martyrs, and all departed Christians.
For others, it is more or less a secular celebration — a night of costumes, parties, and free candy.
So where did this holiday come from?
The origin of Halloween is generally traced back to the Celtic holiday of Samhain, meaning
“summer’s end” in Old Irish.
Samhain and related holidays were celebrated by Celts throughout the British Isles as well
as Brittany.
Although Samhain was first mentioned in literature in the 10th century, it probably existed from
pre-Roman times.
Celebrated during the night of October 31, Samhain marked the end of the harvest season
as well as the beginning of winter.
The day was also seen as a time when the boundary between worlds thinned — in other words,
the realms of the dead and the living could interact.
The Celts believed that spirits — called the Aos Sí — could return to the mortal
world and cause trouble for the winter if not appeased.
Thus began the custom of leaving out food or drinks for the Aos Sí to enjoy.
The Celts practiced divination as well, taking advantage of the increased presence of the
supernatural on Samhain.
The divination rituals included apple bobbing, nut roasting, mirror gazing and dream interpretation.
Candles and bonfires served in both honoring the Aos Sí and divination purposes.
Some aspects of Halloween also have Christian roots.
In the early 8th century, Pope Gregory III established All Hallows’ Day, or All Saints’
Day, a day to celebrate… well, saints.
It was followed by All Souls’ Day and preceded by All Hallows’ Eve.
This is where the name Halloween comes from.
All Hallows’ Eve was set on October 31 in the year 835.
These three days, collectively known as Allhallowtide, became holy days of obligation in the church
by the late 12th century.
By the 15th century, All Hallows’ Eve had given rise to a practice known as “souling.”
During souling, groups of poor children would go from home to home to collect “soul cakes”
in exchange for praying for the dead.
These soulers would either dedicate the soul cakes to the departed souls, or consume them
as the souls’ earthly representatives.
This has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating.
Furthermore, a custom of dressing up as martyred saints and putting up “soul lights” to
guide departing souls could be explanations for the origin of Halloween costumes and jack-o-lanterns
respectively.
Meanwhile, Halloween was continuing to develop in the Celtic world, now influenced by these
Christian elements.
Guising had become a practice in the Celtic tradition by the 16th century.
People in costumes recited verses or songs in exchange for food.
This originally came from the practice of guisers pretending to be the Aos Sí and receiving
offerings on their behalf, but now with a Christian influence.
Impersonating the spirits was also perceived to give the guisers protection from them — this
impersonation later evolved to playing pranks in Ireland and Scotland by the 18th century.
By the 19th century, lamps made of turnip or mangelwurzel, carved into grotesque faces,
were used to either represent or ward off the Aos Sí.
These eventually evolved into jack-o-lanterns.
By the 20th century, all of these Celtic Halloween traditions had spread to England.
Halloween was also spreading to America through the 19th and 20th centuries.
As hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants poured into the United States due to the famous
potato famine of the mid-19th century, they brought their Halloween traditions along with them.
Scottish immigration later in the century did so as well.
By the 20th century, it had become a widely celebrated holiday in many parts of the U.S.
and Canada.
Throughout that century, Halloween was commercialized, completing the modern Halloween traditions
of costumes, jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating.
In conclusion, Halloween is a holiday of rich history coming from Celtic, Christian and American backgrounds.
But it’s also an all-around fun night full of parties and candy.
So tonight, regardless of whether or not you’re dressing up in costume or whether you think
you’re too old to trick-or-treat, have fun in this spooky night and look out for the Aos Sí.
Thanks for watching.