Halloween is one of America’s most popular holidays.
However, it is not all fancy dress and candy…
For the countries who observe this autumnal celebration, Halloween represents a time of
superstition and the paranormal as the nights grow darker and Winter closes in.
Increasingly, it seems that this ghostly holiday is also a time for sugar-coated abundance,
with one quarter of America’s annual confectionery sales occurring around Halloween.
However, it has not always been this way.
So, where did this peculiar festival originate?
Although the word Halloween is a contraction of the Christian observance of All Hallow’s
Eve (hallowed meaning holy), it is widely believed that many of the traditions associated
with Halloween can be traced back to ancient festivals.
In particular, it is the 2,000 year-old pre-Christian Celtic festival of Samhain.
The night of the 31st October, Samhain, marked the start of the Celtic year.
It was the end of summer and the harvest season, and the beginning of darkness and the cold.
Indeed, the word Samhain comes from the Old Irish for ‘summer’s end’.
Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
An important part of the celebrations was the lighting of special bonfires.
As Samhain was regarded as a time of year when the boundary between this world and the
Otherworld was at its thinnest, the bonfires were deemed to have protective and cleansing
powers.
Due to the proximity of the Otherworld, the Celts believed that the souls of dead family
members revisited their homes on Samhain.
As such, lavish hospitality was provided: places at feast tables were set for them,
and offerings of food were left.
Nuts and apples were popular.
The prevalence of these foodstuffs can still be seen today in the same traditions of apple-bobbing
and the roasting of nuts.
A mystical race comparable to fairies or elves, known as Aos Sí, were also thought to walk,
more actively than usual, amongst the living on Samhain.
This meant that guising - namely the tradition of dressing up in costume - was practised
because of its effectiveness at disguising oneself from the occasionally fearsome Aos
Sí.
It has been suggested that, in order to conceal one’s identity, ashes taken from the sacred
bonfire may have been used to blacken participants' faces.
As well as serving a protective purpose, bonfires were also used to burn offerings of crops
and cattle.
Samhain was also an important time of year for the practice of divination.
The presence of otherworldly entities, such as the Aos Sí, were thought to make it easier
to predict the future.
At a time of looming darkness and cold, a favourable prophecy would provide unrivaled
comfort to a superstitious culture.
By the time the Romans left the British Isles in the 5th century A.D., the traditions of
Samhain had evolved.
Most notable are the Roman festivals of Parentalia and Pomona.
Both would have a lasting impact on the legacy of modern-day Halloween.
The former, Parentalia, was a nine-day religious holiday held in honour of family ancestors.
Although celebrated in mid-February, Parentalia observed the ties between the living and the
dead in a similar manner to Samhain.
In particular it is the last day of the festival which historians cite as the most important
in the history of Halloween.
The midnight rites which were performed in commemoration of the dead were believed to
exorcise and cleanse.
According to Ovid, Roman citizens were instructed to bring offerings to the tombs of their dead
which consisted of at least 'an arrangement of wreaths, a sprinkling of grain and a bit
of salt, bread soaked in wine and violets scattered about.'
The second of the festivals honoured the Roman goddess of fruitful abundance, Pomona.
It is her association with orchard fruit which may help to explain the continued importance
of apples, in particular apple-bobbing and toffee apples - in modern Halloween celebrations.
The widespread observance of Halloween in modern, Western cultures is largely due to
the Christianisation of Samhain by the Church in the 7th century.
On 13th May, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian
martyrs, and thus the Catholic feast of All Martyrs' Day was established in the Western
church.
During the pontificate of Gregory III, the festival was expanded to include all saints
as well as all martyrs.
All Saints' Day, as it was now known, was also referred to as All Hallows' Day, in reference
to the holiness of all saints known and unknown.
It was in 835 that All Hallows' Day was officially moved to 1st November, at the behest of Pope
Gregory IV.
As with many other major early Christian festivals (including Easter and Christmas), a vigil
would be held the night prior to All Hallows' Day.
Thus, All Hallows' Eve, Halloween, now fell on the same day as Samhain, between dusk and
dawn the 31st October to 1st November.
Many historians agree that the Church was attempting to replace the widely popular Celtic
festival of the dead with a similar, Church-sanctioned holiday.
By the 9th century, the merger can be said to have been a success, as the influence of
Christianity spread into Celtic lands, blending with and supplanting older, Celtic traditions.
The following is an excerpt from a book by a Christian minister, which details how the
Celtic custom of wearing costumes remained relevant to Christian belief:
'It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All
Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance
on their enemies before moving to the next world.
In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance,
people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities.'
The Samhain tradition of lighting bonfires also lived on in medieval Christendom.
Across medieval Europe, 'soul lights' were lit to guide the souls of the dead as they
passed on, and to deflect any vengeful amongst them from haunting the households of honest
Christian folk.
Similar was the offering of food to departed family members.
A practice that continues to this day in Spain is the leaving of special pastries, known
as ‘bones of the holy', on the graves of loved ones.
Moving closer to modern times, it was not until the influx of Catholic migrants in the
19th century that All Hallows' Day and Halloween were celebrated nationally in America.
Prior to that, rigid Protestant belief systems had limited its observance in areas such as
New England.
As Halloween spread across the United States, a distinctively American version of the holiday
began to flourish.
Once more Halloween's Celtic roots were visible, this time in the belief amongst young women
that they could divine the name, or even appearance, of their future husband by doing tricks with
mirrors.
By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween was far less religious-centric.
Community gatherings and child-friendly activities were prioritised over the remembrance of saints.
Nowadays, Halloween is one of the major holidays in America, and is celebrated across the Western
world.
Although it looks very different from its Samhain roots, many Celtic traditions including
dressing up; the association with death; superstition; and the importance of food and feasting, still
remain important aspects of modern-day Halloween.
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Our latest article reveals some of ghostly tales of Stratford-upon-Avon, making it the
perfect, spine-chilling read in time for Halloween!
Remember, the more you know, the more there is to fear!