Every year on October 31, people celebrate the spooky holiday we call Halloween. Pumpkins, trick-or-treating, and scary costumes are just some spooky-season icons and traditions, but how did we get to practice all of this in the first place?
As we explore the ancient origins of this frightfully fun holiday, we’ll unravel how it all started thousands of years ago.
Where did Halloween originate?
The Halloween we know and love today originated in the ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. It is a pagan religious celebration on October 31, which signifies the end of summer and the harvesting season.
It is also important to note that the Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1, which meant that Samhain was considered the Celtic New Year’s Eve. Why is this relevant? Because the Celts believed that the night before the new year was when ghosts of the dead could return to the land of the living,
As such, there was the belief that there would be sacred bonfires where people burned crops and made animal sacrifices to their deities. Along with this was wearing costumes, usually animal heads and skins, to ward off ghosts.
Where did Halloween get its name?
Samhain is far from what we call the Halloween holiday today, so where did it come from? Well, fast forward to May 13, 609, years after the Roman Empire conquered the Celtic territory. This was the establishment of the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day by Pope Boniface IV.
Then, in the 8th century, Pope Gregory III expanded that feast to include saints and martyrs and moved it from May 13 to November 1; what we know now as All Saints’ Day was called All-Hallows or All-Hallowmas. The night before the All Saints’ Day celebration was called All-Hallows Eve, which eventually became Halloween.
The origins of Halloween traditions
Many unique and peculiar traditions surround Halloween, so it’s not surprising to wonder why we do all of this in the first place. Here’s a closer look at the fascinating backstory of classic Halloween traditions:
Carving jack-o’-lanterns
Why do we carve shapes and faces on pumpkins? To frighten away evil spirits, of course. This tradition is based on the Irish legend of “Stingy Jack,” who, as the story goes, tricked and trapped the Devil only to let him go on the condition that Jack wouldn’t wind up in hell after he died.
However, when Jack did die, Heaven would not let his soul enter, and he was forced to wander around the earth as a ghost forever. He only had a carved turnip with a burning lump of coal to light his way. Before pumpkins, people carved faces on potatoes and turnips to ward off wandering evil spirits.
Pranking and mischief
Why exactly is Halloween complete with pranking? Good-natured mischief was said to be part of Samhain and All Souls Day, and because of Scottish and Irish immigrants, the tradition of nighttime pranking, or so-called “Mischief Night,” was introduced to America.
Shared pranks in the 1800s were tipping over outhouses, uprooting vegetables in gardens, and placing either tractors or livestock on barn roofs.
Trick-or-treating
The tradition of trick-or-treating originated from the practice called “souling,” when the less fortunate visit the homes of wealthier families and promise to pray for the souls of the dead relatives of those in the household in exchange for pastries called “soul cakes.”
Meanwhile, the Scottish and Irish tradition was called “guising,” where young people went house to house while wearing costumes and accepting gifts like fruits, coins, or nuts. However, instead of praying for souls, they would perform “tricks,” such as singing, reciting poems, or telling a joke before they receive their “treat.”
Wearing scary costumes
During the Celtic festival, costumes were mainly worn so that evil spirits did not terrorize them. The scarier, the better. However, as Halloween evolved and became a holiday where kids joined in, costumes became less scary and something children enjoyed instead.
Masks were popularized in the 1970s, and with the rise of slasher movies came back more gruesome ensembles. Apart from the ghouls and monsters, sexy costumes eventually became a popular genre of Halloween outfits.
