It is a night full of sweets, parties and costumes but what are the origins for the most spooky night of the year and do the traditions we follow have origins elsewhere.
Many people all over the world enjoy a fun filled night on October 31st but the origins of Halloween can actually be traced back to it's Celtic roots. The festival known as Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) was a very important event in the Celtic calendar as it marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter in Ireland, November 1st would then mark the new year. It saw a drastic change in the world as the sun would set earlier and trees would shed their leaves, it was seen as a kind of death of the world until its rebirth again in the spring.
During Samhain people believed that the boundaries between the spirit and living world were thinner which is why people have come to associate Halloween with spirits, ghosts and various other supernatural entities. It was thought that the presence of otherworldly spirits made it easier for their priests and Druids to make predictions for the future.
With the boundaries between the worlds thinner people took the opportunity to honour their ancestors but with it came the concern that evil spirits could also use this day to access our world, to prevent this from happening people would dress up their children as demons along with the wearing of masks to confuse the evil spirits. The day also meant that their relatives could come and visit them from the otherworld, something that is very similar to the Day of the Dead.
The families of the spirits of the beloved would set places at the dinner table for them, leave treats on the doorstep and would leave candles alongside the road to guide their loved ones, not only to their home but then later for them to find their way back to the spirit world.
Samhain ritual
Newly uncovered archaeological evidence has proven the theory that the Celtic people engaged in sacrifices to honour their ancestors and the gods. Historians are certain animal sacrifices took place and believe that human sacrifices may also have happened too. There is a theory that the famous Irish Bog Bodies may in fact be the remains of Kings who were sacrificed as they suffered what is called the Threefold Death; meaning they endured wounding, burning and drowning. There were also crops burnt as offerings but some believe these bonfires were to deter evil spirits.
After the Roman's conquered a large portion of the Celtic territory by 43 AD there was a combining of Roman and Celtic traditions. The Roman festival of Feralia was traditionally celebrated in late October and was a day to commemorate the souls of the dead and this was naturally combined with the festival of Samhain. Another Roman festival thought to have influenced Halloween was the day of Pomona, who was the goddess of fruit and trees and whose symbol was an apple. It is thought that this is the origin of apple bobbing on Halloween.
The Roman goddess, Pomona
Of course by the 9th Century AD Christianity had begun to take over and changes to what were considered Pagan rituals were made. Pope Gregory VI decreed that All Hallows Eve was now to be celebrated on November 1st, it was then renamed as All Saints Day in honour of Christian saints.
The terms All Saints Day and All Hallows Eve have both been used throughout history with the eve of these events being referred to as Hallowe'en, which is a shortening of Hallows Evening. During the last century it eventually became Halloween and was celebrated on the eve of the Day of Hallows on October 31st. In 1000 AD the church made November 2nd All Saints Day which would be a day to honour the dead, this was a move many think was a strategic one by the church to replace what was considered a Pagan festival with one that was approved of by them, this also made the converting of anyone with Pagan ideologies much easier than before.
The origins of Trick or Treat came from the practise of leaving food on the doorstep during Samhain so that it would prevent wandering spirits and fairies from entering peoples homes and at the same time placate them.
Children Trick or Treating
America is the country that probably celebrates Halloween the most but its origins there are also interesting. Celebrations of Halloween were extremely limited in colonial New England due to the rigid Protestant beliefs there but in other places such as Maryland and the southern colonies there were much more celebrations. Due to the meshing of the colonists and Native American tribes there is a clear pattern as to where America gets its current Halloween traditions. The first celebrations included events to celebrate the harvest, they shared stories about the dead, they told each others fortunes along with dancing and singing.
These colonial Halloween celebrations also featured ghost stories and mischief making and by the middle of the 19th Century autumn festivals were commonplace but Halloween wasn't celebrated everywhere. During the second half the 19th Century America had an influx of immigrants fleeing Ireland due to the Irish Potato Famine which of course is where Halloween was originally from.
By this time Europeans were already dressing up in costumes and such and this tradition was soon adopted by America where they also had people go house to house asking for food or money, which of course would later become Trick or Treating. There was also the popular tradition of young women using the Halloween season to ask the spirits for the name or appearance of their future husbands by doing tricks with yarn, apples or mirrors.
By the late 1800's America decided to rebrand Halloween and made it into a holiday more about community and neighbourly get togethers rather than sticking to the spiritual roots of the holiday. Parents were encouraged by newspapers to remove anything that was deemed frightening or grotesque which meant Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the start of the 20th Century.
By the 1920's and 1930's Halloween parties were very common and became a staple of the American autumn calendar. It was during this time that Trick or Treating made a return to combat the rising levels of vandalism as it was thought to be a cheap and community based way for children to join in the celebrations and to avoid any tricks being played on people.
There are some theories that the tradition of Trick or Treat actually came from the All Souls Day parade in England, whereby poor citizens would beg for food and were given pastries called soul cakes in return for their promise to pray for the families deceased loved ones.
This tradition was made by the church to replace the Samhain tradition of leaving out food and drink to appease roaming spirits called "going a souling" and would be picked up by local children who would go from house to house asking for food and drink.
Carved pumpkins
Dressing up was common for Europeans and Celtic people as the winter months brought much hardship to people, food supplies would run low, many people feared the dark and the short days during winter would always bring worry. To avoid being recognised by these ghosts that appeared in the autumn people would wear masks if they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would not think that they were living but were in fact one of them and would not follow them home.
Halloween has always been a time of mystery and magic so a lot of the superstitions have over time changed to fit in with the current generation. Ghosts today are depicted as being more fearsome, black cats are avoided as people in the Middle Ages believed witches avoided capture by transforming into a black cat, other well known superstitions are the breaking of mirrors, avoiding stepping on cracks and the spilling of salt.
The carving of a pumpkin on Halloween has its ancient origins as well but instead of pumpkins they were carved out of turnips, this was later changed to pumpkins as they were much easier to carve. The carved turnips were meant to scare away the evil spirits that roamed the earth looking for souls to take back to the otherworld, which in a similar way to people today knowing the names of famous celebrities, some of these evil spirits were very well known and everyone knew their names.
A carved turnip
One such famous spirit was named Stingy Jack, according to the story Jack was a well known drunk and deceiver. When the Devil heard about Jack’s deceitful ways he was unconvinced of his apparent silver tongue so he went to see for himself if this man was the master manipulator people claimed he was. Jack (who was drunk as usual) stumbled upon a body on the path, which had an eerie grimace on it's face, it came to life and Jack soon found himself face to face with the Devil himself, who had come to collect his devious soul. Jack then made a last request to the Devil and asked if he could have one final drink, the Devil agreed to this seemingly simple request and took Jack to a local pub whereby Jack drank a large amount of ale. Finally after quenching his thirst Jack asked the Devil to pay for the drink to which the Devil replied that he did not carry money.
Jack then told the Devil to transform himself into a coin so that he could pay for their drinks and then while no one was looking for him to transform himself back, the Devil was impressed with Jack’s clever plan and transformed himself into a coin. But then the Devil found himself a victim of Jack's as he pocketed the coin and put it next to a cross which prevented the Devil from transforming back. Jack eventually freed the Devil on the condition that he would leave him alone for the next ten years and if he died during that time the Devil could not claim his soul, the Devil had no choice but to agree to the terms.
Ten years soon passed and the Devil came back to visit Jack, but this time he seemed to accept that he was bound for hell and so he asked for an apple to quiet his starving stomach. The Devil once again agreed to this simple request. As he climbed a nearby tree for an apple Jack carved a cross into the bark of the tree which stopped the Devil from coming back down which left him trapped. Jack said he would free the Devil again if he would leave him be and not take his soul to hell, having no choice an embarrassed Devil agreed.
Eventually all the drinking would take its toll on Jack and he died soon after. As his soul was preparing to enter heaven through St. Peter’s Gate it was stopped, God did not want such a sinful and deceitful man in heaven and denied him entry. Jack had no alternative but to go down to the gates of hell and beg the Devil to take him, but the Devil, who was still upset about having been tricked and bound by their previous agreement, refused to take his soul. Instead all he gave Jack was a single burning coal to light his way in the dark and doomed him to roam the earth; Jack later put this coal into a carved turnip and continues to roam the dark nights to this day. People came to know him as Jack of the Lantern and later as Jack O' Lantern.
Stingy Jack by Jovan Ukropina
The origins of Halloween are long and varied but they have brought a fun, spooky filled night for many generations and will continue to do so for generations yet to come. We hope you'll take care to repel any evil spirit that may wonder into your home and that any lost loved ones find their way back to you on Halloween.