Every kid (and kid at heart) looks forward to October, 31st each year. Little boys magically turn into vampires and little girls into fairies, bidding for the greatest haul of sugar laden sweets and candies. However, Halloween has a much deeper, and in some ways darker history, that has given birth to one of the most beloved holidays in the world.
Halloween’s origins go all the way back to Ancient times with the Celtic festival of Samhain. This was the Celt’s version of a New Years Eve celebration honoring the end of summer and harvest time, and marking a period of cold, darkness, and death of winter. Celts believed that this end of the year time marked the time in which the barrier between the living and the dead became thin. On October 31st the spirits would come back from the dead and create havoc by damaging the crops with frost and causing a multitude of other troubles.
The Roman church soon enacted a holiday to detour the worship of spirits, and so proclaimed November 1st as All Saint’s Day to honor the saints and martyrs of the church. This day was also known as All Hallows Eve. As the two religions began to mix much of the traditions of Samhain, such as dressing up in costumes and dancing around the fire, became one with All Hallows Eve to create Halloween.
Tradition has always been a part of Halloween from its very start. It’s no wonder then that many of our traditions today came from this time period. An example of these traditions would be bobbing for apples. When Roman tradition mixed with Celtic tradition, so did their festivals. One festival near the time of Samhain was a day to honor the goddess of fruit trees, Pamona. Pamona is quite often symbolized as an apple, hence the modern day practice of bobbing for apples.
Trick or Treating is also a tradition of Halloween with early starts. Trick or Treating came from All Soul’s Day parades in early England. The poor citizens of England would line up on the sides of the street as the richer members of the community paraded by and threw them pastries called soul cakes. The starving citizens would accept these cakes in exchange for praying for the richer class’s dead family members.
Another tradition of Halloween is dressing up in costumes. This is another tradition that started in early England where citizens, knowing that Hallows Eve was a time for the spirits of their ancestors to come back and taunt them, would dress up in masks and costumes to keep the spirits from recognizing them.
Halloween is a fun time of year for the entire family. It’s incredibly rich with history and a tribute to the idea that cultures can intermingle and incorporate each other’s traditions to create a holiday that can be celebrated by all.
Read a lot more about Halloween — Halloween History
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Halloween is definitely my favorite ‘holiday’
I really liked reading where some of these traditions that we still practice today, and enjoy at Halloween parties came from. I had heard about dressing up…that it was born from the belief that people wouldn’t be recognized by the ghosts that would be lurking the areas that night. I had no idea about the bobbing for apples or for how trick or treating began…this was really cool to read!
Happy Halloween…..and Happy Samhain!
Thank you so much for the Halloween History.
Halloween has always been my favorite holiday.
The most fun I have ever had on Halloween was in the French Quarter, in New Orleans,
watching all of the costumed merry makers stroll by.
In a setting like that, those from the spirit world, could easily blend in with the crowd.
It did make me wonder how many of those “people” were just taking advantage of the occasion for a night on the town and out of the crypts.
BOO!
I enjoy Halloween as well. I just love the atmosphere in the air, the kids in their Halloween costumes, the treats…it’s just alot of fun. Several years ago, I use to work at a Christian Day Care as a Care Provider. The owner of the day care would not let any of the Care Providers celebrate Halloween with the children, because they felt that it was all about evil. My opinion is, it’s how a person looks at it in their own perspective. There are many churches that enjoy celebrating Halloween and having parties for the children (of all ages). I can still remember when I was little and the Lutheran church that my family attended would have a “walk through” Haunted House in the fellowship hall of the church every year. It was loads of fun. Just before it started, the pastor or our church would say that there was nothing to be afraid of, that it was all just in fun, and that the Good Lord will always protect us. I can still remember my older sister taking me through the haunted house and how I would just scream at the top of my lungs all the way through. Years later, my sister and I were talking about the “early” years, and she told me that it took awhile for the ringing to get out of her ears LOL! Some good memories.
Thank you for the interesting story and facts about the origin of Halloween.
Happy Halloween…BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Caretaker – I must agree with you!!!
Halloween is my most favorite holiday of the year!
Took my niece today to a farm that had lots of animals, fun-crafty activities for the kiddos, pumpkin patch, and a huge maze! She’s 4 and she loved everything!!
Thanks for this post, definitely keeps my spirit going for the festive season!
Happy October
me too!! all the legends and histories of halloween are fascinating!! how’s the family caretaker?? what are you gonna be for trick or treat nite!! i haven’t decided just yet, and troll dolls are hard to do and they like to be almost naked most of the time lol!