Andrea Diaz
Staff Writer
Halloween is a special kind of holiday where we carve pumpkins, go trick-or-treating and dress up in costumes, but where did it all come from?
Halloween originated from a Celtic festival known as Samhain, which took place on November 1st. The day marked the end of summer and the beginning of a colder, darker time ahead.
The Celts from ancient Britain and Ireland believed that this was a time when the souls of the dead returned to their homes and the veil between the living and the dead was the thinnest. The festival was celebrated by lighting big bonfires and throwing offerings into the fire for the deities that they believed in.
The people would dance around the fire as the offerings were being burned. After the celebration, each person would take a bit of fire from the main bonfire and relight their hearths that had gone out as they were celebrating. They also wore masks and disguises to scare or confuse evil spirits that they believed roamed the Earth on these days. This is believed to be where we got the tradition of wearing masks and costumes for Halloween. According to britannica.com, in the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV established All Saints Day.
“The evening before All Saint’s Day became a holy, or hallowed eve and thus Halloween.”
Halloween was originally forbidden by early American colonists, however, in the 1800s they developed celebrations of harvest and then incorporated elements of Halloween. When people started immigrating to America at the beginning of the 19th century, especially the Irish, they took Halloween customs with them.
One of these customs is what we now know as carving jack-o’-lanterns.
Interestingly enough, back in Ireland, there was an old myth about a man named Jack. Jack tricked the devil and when Jack died he was not let into heaven or hell, meaning that he was doomed to roam the Earth for the rest of his days. The Irish then carved faces into turnips and put them outside their home to ward off the wandering spirit and protect their homes. When the Irish came to America they started carving pumpkins instead of turnips because pumpkins were native to the region.
According to History.com, trick-or-treating was previously known as “souling” or “guising”. In medieval Britain, the poor would beg for what was known as “soul cakes”. In exchange, they would pray for people’s dead relatives, which was called “souling”.
“Guising” was a tradition where young people would dress up in a costume and sing, recite poetry or tell a joke, and in exchange, they would receive money, wine, food and other offerings. This was another tradition that the Irish and Scottish immigrants brought to America.
Halloween has taken on many different forms throughout the years, dating back 2,000 years ago to now. Learning about these traditions puts an interesting perspective on these activities as we do them during this time of year. People that may be our ancestors celebrated the same holiday as we do today, however it was not completely the same. After reading about the history of these traditions we may feel inclined to bring back some of the historic ways of celebrating the holiday. Years from now there may even be new traditions that originate from what we do now. However, you choose to celebrate Halloween this year, and in the years to come, make sure you are safe and have fun.
