Ancient Origins
Halloween's origins
date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain
(pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that
is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France,
celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked
the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning
of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often
associated with human death. Celts believed that on
the night before the new year, the boundary between
the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred.
On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain,
when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned
to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging
crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly
spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests,
to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely
dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies
were an important source of comfort and direction during
the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires,
where the people gathered to burn crops and animals
as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically
consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted
to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration
was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they
had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred
bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic
territory. In the course of the four hundred years that
they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman
origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration
of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the
Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the
dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman
goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is
the apple and the incorporation of this celebration
into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing"
for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread
into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface
IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to
honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today
that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival
of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday.
The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas
(from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints'
Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain,
began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually,
Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would
make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead.
It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires,
parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels,
and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve
of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called
Hallowmas.
From The History Channel: www.historychannel.com
