Halloween to many people is just a day set aside for wearing costumes and collecting treats. However, there is more to Halloween than just dressing in creative costumes with friends and collecting candy from neighbors. In this article, we will take you through the history of Halloween and why it is celebrated.
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History of Halloween: How Halloween Started
The history of Halloween dates long back even before the birth of Jesus. Halloween tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The festival marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter. The Celts had a tradition of remembering the dead and would sacrifice crops and animals to the Celtic deities. During the festival, they would light bonfires, wear costumes to ward off ghosts and keep spirits peaceful. They believed the spiritual communication on Samhain made it easier for Celtic priests to predict the future. The Celts did this every year on the 31st of October, and it was called Samhain (pronounced “sow-win”).
As Christianity started getting popular, people started having feasts to commemorate and celebrate the saints of their faith. In the 7th Century, the Head of the Catholic Church, Pope Gregory III began the All Saints Day. All Saints Day marked the celebration of dead saints, and it was celebrated every 13th of May. In the 8th Century, the Head of the Catholic Church, Pope Gregory III moved the All Saints Day to the 1st of November.
All Saints Day
All Saints Day is a Christian festival to honor all the saints in heaven. It was an attempt to appropriate the Samhain practices and incorporate them into Christianity rather than eradicate it. Many believe that All Saints Day was moved to make people forget about Samhain because most Samhain practices were opposed to the Christian way. However, People didn’t forget about Samhain, though it was less popular than before.
How did the name Halloween come about?
Since November 1st was the day of celebrating the Holy Spirits, then the evening before that became the Holy Evening or All Hallow Evening. Another name for the day was All Hallows’ Day which means that the day before, October 31st was All Hallows’ Eve.
The word Halloween is coined from two words, Hallow which means Holy, and Even from Evening. Soon, Halloween became a day of activities like wearing costumes, trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, and gatherings.
All Souls Day
All Souls Day is a festival dedicated to all the dead, not just the saints. But every person that has passed away is celebrated on All Souls Day every year, on November 2nd.
The combination of these special days (Halloween, All Saints Day & All Souls Day) is often referred to as Allhallowtide.
Conclusion: Real history of Halloween
Although the Halloween festival originated from the festival of Samhain, there is very little left now. Nowadays, most practices come from Christianity periods and the celebration of All Saints Day. Many people now see Halloween as a costume day to celebrate with their family and friends.
