The origins of Halloween
Halloween is known for its tradition of dressing up and knocking on people's doors for candy. As we're nearing the end of October, we get closer and closer to Halloween, but what is it? What even is Halloween? What are all of its forms?
Halloween is always celebrated on the final day of the month, on October 31st. Halloween dates back 3000 years ago, celebrated by the Celts for the festival of Samhain. The celts were tribes of europeans so Halloween may have had origins back in Europe. The festival of Samhain was celebrated on the date the weather changed from warm. The Celts had believed that on this day, the "boundary between worlds” was the dead and the living. Similar to modern dia de los muertos, it was believed that the dead came over to visit, but instead of being harmless, they would cause destruction and cause havoc on crops.
The festival of Samhain was celebrated because it allowed the priests and druids to make more accurate predictions. The Celts would celebrate by making large sacred bonfires and wearing costumes using the animals they had hunted. Throughout the festival they would tell each other's fortunes and divinations.
All saints day also contributed to our modern day celebration. All saints day was initially celebrated on may 13th and created by Pope Boniface IV to celebrate the martyrs but was later moved to November 1st by Pope Gregory III where he also included all saints. 19th century christianity heavily influenced the Celtics. The Celtics began to adapt things from All Saints Day. Eventually all saints day took over the festival of Samhain and Samhain became all souls day on November 2nd. Poor families would beg for food on soul's day and it started the tradition of giving candy today. The families would get soul cakes and in return would pray for the dead. Soul cake giving was encouraged so that food wouldn't be left out, likely to save food from going to waste. The tradition of asking for soul cakes was taken up by children over time. The tradition of dressing in costume remained.
The process of Halloween coming to America was really straightforward. The colonizers brought over the Soul Day tradition but in order to free themselves from religion they transformed it themselves and with the help of natives. They celebrated harvests on Halloween and threw parties. In the 19th century telling ghost stories had also become popularized on Halloween, spreading the theme of spookiness. Vandalism spread during halloween and it created the phrase trick or treat. In the 1950s Halloween was turned into an official holiday by the government directed towards children. Halloween helped bring communities together and it became a part of our culture.
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