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.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots.
Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran
low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant
worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people
thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by
these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts
would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses,
people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them
from attempting to enter.



RETURN TO MAIN PAGE