History of Halloween

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2,000 years ago, the Celts inhabited the region comprising modern day Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. These people were mainly farmers and hunters living in small villages, throughout this region.

The beginning of the new year was on November 1st, which they believed was the beginning of winter, a time of death and hardship. To celebrate the harvest and the end of summer, the Celts observed October 31st as a holiday, the Festival of Samhain. They believed that on this day, the spirits of the dead could roam free among them, causing mischief and mayhem.

In order to appease the forces of nature and the spirits of the dead, the Drouids (Celtic Priests)would offer sacrifices, by burning huge wicker cages, shaped like a "standing man" and filled with agricultural products, livestock and human captives. These bonfires on October 31st were attended by all the people, dressed-up in costumes of animal skins. The Drouids would further mark the occasion by offering much sought after predictions for the coming year.

It was believed that October 31st was a transition period between life (represented by summer)and death (as represented by winter) and that this date had magical qualities, as a result.


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By around 43 AD, most of the Celtic lands and people had been conquered by the Romans. The Romans celebrated two holdays in October, "Feralia" which was a traditional day of commemeration for the dead and the second was a holiday in honor of Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees - thus the harvest. Eventually, these two Roman festivals were combined with Samhain and celebrated at the end of October.


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800 AD, most of the Celtic lands had become heavily influenced by Christianity. Pope Boniface IV declared November 1st as All-Saints-Day, a Christian Holiday to celebrate the Saints and Martyrs of the Christian Church. It is believed that this was done in large part to replace the Celtic celebration of Samhain with a church sanctioned holiday. This holiday was also called All-hallomas and the day before, Oct 31st, the date of Samhain, came to be known as All-hallows Eve.

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Immigrants from various parts of Europe brought their Halloween traditions with them when arriving in America. Because of the strict religious views and beliefs of the Puritans and other Protestant sects in New England, Halloween was not widely celebrated there initially. The Halloween holiday was more frequently celebrated in Maryland and some of the southern states in early American history and was integrated with some of the Native American harvest festivities.

By the mid 19th century Halloween had caught-on and was made popular throughout the country, especially following the huge influx of millions of Irish immigrants during the Irish potato famine of 1846.

The celebration of Halloween in North America took on its own character with autumn events focused on community ghost story telling, costume parties, games such as bobbing for apples and "trick or treating" for candy. By the turn of the 20th century, Halloween had become a secular holiday in North America and most of the religious and superstitious overtones were gone.

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Halloween was a traditional Celtic holiday to mark the end of summer and the beginning of winter and was seen as a transitional time when spirits were free to walk about and cause mischief. Offerings and sacrifices were made to appease these spirits and to solicit the help of the pagan gods in surviving the impending winter and for a natural rebirth in the Spring.

This pagan holiday of Samhain had nothing to do with witches, satan or the "black arts"! The pagan religion did not worship "satan," as the concept of satan, was a much later Christian belief. The deities worshiped by the Celts represented the natural environment they lived in and depended on for their existence.

Halloween has become a secular, community holiday with vestiges of past traditions and folklore, such as the wearing of costumes, telling of ghost stories and "trick or treating." Even today, mankind dreads the coming of the harsh winter months, lack of sunlight and bleak winter days ahead. A celebration of community with parties, candy, costumes and creative jack-o-lanterns helps us transition and cope with upcoming winter deprivations.


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