History and Origin of Halloween

Often, we do things we are supposed to, without knowing why we do them. This commonly happens in case of celebrations, customs and old traditions. This is evident from the fact that many people celebrate Halloween without knowing the history and origin of this festivity. Halloween is actually one of the most popular festivals and one of the oldest holidays. This makes it important to know about the history of Halloween and the cause behind observing it.

The word Halloween is coined from its full form, All-hallow-even. It is the eve of All Hallows’ day. Northern European Pagan traditions observed the day as one of the religious festivities and called it the All Saints’ Day. The Church celebrated it as a vigil of all Saints. Until 1955, people fasted on the day. The Vigil was repressed in 1955. The post-Vatican II calendar brought it back. As Christianity reached Europe, Halloween became a blend of the pagan and the Christian traditions. Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV shifted the Christian feast of that day from May13 to November1.

The day marked the end of summer and the commencement of the cold winter. This period was associated with death. The ghosts of the dead were believed to return on the night of October 31. Celts celebrated this night as Samhain. Their ancestors, who returned were the people’s sources of guidance about their futures. The festival was also about commemorating the dead and establishing a contact with the dead ancestors. The Celtic priests who performed the rituals were called Druids. Druids lit bonfires and burnt animals and crops as offerings to the Celtic Gods.

People wore costumes and masks to mimic the evil spirits and gain their goodwill. The costumes often consisted of animal heads and skins. People used to act crazily. They moved their horses to different fields. Men dressed like women and women like men. Children used to visit their neighbors’ houses asking for food. Today’s custom of trick-or-treat is derived from this ancient tradition.

Origin of Halloween practices
As ghostly beings were considered to come on the night of Halloween, people started keeping food and offering treats to please them. People were afraid that the ghosts would damage their property and crops if not appeased. The tradition of presenting the dead with fruits and gifts finds its roots in this ancient custom.

Today men and women dress strangely and wear masks on the Halloween’s day. This can be traced to the time when people disguised themselves in fear of ghosts. People thought that the dead spirits wandered the streets. People dreaded them and hid themselves from the evils by wearing masks. It is also said that only those people who had behaved wrongly with someone dead, masked themselves out of fear.

Roots of trick-or-treat custom lie in the European tradition of ‘souling’. Beggars used to go from village to village asking for soul cakes. If the donors offered soul cakes to the beggars, they would promise to offer prayers to the dead relatives of the donors. The beggars’ prayers were believed to lead the dead souls to heaven. In Britain and Ireland, Halloween’s night was referred to as the ‘mischief night’. People were allowed to go about playing pranks without the fear of punishment. This was also one of the customs that led to trick-or-treat!

The carving of pumpkins was formerly an Irish custom. Irish carved turnips to symbolize the dead souls. On immigrating to America, they found pumpkins in abundance. Pumpkins replaced turnips from then.

During the medieval Christian era, witches were thought to transform themselves into black cats. This belief linked black cats with evil due to which many black cats were killed. Today, witches are one of the main themes of Halloween.

The history of Halloween bears a lot of superstitions and symbolism around the subject. Halloween revolves around the fear of death and the dead. It gives an opportunity to openly express one’s suppressed feelings about death.

Today, parties are held on Halloween, games are played and ancient traditions are translated to modern ones. The customs of today, in their own ways, reflect the history and origin of Halloween. The festival remains to be one of the most widely celebrated ones in many parts of the world.