Midnight strikes Oct. 1 and once again everything everywhere is decked out in orange and black with all sorts of scary decorations to boot as Halloween season rolls in. There aren’t many people who can’t find a way to get in the spirit of the spookiest time of the year. But how much about the origins of our favorite Halloween traditions do we know?
According to History.com, the holiday itself dates back 2,000 years to an ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, which tied into the day their new year began, Nov. 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.”
It was popular belief that the night before this shift to the new year was a time when the boundary between the dead and alive was the weakest. The Celts would host a ceremony where they sacrificed crops and animals into a bonfire as a way of
deterring the spirits. During this ceremony, they would wear costumes, consisting of animal skins and heads.
Eventually, in the 9th century, the spread of Christianity into Celtic lands would see Samhain evolve into All Saints’ Day with similar ceremonies, including bonfires, costumes and parades. It was also called All-hallows, a name that eventually became All-Hallows Eve, then Halloween.
Halloween eventually came to America in the 19th century, when Americans would gather to hold autumn festivities that involve sharing ghost stories and mischief-making, but still the holiday as we know it today was not yet in full swing across the country. It wasn’t until later that century when immigrants began rushing into the country that the celebration of Halloween became a more widespread occurrence. As a result, Americans began dressing up in costumes and going door to door to ask for money or food, leading eventually to the modern trick-or-treating as we know it.
Other traditional symbols of the spooky season have interesting beginnings too besides the holiday itself. For instance, the symbol of black cats stems from a Middle Ages belief that witches could turn themselves into these dark felines to go about unnoticed.
It is likely if you have attended a Halloween party, there has been bobbing for apples involved. According to Almanac.com, this tradition likely comes from a Roman festival dedicated to the goddess of fruit, Pomona, which was celebrated around Nov. 1. It was a popular belief among the Romans that whoever could “catch a bobbing apple with his or her teeth would be the first to marry in the new year.”
One of everyone’s favorite Halloween traditions is pumpkin carving. However, before there were jack-o’-lanterns, there were turnip lanterns. The Celts would hollow out large turnips and carve a demon’s face on them and place a candle inside to scare away any evil spirits and invite deceased loved ones to visit. Irish immigrants switched the turnips for pumpkins in early 1800s America for convenience.
Halloween is a holiday that outdates the United States, but is always one of its biggest holidays with some interesting roots to its traditions.
Photo by Tate Walden
