The History of Halloween seems to be a mingling of both Christian and Pagan celebrations. Celebrated on the 31st of October, the term
Halloween was derived from
Hallowe'en which is an old contraction of "All Hallow's Eve".
This term refers to the Catholic holiday of
All Saints Day - formerly All Hallows, derived from All Hallowed Souls.
The Pagan Celts also celebrated the Day of the Dead on Halloween. They believed that on Halloween, spirits would rise from the dead and roam the earth looking for suitable bodies to inhabit. In order to
"scare" them off or at least make themselves seem an undesirable host, the Celts would don ghoulish masks and parade around the village to try and frighten off the spirits. There have also been some stories that claim a
person believed to have been possessed by a spirit during this time would be burned at the stake as a warning to other spirits to stay away.
During this time the Celts were also ushering in their new year and winter season of
Samhain which begins on November 1st. Their harvest festival celebrated on October 31st included a bon fire from which all of the villagers would take embers back to their homes to start their home fires burning - this was believed to unify the villagers and to keep homes free of evil spirits such as banshees. Interestingly enough, the word bon fire is believed to be derived from the words "bone fire" because the bones of slaughtered cattle would be thrown on the flames.
Today,
Halloween as we know it has been pretty much westernized but there are still several glints into its early Pagan and Christian history. For example, the game of
bobbing for apples may date back to the October Roman tradition of honoring Pomona - the Roman goddess of fruit and trees (whose symbol happens to be none other than the apple).
And what about our
Halloween icon the Jack-O-Lantern? Believed to originate from Irish folklore about a man named Jack who first lured the devil up a tree and then carved the image of a cross into the trunk thus trapping him up the tree. Jack would only let the devil down if he would promise not to tempt him anymore. Unfortunately, when Jack died he was not allowed into Heaven due to all of his sins and the devil would not let him into Hell because he had tricked him. The devil did however provide Jack with a lantern made from a hallowed out turnip to light his way through the frigid darkness.
This is the ultimate lesson in not burning all your bridges!Whether you lean more toward the Pagan or Christian or some other beliefs about the History of Halloween, one thing is certain --
Halloween is a holiday that can and should be enjoyed by all!Happy Haunts!
