There is a lot of history about what makes Halloween, Halloween. Here, we're going to break down the Celtic origins of it!
Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated each year on October 31st. It’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, where people attempted to ward off ghosts by wearing costumes and lighting bonfires. The Celts lived over 2,000 in the land that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, and celebrated their new year on November 1st. They believed that on the night before the new year, at the end of the harvest and the beginning of the dark, dangerous winter, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead because blurred. Winter was often associated with human death, and during the Samhain celebration, they believed the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
Wild celebrations that destroyed crops and caused trouble aside, the Celts thought this changing of the year and subsequent presence of spirits made it easier for the Druids or Celtic priests to make predictions about the future. This was 2,000 years ago, so the lack of science and estimation made it extremely important to the people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world. The festival was commemorated by the Celt’s wearing costumes consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempting to tell each other’s fortunes. The Druids also built huge sacred bonfires, where everyone gathered to pay respects to the Celtic deities. When these celebrations were over, the Celts relit their hearths with the bonfire, superstition telling them that it would protect them during the harsh upcoming winter.
However, by 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had come north, and conquered the majority of Celtic territory. Two festivals of Roman origin combined with Samhain. The first was Feralia, a public festival marking the end of Parentalia, a nine-day festival honoring the dead ancestors. The second was a day to honor Pomona, who was the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. Pomona’s symbol was an apple, and the incorporation of her celebration into Samhain is the explanation we give for why the tradition of “bobbing” for apples is practiced on Halloween today.
Later, on May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the pantheon in Roman honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the western church. Pope Gregory III then expanded this celebration to honor all saints, and moved the observance from May to November 1st. Christianity soon spread in to Celtic lands, where it blended and changed the older Celtic rites. In efforts to replace Celtic festivals of the dead with church-sanctioned holidays, in 1000 A.D., the church made November 2 All Soul’s Day. This was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with parades, bonfires, and people dressing up in costume such as animals, saints, devils, and angels.
Eventually it formed into All Saints Day, and was also referred to as All-hallows (or All-hallowmas — from the Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day). The night before it, therefore the traditional night of Samhain celebrated all those years back in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve.
Eventually, it formed into Halloween.