The History of Halloween

Halloween has origins from many different cultures. All of which have been mixed together and over time they have been morphed into the holiday that we celebrate today. Halloween is the shortening of All Hallows' Evening which can also be called Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve. Through out the history of this celebration many traditions have been passed along. Some of these include: trick-or-treating (beggar's night in some states), carving pumpkins to create jack-o-lanterns, wearing costumes, bonfires, and much more.

Many do not know the original origin of this holiday, or its true purpose. It was not originally created for children to go around and get candy, or for  adults to wear a promiscuous costume, but for the Celtics to honor the dead. The Celtics believed that around this time of the year, the dead could come about and visit the living. In commemoration of this time of the year the Celtics had a festival called Samhain. People came together at this time and sacrificed foods, and animals to the dead. They also lit bonfires for them. They did all of this in order to guide the dead away from the living. The food would replenish them, and the bonfire was said to light the way to the otherworld.

Samhain was transformed into the holiday that we celebrate today, when the Christian missionaries attempted to convert the Celtics. They changed many of their traditions to fit their own beliefs. However, they did a sort of compromise by keeping some of the customs alive. With the new Christian influence, the outlook of the dead became much more negative. What was once believed to just simply be the dead, was now thought to be evil, and in direct correlation with the devil. As a result of this, other creatures were added to the mix, such as fairies, witches, and demons.

This is where trick-or-treating came about. Celts would leave out food and drinks for the spirits to take. It was believed that this was their offering to them, in order to keep them away for another year.  After a while, people began to dress as these spirits and wander around asking for gifts of food and drinks. Even later in time, these gifts became candy. There even more direct relations left from the holiday Samhain, such as bobbing for apple, carving pumpkins, and apple cider.

Most Halloween traditions can be directly related back to ancient Celtic times. So this Halloween season, keep this in mind when you're out celebrating.

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