Why Do We Celebrate Halloween? Here's the
Real History Behind it!
Your favorite spooky traditions
had to start somewhere.
Dressing up in a creative costume,
gallivanting around in the gathering
dusk to collect the best candy from the
neighbors and getting together with friends
for a monster ball are all beloved traditions.
But the fall holiday didn't start stateside
at all. In fact, the history of Halloween
dates back thousands of years to the Celtic
celebration of Samhain, a hallowed festival
that marked the end of the harvest season and
welcomed in the new year.
Most scholars agree that Halloween as we know
it originated some 2,000 years ago, when Celtic
people in Europe celebrated the end of the
harvest and the start of a new year in a festival
called Samhain (pronounced "sow-win")
People also believed they could commune with
the dead more easily during that time, lighting
big bonfires to ward off spirits according to
The American Folklife Center.
Celtic religion beliefs was closely
tied to the natural world and they worshipped
gods in sacred places like lakes, rivers,
cliffs and bushes. The moon, the sun
and the stars were especially important-the
Celts thought that there were supernatural
forces in every aspect of the natural world.
Ancient Celtic religion, commonly known as
Celtic paganism, was the religion of the
ancient Celtic peoples of Europe.
The Celts also believed that the spiritual
communication on Samhain made it
easier for Celtic priest, or druids, to
predict the future, according to History.
{Druid means: a Celtic priest, magician,
or soothsayer in the ancient Celtic religion.}
To appease the deities, they built bonfires
and sacrificed crops and animals. Villagers
also attended the bonfire ceremonies wearing
animal heads and skins as costumes.
{Referring deities as their gods or goddess.}
Nowadays, many of us associate bats with
Halloween---and that has its historical roots,
too. The Druids' Samhain bonfires attracted
bugs which, in turn, tempted bats to come enjoy
a tasty meal. In later years, various folklore
emerged citing bats as harbingers of death or
doom.{ In Nova Scotian mythology, a bat
settling in a house means a man in the family
will die. If it flies around and tries to escape, a
woman in the family will perish instead.}
The Romans conquered most Celtic territory
by 43 A.D. and brought their own fall festivals
with them at that time, according to History.
Their October celebration called Feralia
also commemorated the passing of the dead.
Another holiday, Pomona, honored the
Roman goddess of fruit and trees. That's
one reason people often bob for apples
during Halloween festivities.
{Celtic meaning: Ancient European people
who are related to the Irish, Scots, Welsh,
and Bretons, or of their language or culture.}
Fast forward a few centuries, and the
festivals that would become Halloween
evolved. Several Christian popes attempted
to replace "pagan" holidays like Samhain with
their own religious observances. By 1000 A.D.
All Soul's Day on November 2 served as a time
for the living to pray for the souls of the dead.
All Saint's Day, or All Hallows, honored the
saints on November1. that made October 31
All Hallows Eve, which later became Halloween.
Despite the new religious focus,
people in Old England and Ireland
continued to associate the end of October with
the wandering dead. They set out gifts of food
to mollify hungry spirits, and as time wore on,
people began dressing in creepy costumes to
go begging for the treats themselves. The
practice was called "mumming," and looked
pretty similar to today's trick-or-treating.
The first Halloween--like festivities in America
started in the southern colonies. People began to
celebrate the harvest, swap ghost stories and
even tell each other's fortunes, likely a holdover
from their countries of origin. However, those
early fall festivals were known as "play parties"
at the time.
In the 1700s and 1800s, women performed rituals on
Halloween in hopes of finding a husband. Single
ladies used to throw apple peels over their shoulders,
hoping to see their future husband's initials in the
shapes where they fell. They also competitively
bobbed for apples at parties, believing the winner
would marry first. and in ritual that just sounds
creepy, some thought standing in a dark room
with a candle in front of a mirror would make their
future husband's face appear in the glass.
The holiday we celebrate today really started
taking off in the middle of the 19th century, when
a wave of Irish immigrants left their country
during the potato famine. The newcomers brought
their own superstitions and customs to their new
homes, including the jack-o-lantern. But back then,
they carved them out of turnips, potatoes, beets
instead of pumpkins.
By the end of the 1800's more communities were
partaking in a more secular (and safer) set of
rituals. People started holding Halloween parties
that included more harmless games, fall seasonal
treats and fun costumes.
Trick-or-treating skyrocketed in popularity by
the 1950s, when Halloween became a true
national event. Today, over 179 million Americans
celebrate the holiday--and spend about 9.1 billion
annually in the process, according to the
National Retail Federation.
Many Americans love Halloween wholeheartedly,
but the day isn't a federal holiday. Despite all of the
festivities that happen in the evening, Halloween is
still a work day and most businesses and banks
follow their regular hours. So if you're rushing home
to answer your doorbell, you're certainly not the
only one.
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