Ancient Origins of Halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31 with activities of trick-or-treating, costume parties, bonfires, carved pumpkin lanterns and visiting haunted houses. Halloween is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day", which is now also known as All Saints' Day.

Many of the Halloween traditions developed out of older pagan traditions, especially surrounding the Irish holiday Samhain. This holiday is associated with both the harvest and otherworldly spirits. The Celts, who lived about 2000 years ago in the regions, known today as Ireland, United Kingdom and the northern France, celebrated their New Year on the first of November. This celebration marked the end of summer and summer harvest and the beginning of the dark and cold winter, usually associated with death of the people. These ancient people used this time to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Celtic people believed that on the night before the New Year the worlds of the living and dead became intertwined. They celebrated Samhain on the night of the 31st of October when, they believed, the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. The Celts believed that the presence of these otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Celtic priests, the Druids, to make predictions about the future, which were a source of comfort and direction during the cold, dark and long winter that they were about to enter. The Druids celebrated this event by building huge sacred bonfires. The Celtic people gathered around the bonfires to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. They wore costumes consisting of animal heads and skins and engaged in telling one another's fortune.

In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated the first of November "All Saints' Day", a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is generally believed that it was his intention to replace the Celtic festival of the dead. This celebration was also called "All-hallows" or "All-hallowmas" and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called "All-hallows Eve" and, eventually, Halloween. During the tenth century the Church made the second of November All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead, celebrated in a similar way as Samhian with bonfires, parades and dressing-up. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

Versions of the Halloween tradition were brought to North America by Irish and Scottish immigrants. Late in the twentieth century many western countries also embraced this tradition. Today Halloween is celebrated in several parts of the Western world, most commonly in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom and occasionally in parts of Australia and New Zealand.

Symbols and practices

One of the most prominent symbols of Halloween is the carved pumpkin, lit by a candle inside. This Scottish and Irish tradition of carving a lantern goes back centuries.

Other images surrounding Halloween have largely been taken from the movie world and graphic artist's imagery. These images involve death, dark and mystical characters such as monsters, witches, vampires, bats, black cats, owls, scarecrows, zombies, mummies, skeletons, goblins and demons.

Black and orange are the traditional colors. Black is associated with death, night, witches, black cats, bats and vampires. Orange is associated with pumpkins, pumpkin lanterns, autumn, autumn leaves and fire.

The main activity for children of modern Halloween in the United States and Canada is trick-or-treating. Children disguise themselves in costumes and go door-to-door in their neighborhoods, ringing their doorbells while shouting "trick or treat". They hope to solicit a gift or candy. The house occupants often hand out small candies, chocolate bars, nuts or loose change. The house occupants are often also in costume and use sound effects and fog machines to create an eerie atmosphere.