Article by Nicole Ryan | Owl Staff
Owl Media staff members celebrate Halloween by wearing creative costumes.
Halloween, a holiday full of sweets, over-the-top costumes, and spooky stories but, how did it come to be? Halloween is a very popular holiday with a rich history full of stories, traditions, and important figures but, many people know nothing about its origins. The traditions of Halloween are said to go back centuries. Beginning with a Celtic holiday by the name of Samhain which means “summer’s end.” This festival is where our modern traditions of Halloween began. Things like Jack-o-lanterns, costumes, and trick or treating all began with the Celtic festival of Samhain.
Samhain is a Pagan holiday that celebrates the end of summer and welcomes the harvest. For years, before the birth of Halloween, and even today, people of the Christian faith sought to demonize Samhain. Many followed the false belief that Sam Hain was the Pagan god of death, and this holiday celebrated his feast.
This belief is often traced back to a man named Charles Vallancey, an 18th century British engineer. He wrote on the Samhain festival with little understanding of exactly what it was. Ironically, however, it was actually the church that preserved the pagan holiday in the 9th century. Paving the way for the secular celebration of Halloween that has become one of the most popular holidays in the world.
The traditions and beliefs of Samhain are not well known and one belief that has followed the holiday all the way to modern times is the belief that the veil between living and dead thins on this day. Allowing the dead to walk among the living and for those who’ve yet to cross to the afterlife to cross with ease. Due to the Christianization of the holiday most traditions have been lost on time.
Though, it is said that most celebrations of Samhain involved preparing for winter by “stocking up supplies, slaughtering cattle, and disposing of the bone in Bone Fires.” These “Bone Fires” would later evolve into the Halloween tradition of Bonfires. To protect themselves from evil spirits people would darken their faces with ash from the Bonfires. This later turned into them wearing masks and only reviling themselves to the spirits of loved ones.
“Halloween has many fun traditions that have survived the toll of time including carving Jack-o-lanterns, trick or treating, and dressing up in costumes.”
Today we celebrate the holiday Halloween and children run around in fun costumes going door to door asking for sweets. Halloween has many fun traditions that have survived the toll of time including carving Jack-o-lanterns, trick or treating, and dressing up in costumes. The tradition of trick or treating is a Halloween staple that began in England and Ireland during All Saints and All Souls.
During these Holidays, children from poor communities would go door to door in the wealthy parts of their towns and receive Soul Cakes in exchange for prayers for the family of the home. This was called “Souling” and would later turn into an early form of trick or treating.
There’s also the tradition of carving pumpkins and displaying them by the front door. Jack-o-lanterns came about in the 19th century in Ireland and Scotland. According to the History Channel, they originated from the story of Stingy Jack who “tricked the Devil and was cursed to roam the earth with only a burning coal in a turnip to light his way.” To ward off Stingy Jack, people began to carve and light their own turnips or potatoes or pumpkins and place them in windows or by doors. Creating the tradition we all know today as Jack-o-lanterns.
Owl Media staffers celebrate Halloween in 2017 by showing up in costumes for their staff meeting.
These traditions, along with so many more, have long been connected to Halloween. So, how exactly did we transition from Samhain to Halloween? It started in the 18th century with Pope Gregory III who made November 1st as a day to “honor saints.” This day was titled All Saints Day and the evening before All Hallows Eve which would later become Halloween. November 2nd would also receive a title related to Halloween.
The Celtic people believed that during Samhain the dead could walk the earth again. So, Chrisian missionaries would, in an effort to further Christianize this holiday, name November 2nd All Souls Day. A day for the dead to be able to return to the living world.
The modern celebration of Halloween goes back centuries beginning with the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain and evolving over the years to become the Halloween we all know and love. Its traditions stem from its ancient roots and bloom on October 31st every year.
So, ward off Stingy Jack with your Jack-o-lanterns and protect yourself from evil spirits with your best mask. Enjoy your sweets, bonfires, and decorations and have a Happy Halloween.