OT: Happy Halloween! The History of Halloween

[Guest guest]

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of

Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

 

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now

Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their

new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the

harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year

that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on

the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of

the living and the dead became blurred.

 

On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was

believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition

to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the

presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids,

or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a

people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these

prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during

the long, dark winter.

 

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where

the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the

Celtic deities.

 

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically

consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each

other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their

hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from

the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

 

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory.

In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic

lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the

traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

 

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans

traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a

day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The

symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this

celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition

of " bobbing " for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

 

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic

lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November

1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely

believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic

festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday.

 

The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from

Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night

before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve

and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church

would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It

was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and

dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the

three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All

Souls', were called Hallowmas.

[Guest guest]

Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

 

Aha! Not like a variation of Sam Hill.

Thanks for allowing me to say it with

confidence. I always wondered.

 

Ien in the Kootenays

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