History of Halloween

As Halloween nears, The Urban Cowboy decided to take a look into its history, just where did Halloween come from anyways?

It turns out Halloween has very old roots, 200 years to be exact! Its history dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

Living in the areas that are now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, the Celts celebrated the new year on November 1, marking the end of summer and harvest with the beginning of the gloomy winter months, which was associated with death. Celebrating Samhain the night of October 31, the Celts believed that on this night ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

Ghosts

These ghosts were thought to be responsible for damaging crops, and made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. These prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter for the Celts.

The Druids would build huge sacred bonfires to commemorate the event, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

The History of Halloween

Costumes

Wearing costumes of animal heads and skins, the Celts would attempt to tell each other’s fortunes. At the end of the celebration, they would re-light their hearth fires, which had been extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

Conquering the majority of Celtic territory by 43 A.D., the Romans incorporated two of their own festivals with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans would commemorate the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The apple was the symbol of Pomona and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

Christianity

With the spreading of Christianity into Celtic Lands by the 800s, another merging of two cultures takes place. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV replaced the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. He went on to designate November 1 All Saints’ Day, a day to honor saints and martyrs.

All Hallows Eve

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.

Do you practice certain traditions during Halloween? What are they? Where did they originate? Share your Halloween traditions with us!

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