The Origin and History of Halloween

Halloween is a spooky festival celebrated on the 31st of October each year by most Christian countries across the globe. This festival originated from the Samhain festival which was celebrated by the ancient Celtic tribe where this community will make a fire pit and wear their best-haunted costumes to scare the ghost away.

In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III declared 1 November as the day to remember the Santo (saints). As time goes by, the Samhain tradition starts to be applied on the day of Santo. Before it was known as Halloween, it was previously called All Hallows Eve as they start the celebration in the late evening.

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Years went on and Halloween continued to become a special holiday filled with festive activities such as trick or treating, carving pumpkins as well as the best part of all, showing their best spooky costumes.

Ancient Halloween

The history of Halloween dates back to the celebration of the Samhain by the ancient Celtic around 2,000 years ago. The Celts which is from a country that is now known as Ireland/Scotland celebrated their new year every 1st of November.

It marks the end of summer and harvest season and the start of those cold gloomy winter that is mostly related to the death of mankind. The tribe that practice paganism believed that the night before the new year will be when the border between the human world and the spirits becomes a glimmer.

This means that on the night of 31st October, they will celebrate the Samhain since it was believed that the spirits of the dead will come down to earth. Aside from causing chaos and destruction to the crops, the presence of these unseen spirits was believed to have eased the Druid's or Celtic priests' task in predicting the future.

For a society that truly relies on nature that is in constant shambles, the Druid's oracle is a crucial piece of information so that they can live in peace and find the right path to overcome the upcoming winters.

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To remember such an event, the Druids will build a huge fire pit in an area where all the people can be gathered. They will then burn the crops and make a sacrifice to provide for the Celtic god. During the celebration, they will wear their costumes which are made from the head and skin of animals, and will talk about their own individual wealth.

After everything comes to an end, they will then burn their own residence using the holy fire pit that was extinguished as an act of protecting themselves during the cold winter.

In 43AD, The Roman empire conquered the majority of the Celtic regions. In the 400 years of ruling the Celtic land, two festivals that came from Rome were merged with the Samhain festival of the Celtics.

The first one is Feralia, which is the day at the end of October when the Romans will traditionally remember the death of mankind whereas the second one is to remember Pomona, the goddess of fruiting trees and orchards.

The symbolism of the Pomona goddess will be an apple and combining this festival with the Samhain will perhaps explain the tradition of biting down a hanging apple that is being practiced on Halloween today.

All Saints Day

Pope Boniface IV

On 13 May 609AD, Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Patheon in Rome to respect the missionary Christians that died in pain due to fighting for their religion as well as having a feast on All Martyrs Day in the western churches. Pope Gregory III later expanded this celebration to not only the martyrs but also the Santo and changed the date of the festival to 1 November by calling it All Saints Day.

Approaching the 9th century, the Christian belief quickly spread to the Celtic regions where it finally merge with the ancient Celtic ritual. in the year 1000AD, the church decided to choose 2 November as the day of spirits to remember those who have died.

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It was believed that the church also made an attempt to replace the day of the spirits celebrated by the Celtic with a holiday that is agreed upon by the churches only.

All Souls Day is similarly celebrated to the Samhain by burning a huge pit, parades, and wearing the best costumes as Santo, angels, and devils.

All Saints Day also known as All-hallows or All-hallowmas originated from the ancient English word, "Alholowmesse" which means All Saints Day. The night before it was known as All-Hallows Eve which later turn into Halloween today.

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