Samhain: The History of Halloween

It’s that time of year again. The wind is getting colder. The leaves are turning red. In just a couple of weeks, kids will be embalming themselves with candy. The History Channel reports that 92% of children in America participate in this sugar binging every year. Halloween is our country’s 2nd largest holiday, earning businesses 6.9 billion dollars annually. How did this strange tradition start, anyway? As it turns out, Halloween isn’t just one of the most lucrative celebrations; it’s also one of the oldest.

Over two-thousand years ago, Celts living in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Northern France divided the year into four quarters: Yule, Ostara, Litha, and Mabon. In the middle of these quarters were four more cross quarters: Imblog, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain. Samhain, which means summer’s end, marked the end of the year. The days grew colder and darker, just like they are now. It was at this time that the veil between the spirit and physical world was at its thinnest. Celts wore masks to hide from the dead, repelling ghosts with frightening costumes. They left offerings of food on their doorstop, so evil spirits wouldn’t come inside.

Ghosts weren’t all bad, though. Some caused mayhem and destruction, but they also helped the Druids, or Celtic priests, predict the future. This was crucial around Samhain, because people needed to know how much livestock to slaughter. If they had too many, there wouldn’t be enough grass or feed for the winter, but if they had too little, they wouldn’t have enough meat. It was the hardest time of the year. Joyce and River Higginbotham describe in their book Paganism how Celts were encouraged to confront their fears in the autumn, and let go. Bonfires burned to ward off the winter, and people honored their ancestors through celebration.

Things staid pretty much the same until the Romans invaded in 43 AD. Even then, Samhain lived on. The conquerors combined the Pagan’s holiday with two of their own: Feralia and Pomona. Feralia, like Samhain, commemorated the passing of the dead, and just so happened to occur in the fall. Pomona was a holiday meant to honor the Goddess of fruit and trees. Her signature plant was the apple, which is why we bob for them even now.

Samhain survived the Romans, but the real test had yet to come. In 800 AD, Christianity was at its peak of power. The church used dates of Pagan holidays like Imblog and Winter’s Solstice to make converting the masses easier, turning them into St. Brigid’s day and Christmas. Pope Boniface IV sanctioned November 1 as All Hallows day to honor saints and draw people away from Samhain, but couldn’t get them to stop partying it up the day before. As a compromise, he adopted the holiday, and turned into All Hallows Eve. In 1000 AD the church created All Souls Day on November 2 to honor the dead.

To this day Halloween is immensely popular. Spain, Mexico, and Latin America, which are heavily Catholic, celebrate El Dias de los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead. It’s a colorful three day event, when the living burn incense and leave candy on gravestones to entice the nonliving back to earth. England, with its high percentage of Protestants, doesn’t celebrate All Hallows because they don’t believe in saints. They do, however, have a strikingly similar holiday on November 5 called Ethan Fawkes day. In 1606, this Catholic was executed for trying to blow up the Parliament Building. He’s still celebrated, or rather un-celebrated, with what the English call bone fires. You might also recognize him as the inspiration for the comic book and movie V for Vendetta.

Puritan pilgrims settling in America weren’t interested in the flagrant fun of All Hallows, and left the entertainment to the Europeans. It wasn’t until Irish fled from the potato famine in the early 1900’s that Halloween became really celebrated here. They told ghost stories, danced, and did a lot of pranks on the community. Young women believed that the opening of the spirit and physical veil could help them divine the name of their future husbands. Things got a little too wild though, and local governments gradually turned the holiday into a family event. Giving out candy was a way to treat youngsters and (hypothetically) prevent pranks, or tricks. This probably dates back to All Soul’s Day in Europe, when poor citizens would beg for pastries called soul cakes in exchange for praying for the giver’s dead relatives.

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. You don't have to worry about facing your family, (am I the only one who stresses about Thanksgiving?) or being a loser without a partner, (Valentine's Day should be abolished.) After learning how it survived not just one, but two foreign invasions, I like it even more. I hope you all have a great Samhain. Be careful, though. Ringing bells keep spirits away. If you want to meet a witch, turn your clothes inside out and walk backwards. Or call me, and I’ll give you a few numbers.