Let's talk about Halloween and its roots!
Today many people around the world like to put on costumes and decorate their homes or workplace. You can see Halloween being celebrated in many cities across the world !
Some examples of Halloween activities are 'Pumpkin carving' and going 'trick or treating'.
These activities are very popular in the U.S, but are becoming more popular in many other countries too.
But where did Halloween come from ....?
Origins : Samhain
There is no precise date for the start of Samhain, but it was around 2,000 years ago.
It comes from a group of people called the 'Celts'. The 'Celts' lived in an area that included Great Britain, Ireland and parts of France. They didn't use the same calendar as we do today, so their New Year began on November 1st. On October 31st they would hold a festival named 'Samhain'.
Celts in Europe
What is Samhain?
'Samhain' was a celebration to show the beginning of winter and the end of the harvest. It was also believed to be a time that ghosts could come out.
The Celts would traditionally build bonfires and communion with the dead. The Romans conquered a lot of the Celtic land and had their own festival for the dead called 'Feralia'. So the Romans implemented some of 'Samhain's' traditions into 'Feralia'.
After time the Romans also incorporated the celebrations of the Goddess 'Pomona'. Her symbol was the apple so people believe that this may have contributed to the Halloween game 'bobbing for apples'.
How did Samhain become Halloween?
As Christianity spread across Celtic lands the Church leaders tried to relabel Samhain as a Christian event.
In the 5th century the Pope moved the celebration to May 13th to celebrate saints, but the fire festivals in October and November continued.
In the 9th century a different Pope moved the celebration back to the Autumn. The Pope declared November 1st as All Saints' Day and November 2nd was All Souls day.
October 31st became known as All Hallows Eve or Halloween.
In the 19th century many Irish immigrants continued Halloween traditions upon arriving in the U.S.A.
Halloween Traditions
Trick or Treat
The custom of 'trick or treating' comes from the UK. On the night of Halloween boys and girls would misbehave. In the North of England (Yorkshire) it used to be called Mischief Night. Mischief Night involved dressing up in costumes, knocking on doors in their neighborhood, making noises of ghosts and then running away!
In the 15th century Christians had their own customs for 'trick or treat'. People would visit houses and take 'soul-cakes', these cakes were meant to represent the dead. People would often sing under windows asking for 'soul-cake' it was known as 'Souling'.
Costumes
During Samhain the Celts would dress up and wear masks to disguise themselves from spirits. The masks were usually made from animal skin.
Jack O'Lanterns
In the past, people would carve scary faces that resembled demons into turnips to prepare for Halloween. When the turnips were hollowed out a candle would be placed inside. These scary faces and shadows were reminders of death.
These turnips were often referred to as 'punkies' or 'Jack O'lanterns' named after spirits of the dead. Over time, the Halloween tradition of a jack-o-lantern came to America where pumpkins were in abundance!
Many people think these are American traditions, but in many ways, they are just a modern spin on very old traditions.
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