Every year most people celebrate Halloween. We get dressed up, carve pumpkins, watch scary movies–the whole lot. But have you ever wondered where the origins of Halloween began and why we celebrate it each year?
The history of Halloween is said to originate in Europe at the ancient Celtic festival ‘SamHain’ about 2,500 years ago. People would light bonfires and wear scary costumes to try and ward off ghosts, a heavily believed spirit at the time.
This pagan religious festival ushers in the darker and colder parts of the year and many believed that during SamHain, the barriers between worlds would be broken and allow spirits to briefly enter the human world.
Pope Gregory III then designated November 1st as All Saints Day, dedicated to honouring saints. The day incorporated some of the same traditions as SamHain, so October 31st soon became known as All Hallows Eve–later Halloween.
In the years following, Halloween slowly started to see the same traditions we have now, i.e., trick or treating, dressing up, carving pumpkins, etc. Let’s talk about the history of where these traditions started.
Trick or Treating
This fun tradition sees (mostly) kids dressing up and knocking on doors in exchange for sweets. Trick-or-treating is rumoured to come from various places, but the most known theory is that it began a few centuries after the SamHain festival. People took the tradition of dressing up and performed in exchange for food or drink.
In light of the All Saints Day traditions, poorer families would visit wealthy homes and be given food in exchange for praying for the wealthy families’ deceased family members’ souls.
It wasn’t until post World War 2 that the tradition became fully fledged in western culture.
Dressing Up
The tradition of dressing up on Halloween originated, of course, with the SamHain festival. Attenders would dress up, quite scarily, to ward off spirits and ghosts. This tradition kept going for centuries and eventually become what it is today. Some people still opt for scary costumes to represent horror and scare-factors, but a lot of costumes these days reflect pop culture moments and icons.
Pumpkin Carving
Pumpkin carving is one of the most beloved and fun Halloween traditions. However, it first started with turnips! Also known as Jack-O-Lanterns, the tradition originated in Ireland where a myth about a man named Stingy Jack was spread. In short, Jack tricked the devil and when he passed away he was denied entry to heaven and hell, leaving his soul to wander earth eternally. Locals began carving scary faces out of turnips to ward away Jack’s spirit. Pumpkins came into effect when the tradition came to America, as these were more popularly harvested.
Bats and Black Cats
Other symbols associated with Halloween include bats and black cats–but where did these stereotypes about these animals come from? And why are they linked to Halloween?
Bats gained there reputation as Halloween symbols simply due to their nocturnal behaviour. They are therefore associated with night-time, where the world is a little more spooky. In addition to this, nocturnal animals are often associated with death and dark arts.
And what about black cats? It’s rumoured that Celtics believed that anyone associated with dark magic and evil behaviour would turn into a cat. Black cats, in particular, were also associated with witches, further linking them to Halloween-like behaviour.
Happy Halloween! We hope you enjoyed learning about why we celebrate this spooky season and where it all originates from. Stay safe and get spooky.
with love,
becky
Looking for some Halloween/Horror movies to binge? Check out this blog post.
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