The History Behind Halloween
This holiday was once tied to farming and astronomy! It marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, or “darker half” of the year. Yes, Halloween has quite an ancient & “hallowed” history! Learn the origins of Halloween and how we celebrate this day.
When Is Halloween?
Halloween, traditionally called “All Hallows’ Eve,” is celebrated on the evening before the Christian holy day of All Hallows’ Day or All Saints Day (November 1). Therefore, Halloween is always celebrated on October 31.
In England, saints or holy people were called “hallowed,” hence the name “All Hallows’ Day.” The evening—or “e’en”—before the feast became popularly known as “All Hallows’ Eve,” or, even shorter, “Hallowe’en.”
A Brief History of Halloween
The Origins of Halloween
The origin of Halloween can be traced to an ancient festival called Samhain, meaning Summer’s End. The ancient Celts and Druids of the British Isles celebrated this as a sacred festival. It marked the end of the harvest and the start of a new year!
The ancient Celts believed that the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest during Samhain. This had positive benefits, as it was an ideal time to consider the dead, communicate with the deceased, and also to divine the future. Learn more about this ancient calendar’s ”Quarter Days and Cross-Quarter Days” and why we celebrate holidays the way we do!
Since Samhain was the death-night of the old year, it came to be associated with ghosts and graveyards. After midnight, the ghosts are said to go back to rest. (That day, November 1, later became All Saints’ Day.)
All Saints’ Day
Following the Roman Empire’s rule over Celt-occupied lands in the 1st century A.D., the Romans incorporated many of the Celtic traditions, including Samhain, with their own. Eight hundred years later, the Roman Catholic Church further modified Samhain, designating November 1 as All Saints’ Day to honor all saints from Christian history.
This day was formerly known as All Hallows’ Day or Allhallowmas, hallow meaning to sanctify or make holy. The evening before October 31, is known as All Hallows’ Eve—or, more commonly, Halloween!
How We Celebrate Halloween
Many of the customs and practices of Halloween are innocent fun, though some deal with reminders of death and concepts of good and evil.
Halloween was once known as “Nutcrack Night” in England—a time when the family gathered around the hearth to enjoy cider, nuts, and apples.
The Irish used hollowed-out, candlelit turnips carved with a demon’s face to frighten away spirits. The name “Jack-O’-Lantern” comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack who invited the Devil to have a drink with him but wouldn’t pay. Jack tricked the devil and made a deal in which the devil couldn’t claim his soul, but God didn’t want Jack in heaven either. Now, Jack’s stuck roaming the Earth as an evil spirit with his lantern shining the way.
The Irish would carve scary faces into turnips or potatoes and place them near doors or windows on Halloween Eve to frighten away Stingy Jack and evil spirits. When Irish immigrants in the 1840s found few turnips in the United States, they used the more plentiful pumpkins instead. See more about the origins of popular Halloween traditions—from witches on broomsticks to bobbing apples.