History of Halloween

The delightfully spooky festival of Halloween has its roots in the ancient rites of All Hallows Eve, which itself dates back to the time of the Druids, and the Feast of Samhain (pronounced Sa-wan).

The Feast of Sawain falls on October 31 and legend said that this was the night the dead walked abroad. The ancient Celts said that on this night, the veil between the living and the dead was torn asunder, and the dead mingled with the living. Food was left out for the dead and candles lit to guide benign spirits to their homes. But not all spirits were considered benign, so some rituals involved preventing the dead from possessing the living.

Samhain is still celebrated today in modern Druid and Wicca communities. This is an important festival for these communities because it is believed to open the door to a new cycle – hence the belief that the last night of the old cycle brought the dead from their graves, and that this night there is great magic abroad.

Samhain literally means Summer’s End, and it is traditional to light bonfires to fill the darkness with light. Today Samhain is celebrated as a harvest festival, with some rituals from the past retained.

With the coming of Christianity, many old festival days were incorporated into the new religious calendar, and Samhain morphed into All Hallows Eve, which is still celebrated as The Day of the Dead in Mexico. This is a joyous celebration in which the dead are honored and welcomed as they walk abroad. Chairs are set out for them, and special candies are prepared in the shapes of skulls.

In Britain, the ancient Samhain fires continue every year as Guy Fawke’s day. Guy Fawkes was hanged for plotting to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1606, with his effigy traditionally being placed atop a bonfire and burned. The British `Halloween’ sees youngsters pushing the effigy around in a barrow and visiting houses for food and candies the night before the bonfire.

Today’s Halloween is a fun for all celebration, with kids and adults dressing up in spooky costumes and finding new and inventive ways to celebrate the night the dead are said to leave their graves. Halloween parties are held in haunted houses and graveyards, while the continuing tradition of trick or treat sees adults stocking up on candies to hand out to the costumed children who come calling.

When Halloween came to America with the settlers, it not only retained some old customs but also incorporated new ones, such as the pumpkin jack o’lantern, and a whole library of new and spooky tales to tell on All Hallow’s Eve, such as the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the creepy tales of Edgar Allan Poe.

So dress up in ghoulish guise and enjoy the spookiest night of the year, knowing you are following in the footsteps of a very old tradition – it seems we have always had this need to confront death and dance on its grave.