Trick or Treat – the Haunting History of Halloween
Halloween is a Christian holiday celebrated every year on October 31st and is mainly known today in its American version: costumes, haunted houses, carved pumpkins, creepy decorations and kids going from door to door and saying “trick or treat!” to receive candies. But have you ever wondered why is Halloween celebrated, what is the history of this holiday and how did it all even start?
The origin of Halloween is the Celtic festival “Samhain” (pronounced “sow-win”). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area where Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France are located today, observed their new year’s celebrations on November 1st. This date marked for them the end of summer, when harvest is finished and the cold, dark winter begins, a time usually associated with death. The Celts believed that just before the beginning of the new year, the border between the world of the dead and that of the living is blurred and thus, they celebrated Samhain on the night of October 31st, in which according to the Celtic tradition the spirits of the dead return to this world, in addition to other spiritual beings: witches, fairies and other otherworldly creatures. These beings caused, according to the Celts, disasters, damages to crops and other misfortunes but at the same time, made it simpler for the Druids (Celtic priests) to predict the future. During the night of the Samhain festival the druids would light big bonfires that were considered sacred, around which people would gather, dressed in costumes made from the skins and heads of animals, make predictions of each other’s fortunes and burn crops and animals as offerings to the Celtic deities. The costumes the Celtic people wore were also meant to ward off the spirits and deceive the fairies, so they won’t try to kidnap them.
When most of the Celts’ territories were conquered by the Roman Empire, the Samhain festival was combined with other Roman festivals, including Feralia, a day in late October intended to commemorate the dead, and another festival for the Roman goddess of fruit and trees, Pomona. A few centuries later, Pope Boniface IV established All Martyrs Day on May 13th, which was later moved to November 1st by Pope Gregory III, which extended it to include all saints and martyrs, altering it to All Saints Day and adding All Souls Day on November 2nd. The night before All Saints Day was named All-Hollows Eve and was later called Halloween.
Another holiday worth mentioning in this context is the Day of the Dead, celebrated on November 2nd in Latin American countries and especially in Mexico, its roots going back to Aztec rituals honoring the dead that were held in that area and also to Christian holidays from a European origin (which arrived with the Spanish conquerors to that area): like the Christian All Saints Day, observed on November 1st and All Souls Day, observed on November 2nd, the people of Latin American countries and specifically Mexico celebrate (in addition to All Saints Day) the Day of the children (el Dia de los Inocentes) on November 1st, on which it is believed that the spirits of children who passed away return to earth in order to unite with their relatives, and on November 2nd the Day of the Dead (el Dia de los Muertos) is celebrated (in addition to All Souls Day) where it is believed that the spirits of adults who died return to the realm of the living to reunite with their families. The celebrations include drinks, food, dances, colorful makeup and all sorts of vibrant decorations. It is also customary to visit the family graves and bring offerings to the spirits of the dead, such as the favorite food of the person who passed away, wine or “spirit bread” (pan de ánimas) and also to decorate the graves with flowers and candles that are meant to guide the way of the spirits in their journey to the mortal world.
It’s quite interesting to see how various cultures associated the end of summer, the finishing of harvest and the beginning of the cold winter with the weakening of the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead, when the spirits of the dead return to walk the earth: just like summer reaches its end, the earth ceases to yield crops and the cold creeps in, so does man’s life cannot last forever and the dark winter is mostly connected with death and finality. Therefore, it’s not surprising that ancient pagan cultures marked the end of summer and harvest as a time of observing the memory of those who have passed away, in which they hoped to be reunited with them.
