Tracing the Roots of Halloween
The Origin of Halloween
The American version of Halloween has it's roots in Druidism and
predates Christianity (the original date would differ due to a different
calendar). The celebration was known at the time as Samhain, which is
pronounced sow-en, and originated in the Celtic regions of the earth.
November 1st marked the beginning of the new year and the start of a
long and harsh winter. The Celts practiced worship and idolization of
false gods and they believed that the night prior to the new year caused
a convergence, and the land of the living and the land of the dead
became obscured and overlapped. Both good and evil spirits roamed the
earth at this time, according to legend.
The Celts believed that malevolent spirits came back to the land of the
living to bring trouble and mischief and to destroy both animals and
crops, and to bring death to the living, during this time before the new
year. (Starting the New Year with the festival of SAMHAIN, when the
world starts to darken into winter. The veil between the human world and
the world of the dead becomes very thin. This gives you the opportunity
to invite your ancestors over the veil to join in the feast. The
following day in the calendar has no name, this is to stop the spirits
from being trapped in our world, and to make the journey back over the
veil much easier. The modern date for this is 31 October, and goes a
long way to explaining the depiction of the ghosts and ghouls at
Halloween (All Hallows Eve). The Christian church was unable to stop
this festival, so they tacked on All Souls Day, and All Saints Day, to
try to counter the effects following Halloween...from
http://www.gallica.co.uk/celts/calendar.htm)
Samhain actually means 'summer's end'. At this time the Celts would make
costumes from the skins parts of animals they had killed. They made
large bonfires and they practiced sacrificial offerings of the weaker
and older animals as well as the less fruitful of their harvested crops.
Using turnips, potatoes or beets or such, the Celts made lanterns with
burning embers of the bonfire. The Celts believed these lanterns would
offer protection from the evil spirits that were roaming about to find a
target. The Celts also dressed in costumes that they might fool the
evil spirits into believing that they were one of them, securing their
safety from possession or even death.
The Celtic regions were eventually conquered by the Roman Catholic
Church. The Church had began a practice known as 'All Saints Day or All
Hallow's Day'. This was a day (Nov. 1st) that the saints that had died,
were honored. The two celebrations merged (Samhain and All Hallow's Day)
and halloween (All Hallow's Eve) slowly evolved. Today, most all of the
pagan and heathen religions of the world use this mergence to celebrate
and claim this day as their own.