Originally Posted On October 25, 2004

In my search to discover more about the history of Halloween I was taken to the History Channel’s website. On October 31st, 2004 they are airing a show on the history of Halloween, but if you can’t wait until then there is plenty of information on their website. Here is a quick overview of the history of Halloween from the History Channel’s website:

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints’ Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints’, All Saints’, and All Souls’, were called Hallowmas.

Our celebration of Halloween is wholly different than what October 31st meant to the Celts. To them it was their religion, their belief, their life, and they were serious about it. They depended on the natural world and to see the predictions of the future. To do things to help them through the winter was important to them. In America Halloween maybe somewhat similar to the practices of a false religion or cultic practice, in reality, it is not the same. Is what we do at Halloween wrong? Is it the practice itself or the meaning behind it? For instance, they dressed up to attempt to tell each others fortunes during a festival in which they were sacrificing animals to a false god. We dress up and go door to door collecting candy and having fun. It seems to be there is a big difference in those two things. To Americans it is a fun holiday. Things like pumpkins, ghosts, ghouls, monsters actually entertain us. So how did this buisness of “trick or treat” become a tradition in the United States?

The American tradition of “trick-or-treating” probably dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as “going a-souling” was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

I have found tons of information on the subject of Halloween and the history behind it. For Christians, the biggest fear of celebrating Halloween is the fear of practicing or participating in some type of cultic practice or demon worship. (I won’t get into, but these same poeple should not own Christmas trees if that is the case.)

To me, Halloween is nothing more than good fun, enticing some of the basic human emotions, fear and fun. We like to be scared, thats why we like scary movies. It’s not something that is associated with the devil. These kids don’t dress up and sacrifice people or animals to false gods. The devil doesn’t come in the form of a big monster or an ugly demonic creature that bites our heads off. The things we potray as evil are not what evil looks like at all. Satan and his demons were angels of light and were made as beautiful creatures. However, I am teachable in this area… I don’t have the answers and in fact this could be a disputable matter.

What do you think about Halloween? Demonic holiday or just good fun? Let me know in the comments below.