How Samhain evolved into the Halloween we practice today

     Halloween got its name from all hallows eve, meaning the eve of all saints. Halloween or Samhain had its beginnings in an ancient Celtic festival of the dead. Celtic people divided their year into four major holidays. The year began on a day that would be November 1 on our present calendar. The date marked the beginning of winter. This was a very symbolic date as it marked the end and the beginning of a cycle. As one comes to an end the other one begins.

Samhain

     Samhain was the biggest and most significant holiday of the Celtic year. The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living because the souls of those who had died during the year traveled into the otherworld. People gathered to sacrifice animals, fruits, and vegetables. Dressed in costumes made from animal hide, they gathered for festivities sharing food and alcohol as they swapped stories of the season. In honor of the dead, they lit bonfires to help the souls find their way, and to keep them away from the living. Celts also believed that besides the souls on their way to the otherworld on Samhain you could find a lot of other creatures roaming around like ghosts, demons, and fairies.

     After Christian missionaries attempted to change the religious practices of the Celtic people Samhain turned into the Halloween we know today. In 601 A.D. Pope Gregory the First issued an edict to his missionaries about the native beliefs and customs of the people he hoped to convert. Instead of trying to convert them and force them into belief, they should use the belief in their favor. If people worshiped something they just consecrated it to Christ. That way no force needed to be used.

All Saints Day

     November 1st is the Christian All Saints Day, the day that honors every Christian saint. This day was meant to substitute the Samhain, to draw the devotion of the Celtic peoples, and to replace it forever. However, the old beliefs of Samhain never died out entirely. All Saints Day, otherwise known as All Hallows, continued the ancient Celtic traditions. Most intense activity, human and supernatural, was believed to occur the night prior, which we now know as Halloween. All Hallows Eve became Hallow Evening, which became Halloween, an old holiday in modern times.

Halloween

     Halloween does have roots in Samhain, but they are not the same thing. Samhain is still celebrated today by various groups including Wiccans and there are many ways in which the festival is celebrated. There are not only group rituals, but single rituals as well. Each Halloween custom can be traced back to a Samhain tradition or a story around it. The wearing of costumes, for example, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era. It was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries passed on, people began dressing like these scary creatures, performing an act in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. Bobbing for apples and carving vegetables can also be traced back to Celtic times. The carving of the pumpkin is a newer custom. In Celtic times it was common to carve a turnip or a beet. Irish emigrants brought Halloween with them to Northern America, and a Northern American harvest food was the pumpkin.

     Even though modern Halloween retains a lot of ancient customs, it has modernized over the years.  Today it is associated with costume parties and fun. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as the old customs are still practiced. Halloween is, in my opinion, one of the most fun holidays of the year. You get to be anyone for a day, have fun with friends and family while also practicing an ancient Celtic tradition. However, it would be nice if more people knew about Samhain and the folklore behind it. What do you think about Halloween? What will you dress up as today?