THE ORIGINS OF...
HALLOWEEN

Like many other holidays celebrated today, Halloween has its roots in ancient pagan traditions. Halloween got its start thousands of years ago in the Celtic regions of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern Europe. Back then, when life was short and brutish, people dreaded the coming of winter, for it meant less sunlight and food. On the Celtic calendar, the new year began November 1, for this was the end of summer and the beginning of a period often associated with human death. The Celts believed that on the eve of winter, the lines between the spirit world and the real world were blurred, and ghosts and spirits of the dead came to possess living spirits and wreak havoc. To discourage the spirits from possessing them, the living would extinguish the hearth fires in their homes to make them cold and uninviting. They would also dress up in costumes, typically of animal skins and masks, in order to fool wandering spirits. The Celts also believed the presence of spirits made it easier for the Druids to make predictions about the future.
               The Celts built great bonfires and made sacrifices to their deities, in the hope that they would be blessed throughout the coming months. At the end of the festival, the Celts relit their hearth fires from the sacred bonfire to help protect them from the winter chill.
               In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III moved All Saint’s Day—a day to honor saints and martyrs—to November 1. The day was known as “All Hallows Day,” from the idea that the souls of saints were “hallowed,” or holy. Consequently, the evening prior to this day became known as All Hallows Eve. In the 11th century, the church added another festival to its calendar to honor all dead souls: All Souls’ Day, which is celebrated November 2. Together, the events of October 31 to November 2 are known as Hallowmas.
               The name Halloween comes from a Scottish shortening of All hallow-even (eve of all saints); it was eventually shortened to hallowe’en and then combined in the 18th century to form the word we use today.
               The practice of trick-or-treating is well over a thousand years old. It is descended from an old English tradition called souling, in which the poor went from door to door asking for “soul cakes,” which were square hunks of bread filled with currants. In return for a soul cake, the beggars would promise to say a prayer for the donor’s dead relatives, to ease their passage into heaven. Souling was encouraged by the church, which preferred it to the old tradition of leaving out food and wine to appease wandering spirits. To this day, children in some parts of Scotland are required to perform certain tricks—often just a simple poem or riddle—in order to receive treats. In America, trick-or-treating has mostly become a goody-grab for kids, who don’t need to do any “tricks” at all to get their candy.
               Halloween was brought to America by Irish and northern European immigrants. Until the mid-19th century, it was celebrated mainly by Catholics, who made up a small portion of the population. An influx of Irish immigrants in the 1840s brought many traditions, including the use of Jack-o’-lanterns, and helped popularize Halloween. By the latter half of the 19th century, the day became widely celebrated,