Ooooo….. Halloween, gouls, goblins, witches and vampires scary stuff, but it wasn't always about made up monsters and getting bags of candy.
The origins of Halloween Date back to the Celtic's, who lived over 2000 years ago. The Celts celebrated a festival of Samhain (sow-in), it was celebrated though out the United kingdom, Ireland, and northern France. This celebration was to mark the ending of the summer harvest, the end of a year, and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time that has always been considered associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, a boundary or sorts was opened, a boundary between the world of the living and that of the dead. It is on October 31st that the Celts believed that the ghosts and spirits of the dead returned. The Celts believe these ghosts ruined crops and cause trouble. It was also believed that the Celtic priests(druids) could easily make future predictions on this night. These prophecies were of vital importance to the Celtic people, it helped provide them with a sense of safety and comfort during the long, dark winter.
This Samhain festival was an exciting event in the Celt time; The priests built Huge sacred bonfires, where the people sacrificed crops and animals to the Celtic Deities. They dressed in costumes typically made of animal heads and skins, and they played games of prediction, trying to tell one another fortunes.
By A.D. 43, the Romans had conquered the majority of the Celts and for hundreds of years they ruled their lands. The festival of the Samhain was combined with Roman traditions. By the 800s the influence of Christianity had spread through out the Celtic lands, and in the 7th century pope Boniface IV designated November 1 as "All Saints Day". It was widely believed that the Pope was attempting to replace the Celtic's festival of the dead with a related Church sanctioned holiday. The celebration has also been known as, “All-Hallows Even, All-Hallowma's, Hallow E'en and of course Halloween.
Even later along the time line in AD 1000, the church would make November 2nd All souls Day to honour the dead. As the Celts, this day was celebrated with bonfires, paraded and of course dressing up in costumes.
For thousand of years people have believed halloween night to be associated with the dead, ghosts and spirits. And, because of those beliefs and the sacrifices they made we today have a tradition that is less dramatic but still exciting and a bit scary. Have fun this Halloween and remember the history that is associated with this dark night…and remember that ghosts could be about pulling tricks while you're getting treats……….. For real….
