Unveiling the History of Halloween

You can’t have a website dedicated to Halloween without examining its history. I expect anyone who has a love for this holiday already has an understanding of the history, but here it is anyway..

As we all know, Halloween occurs annually on October 31, and for those who love to dress up and go out, we live for when Halloween falls on a Friday or Saturday!

This year, which happens to be 2024, will see Halloween fall on Thursday, October 31.

It all started as an ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced Sow–in with the ‘sow’ pronounced as you would with a female pig).

The name Samhain roughly translates from Old Irish to “summer's end" from Old Irish sam "summer" and fuin "end."

Just like today, it was celebrated on October 31 and November 1. 

It was the Celts' New Year celebration, marking the transition between the end of summer and the harvest, the light half of the year, and the beginning of winter, the dark half of the year.

It was essentially their version of our December 31 and January 1, and it was the most important festival for the Celts.

But Samhain was also when the veil between our world and the world of the dead was at its thinnest, which allowed the spirits to enter our world and walk among us.

The spirits could be troublesome and cause damage and mischief, but it was also thought they assisted the Druids in prophecy.

So the Druids built large bonfires where animals and crops were burned as offerings to the deities and as protection against evil otherworldly beings.

The Celtic people wore costumes at this time that tended to be made from animal skins in order to fool the harmful spirits.

By 43 AD, the Roman Empire was busy conquering Britain, which led to the combination of a number of Roman and Celtic festivals.

In the year 609, on May 13, Pope Boniface IV introduced the holiday All Saints’ Day, which was also known as All-Hallows or All-Hallowmas, with the day before named All-Hallows Eve.

But by the mid-eighth century, Pope Gregory III moved the holiday back to November 1, which lined up with the original Samhain.

This Christianization of Samhain eventually led to some of the Halloween traditions we follow today.

But rather than protecting themselves against the dead, it was meant to recognize saints and martyrs.

The Christians even borrowed the bonfire and costumes, in addition to offerings of drink and food for this “new” festival.

In the mid-19th century, Ireland suffered through the Great Famine, and roughly 2 million Irish emigrated to North America, bringing their traditions along.

Eventually, All Saints’ Day became Halloween, and many of the Irish traditions became our own, all of which I will discuss in another article.

This is just a brief history of Halloween, but if you're interested in reading a little more detail, try the World History Encyclopedia. I'll also write more details as well as traditional ways to celebrate Halloween soon.