All
Hallow’s Eve is upon us again, and in anticipation of October 31, we thought we’d share some interesting factoids about this historic
holiday. Haven’t you wondered what this strange, costumed, door-to-door begging
ritual is all about? Well, here are five facts about Halloween’s history sure
to send shivers down your hard drive.
1. Halloween is Irish
Though
Halloween derived its name from the Roman Catholic Church’s All Hallows Day (All Saints Day) in the Middle Ages, the holiday originated with the
Celtic people of what we now call Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. As
early as the 1st century BC, the Gaelic calendar denoted October 31
as Samhain, which marked the
beginning of winter and the start of the new year.
For the Celts, November 1st introduced the “dark half” of the year. They also considered sunset the beginning of the day because they believed all things begin in darkness. Obviously, the ancient Celts were a cheerful bunch.
Halloween’s modern popularity in the U.S. also owes its origins to the Irish, thanks to the massive Irish immigration to America in the mid-1800s. The Irish Potato Famine drove them out, but they remembered to bring their witch hats and pumpkin spice lattes.
2. It’s Always Been about Dead Folks Coming Back to Visit
For the Celts, November 1st introduced the “dark half” of the year. They also considered sunset the beginning of the day because they believed all things begin in darkness. Obviously, the ancient Celts were a cheerful bunch.
Halloween’s modern popularity in the U.S. also owes its origins to the Irish, thanks to the massive Irish immigration to America in the mid-1800s. The Irish Potato Famine drove them out, but they remembered to bring their witch hats and pumpkin spice lattes.
2. It’s Always Been about Dead Folks Coming Back to Visit
Samhain
was thought to be a time when the veil between our reality and the spooky “Otherworld”
of dead things was pretty easy to pass through. In particular, the Celts used
the opportunity to touch base with relatives in the Great Beyond. These ghostly
relations, the Celts knew from experience, were hungry, and they expected some
generous hospitality before they would bother hanging out with their boring,
live kinfolk. So the Samhain celebrants fixed up a dinner spread in the dining
room to welcome Uncle Aiden and Grandma O’Connor back home. Some even had
picnics in the cemetery.
Picnic in the cemetery! You can’t get much more “Halloween” than that!
Picnic in the cemetery! You can’t get much more “Halloween” than that!
3. There May Have Been Human Sacrifices
Being
essentially a really creepy harvest festival, Samhain was the time to make nice
with the pastoral deities who controlled the fate of next year’s crops. To
appease these supernatural forces, sacrifices were made in the form of farm
animals, burned crops, and even, historians believe, some of the neighbors.
If you’ve seen the film The Wicker Man, with its giant, wicker effigy being burned with a real-life, not-so-happy guy trapped inside, you have some idea of how the Samhain sacrifice might have gone down. Thankfully, the Irish left this part of the festivities behind when they came to America.
4. Many Halloween Party Games Were Meant to Tell the Future
If you’ve seen the film The Wicker Man, with its giant, wicker effigy being burned with a real-life, not-so-happy guy trapped inside, you have some idea of how the Samhain sacrifice might have gone down. Thankfully, the Irish left this part of the festivities behind when they came to America.
4. Many Halloween Party Games Were Meant to Tell the Future
With
the doorway to the supernatural realm left wide open, all manner of
otherworldly activity swarmed about the Celtic people on Samhain. This provided
the perfect opportunity to find out what the future held. Would they become
rich? Would the cattle get smallpox? Would Caitlin's’s brother ever get married or
would he live in their sheep barn forever?
Divination rituals involving nuts, apples, and eggs were used to provide clues to these puzzles. The obvious surviving Halloween ritual is apple bobbing, but peering into crystal balls, pouring lead into water, and mirror gazing also had their place in Samhain gatherings. Let’s hope the signs were good for Caitlin’s brother.
Divination rituals involving nuts, apples, and eggs were used to provide clues to these puzzles. The obvious surviving Halloween ritual is apple bobbing, but peering into crystal balls, pouring lead into water, and mirror gazing also had their place in Samhain gatherings. Let’s hope the signs were good for Caitlin’s brother.
5. Ghoul and Goblin Costumes were Meant to Fake
Out Real Ghouls and Goblins
While
trick or treat costumes are thought to have always been part of Samhain
shenanigans, the practice is specifically traced to France in the 14th
and 15th centuries. By this time, the infamous Black Death had
introduced the popular image of the Danse Macabre (Dance of Death), an image
often painted on cemetery walls, depicting the personification of Death leading
the newly deceased into a fresh tomb. Those dressing up as ghouls and devils on
All Saints Day believed Death would avoid their village if he thought the job
of escorting plague victims was already covered.
“We got this, Death! See you round the graveyard!”
Weirdly, this also evolved into the practice of mumming or guising, in which the ghostly-clad locals would sing and recite verses door to door, hoping to be rewarded with food. Those houses which provided the goodies were assured good fortune for the following year. Those who didn’t, well…they were just lucky toilet paper hadn’t been invented yet.
“We got this, Death! See you round the graveyard!”
Weirdly, this also evolved into the practice of mumming or guising, in which the ghostly-clad locals would sing and recite verses door to door, hoping to be rewarded with food. Those houses which provided the goodies were assured good fortune for the following year. Those who didn’t, well…they were just lucky toilet paper hadn’t been invented yet.
Works Cited
