Article by Ava Edwards '24
Introduction by Abby Paras '24
Photo Courtesy of Taylor Rooney via Unsplash
Halloween is upon us, and while most people on campus celebrate in some way, shape, or form, many do not know the origins of the spookiest holiday of the year. Going back thousands of years, Halloween’s story is long and convoluted, drawing from several different cultures and time periods.
Samhain (beginning approx: 500 BC)
Samhain, an ancient Celtic tradition of the Iron Age, is thought to be the precursor to Halloween. This ancient holiday took place on November 1 and marked the end of the harvest season. To the ancient Celtics, Samhain marked the beginning of the dark half of the year. It was also believed that during Samhain, the veil between the living and the dead thinned. Crops and animals were often sacrificed in fires to appease any unhappy or mischievous spirits. Those celebrating the holiday would also dress up as the dead and pull pranks masquerading as a tricky spirit. After the Roman invasion, Samhain became All Hallows’ Eve, a more secular version of the holiday, as many of Samhain’s traditions were too pagan for the Christian invaders.
All Hallows’ Eve and All Saints’ Day
After the Roman invasion of Celtic land, the Christian invaders converted the Celtics from their Pagan rituals and holidays. The Romans replaced the Celtic holiday, Samhain, with the more secular holiday, All Saints’ Day. Rather than the Celtic celebration of the dead and wayward spirits, the Romans celebrated the Saints in heaven on this day, a vast change from the pagan celebrations the Celtics were accustomed to. The tricks and treats associated with Samhain were soon transformed into the celebration of all saints and martyrs. However, there are some similarities between Samhain and its replacement holiday. Both holidays share an element of worship for the dead, which is what made All Saints Day the perfect replacement for Samhain. This holiday usually involves attending Catholic mass and grand feasts to celebrate the righteous saints. All Saints Day is still celebrated by the Catholic Church to this day, and it serves as the main factor of Halloween introduction in America.
Halloween’s Introduction to America (beginning with the immigration due to the potato famine in 1840)
As a result of the mass Irish immigration to America, the Irish introduced their traditions to the continent. A mixture of Samhain and All Saints’ Days traditions followed the Irish as they fled from their country’s potato famine. These new traditions slowly spread across the country, and many intersecting traditions made the modern version of Halloween. The tricks associated with Halloween come from Samhain, where the dead were blamed for any misfortune. Costumes come from a European tradition called “mumming”, where children would dress up and do tricks or performances in exchange for sweets. The motifs of the dead in modern Halloween can also be attributed to Samhain. During the darker months, Europeans would use makeshift lakers out of carved gourds for light. When these Europeans emigrated, they used the native pumpkin instead, which resulted in what we call a jack-o-lantern in the modern day.
Modern Halloween 1950s - Present Day
The modern Halloween tradition looks very different from its parent holiday. After World War II, morale in the United States was high, and families had enough money to spend on their children. Candy and clothing companies took advantage of this emerging American morale to start advertising for universal, one-stop Halloween costumes and began to pump copious amounts of candy into the market. Hollywood quickly took advantage of this new market and began to create dozens of Halloween classics that we love today. As a result of this booming capitalism, our modern-day Halloween and billion-dollar industry was born.
Modern Halloween Traditions, and their origins
Jack o’ Lanterns - lanterns made from gourds in Europe
Tricks - The pranks of Samhain
Treats - The feast of All Saints Day
Costumes - Samhain’s traditional costumes used to hide from spirits
Spooky imagery - Samhain’s associations with death
Correction: This article originally only attributed Abby Paras '24 as sole writer, it has been amended to show Abby Paras '24 as writer of the introduction and Ava Edwards '24 as the writer of the article as a whole.