Halloween – the Real History?

Research shows many different beliefs about Halloween and how pagans celebrated the holiday before it became known as Halloween. Most sources agree Halloween, celebrated on the day before the beginning of the Celtic new year – October 31, began as a pagan holiday to celebrate the spirits of the dead, or Samhain (usually pronounced “sou-in”), by the Druids, a Celtic non-Christian religious order. (Some sources say Samhain means “Feast of the Dead.” Others say it means “lord of the dead and evil spirits.” Still other sources claims Samhain is not a “lord of the dead,” stating “There is no deity, demon, or spirit named Samhain. Samhain is simply the name of the festival that celebrates summer’s end.” This suggests Samhain was the original name for the holiday before it became Halloween.)

Many sources agree there were huge bonfires built to scare away evil spirits. But not all agree animals and humans were put in wicker cages and burnt alive as sacrifices to the spirits. Some say the only things roasted on the fires were nuts and fruits.

Food was put in front of homes to feed fairies, spirits or the family’s dead. Some sources say horrific masks were worn to scare vagrants and pranksters from eating the gifts of food. Others say the masks were worn to scare away evil spirits, while some say they were worn as a way of tricking ghosts into following the villagers out of the village.

Yet other source disagrees. Instead of masks, they wore costumes made of animal skins. These costumes were worn while humans and animals screamed as they were being burnt to death in the fires. The people wearing the skins danced and jumped through the fires in order to ward off evil spirits. A few say children dressed as goblins to welcome “death” and they took the treats left in front of homes. If the treats were gone, they played a prank, thus bringing about what is now known as “trick-or-treating.”

Many argue that in England, beggars, who roamed the streets singing and begging for food, had brought on the tradition of “trick-or-treating.” Another belief is “trick-or-treating” began in Ireland. Peasants went to the homes of the rich and asked for food. If food was refused, the peasants would play a practical joke or prank on the rich family. In order to stop the mischief, a promise was made. The rich gave the peasants fruit, candy and cookies, and the peasants refrained from the mischief.

All sources agree the word “Halloween” came from some form of “All Hallows’ Eve” (All Hallow E’en; All Hallow Even; All Saints Eve). A “sainted” person is a “hallowed” person in England.

The festival celebrated on October 31 became All Saints Eve shortly after Christianity came to the area. It was an attempt to Christianize the holiday rather than forbidding it and alienating the Celtic people. Here, too, is a discrepancy on who made November 1 All Saints Day, creating All Saints Eve or Halloween. One source says Pope Gregory III, who died in 741, moved the holiday from May 13th. Others say Pope Boniface IV had created the holiday on November 1 in the 800’s.

The jack-o’-lantern even falls under speculation. Although sources agree jack-o’-lanterns were carved out turnips with candles in them, they disagree what their purpose was. Some say they were simply used to light the way. Others say they were to scare away evil spirits, while others claimed they were carried through the villages by bands of laughing young people disguised in grotesque masks. These young people were know as guisers. Still others claim jack-o’-lanterns were a symbol of a damned soul. Turnips were replaced by pumpkins when the holiday came to America.

There’s even questions about how the name “jack-o’-lantern” came about. One source says “the name possibly was derived from that for a night watchman.” Another tells a more ghastly story about a man named Stingy Jack.

One Halloween night over a drink, Stingy Jack tricked the Devil into an agreement to never take his soul. When Stingy Jack died, he was turned away from Heaven because of his sinful ways. So he went to the gates of Hell. The Devil reminded him of the agreement and sent him on his way. But as a final gesture of contempt, the Devil threw a burning coal from the fires of Hell at Stingy Jack as he left. Stingy Jack pick up the coal, put it in a carved out turnip and, to this day, uses the lantern to light his way as he searches for a resting place. Hence, the name, “Jack-o’-lantern.”

Then there’s the colors orange and black. Some believe black came from the dark vestments, which were black, brown or purple, worn by priests during the day with Liturgies. Orange came from the unbleached beeswax candles the priest used during the ceremonies. Liturgy took place over three or four days. One of these days was All Saints’ Day. Others believe orange represents many ripen fruits, vegetables and grains. Orange also represents the flames that ward off evil spirits. Black is the color of death and of night or darkness, which changes familiar objects into frightening shapes.

Halloween came to the United States in the early 1800’s. Many Irish escaped to America when the potato famines hit Ireland, bringing the holiday traditions with them. Halloween, according to some sources, was banned by the early settlers in the United States until this influx of Irish.

There are those like Alan Dundes, a professor of anthropology and folklore at UC-Berkeley, that calls it all “bunk.” He claims it’s silly for anyone to think the new year would be celebrated at that time of year. The new year was celebrated in the spring by most agrarian cultures. And he claims there’s little evidence of Samhain being celebrated by the Irish between 500 and 1840.

He believes Halloween comes from many pre-Christian traditions throughout Europe observed for harvest and the passage from life to death.

No matter whether we’ve been tricked about how Halloween started, or what the true is, it appears the celebrations were, and still are, in connection with evil spirits and death. Even if Halloween didn’t start until 1840, it is still connected with ghosts, witches, bats, black cats and evil. And some former Satanists claim Halloween, if celebrated, is participating in idolatry! (You are giving candy to appease false gods.)