Historical Origin Of Halloween

Religious Origin

This Pagan religious festival celebrated Samhain, the end of the harvest season. "Samhain" is Gaelic (Celtic language) for "end of Summer". [The "m" is silent. The word is pronounced "sowin".

The Celts thought that, on the night of October 31, supernatural creatures would pass through the veil between worlds and would walk our world.

Some people feared that ghosts and magical creatures might cause trouble. So the people dressed up in costumes. Some believed that the costumes would frighten away the creatures. Others believed that the magical creatures would be fooled into thinking that the costumed people were also magical – and leave them alone.

The Celts also left out donations of food and fruit on their doorsteps. Some hoped that this would attract good spirits. Others thought that it would satisfy bad spirits and make them go away.

Over time, the two traditions of costumes and food turned into the tradition of children dressing up in costume to ask for candy. Pretending to be magical creatures, they threaten to play a trick on you, unless you give them an offering - "Trick or Treat!"

Common falsehoods:

• The ancient Celts did not have a deity named "Samhain" or "Sam Hain."
• Unlike Greek and Roman mythology, the Celts did not have a god of death, the dead, or the underworld.
• The ancient roots of Halloween did not include worship of death, a god of death, evil, or a god of evil.

True stuff:

• The ancient Celts had many deities, some of whom were nicer than others, some of whom were unpleasant, and some of whom were mischevious or capricious.
• The ancient Celts celebrated Samhain as a festival marking the last harvest.
• Ancient Samhain/Halloween did include remembrance of those who had died during the year and prayers for the departed.

Halloween Today

Commercial Halloween

There are many who still remember and cherish the religious traditions of Halloween. But to most people in modern America, Halloween is just a time when kids can run through the streets in costumes, demanding candy and treats from their neighbors.

For adults, Halloween is increasingly turning into a time when they get to dress up and party.

Like other holidays, Day of the Dead has developed into a secular holiday, and acquired a crass commercial overlay. But private observance tends to maintain a lot of the reverence. Altars are sometimes set up at home to remember the dead. Visits are often made to graveyards, bringing decorations including flowers and decorated skulls made from sugar. It is not unusual to hold picnics in the graveyard, at the final resting place of ancestors.

Some Day of the Dead folk art uses skeletons and skulls in everyday scenes: wearing hats, playing instruments, walking the dog, getting married. It's a healthy reminder that death comes to everybody and you shouldn't worry too much about it.

Mexican sugar skulls come in all sizes. Many are decorated with colorful icing.

Is This Healthy?

Death comes to us all. We may dodge it from time to time, but eventually we will all die. Some people go overboard worrying about death. This is a waste of time and energy.

If you have to worry, worry about raising your children well. Worry about paying your bills. Worry about getting a better job. These are things that you can do something about.

But don't worry about death - there's nothing that you can do to prevent it. You can just delay it a little by trying to stay healthy. Instead of fearing death, mock it by celebrating Halloween!

Halloween also gives us a time to look back on our loved ones who died during the year and complete the grieving process.