The Celts believed that the night before their New Year blurred the boundary between the land of the living and the souls of the dead.
The Celts thought that malevolent spirits returned for this one night a year in order to create trouble and mischief, to make animals sick and damage the next harvest. At the same time, the Druids, or Celtic priests used the presence of the spirits in order to make predictions to guide them through the coming months.
The Pagan Festival of Samhain
During the festival of Samhain, (meaning "summers end"), as the Celtic New Year's Eve was called, the Celts would dress themselves in the skins and heads of the animals they had recently killed. They would cull the weak and the old from their herds in an attempt to allow the stronger animals to survive on the meager food that would be available over the winter months.
Huge bonfires were built and they made sacrifices of crops and animals. At the end of the celebration, the Celts would take embers from the bonfire and relight the fires in their homes which had been extinguished earlier in the evening. It was believed that by doing this, the fire created from the embers of the sacred bonfire would offer protection during the winter months.
Feralia, Roman Festival for the Dead
By AD 43 the Romans had extended their empire to include most of the Celtic territories and in time the Roman festivals of Feralia and Pomona combined with the Celtic festival of Samhain. Feralia took place at the end of October when Romans honoured the passing of the dead. Pomona was a festival in honour of Pomona, goddess of fruit and trees.
During the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV moved the feast of All Saints Day from May 13 to November 1. Some critics argued that this was an attempt by the Catholic Church to eradicate the pagan festival of Samhain from the religious calendar. All Saints Day was a day to honour religious saints and martyrs and the celebration became known as All-hallows, All-hallowmas and All-hallows Eve.
During AD 1000, the Church made November 2nd All Souls day. As with previous festivals, this was a day set aside to honour the dead. Festivities included parades, bonfires, dressing up in costumes of saints, angels and devils. The three celebrations of the Eve of All Saints, All Saints and All Souls were collectively called Hallowmas.
As previously mentioned, the tradition of dressing up can be traced back to the Celts and can also be seen in Europe when at a time when people were especially superstitious. They believed that by wearing masks when they left their homes at night the spirits would leave them unmolested, thinking the wearer was from the spirit world and not a living soul. And in an attempt to prevent the malevolence entering the house they would leave bowls of food in an attempt at appeasement outside their doors.
The History of Trick-or-Treating
The modern custom of trick or treating has its origins in a number of practices. An old Irish custom was to go from door to door collecting money, breadcake and food in preparation for the festival of St. Columbkill.
A 9th century practice was called "souling." On 2nd November, early Christians would walk from village to village begging from soul cakes which were made from bread and currants. The more soul cakes the Christians collected, the more prayers they promised to say in memory of the dead relatives of the donors.
Today, children dress in costumes, the more traditional witches and ghosts are often replaced by the latest super hero or Disney princess as they go from door-to-door in the hope of being given some sweets or other small treats.
Halloween continues to be "big business" in America, though Britain and Europe are fast catching up. In 2006 U.S. consumers spent $4.96 billion on Halloween festivities, a far cry from the bonfires and animal skin costumes of the Celts.
Sources:
- The Daily Mail Magazine
- History.com
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Encarta
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