The holiday that we know as Halloween likely began as Samhain, a religious observation of the ancient Celts of western Europe. A rural, agrarian people, the Celts recognized the date as the ending of summer’s bounty and the beginning of the lean, cold months of winter. Villagers took stock of their cattle and butchered any of them too weak or old to survive the Winter. This probably served two purposes: Appeasing the grim gods of winter and providing a supply of meat – neatly preserved by the winter chill – that the community would require to survive until Spring. The bones were tossed into huge bonfires, around and through which celebrants would cross in observance of the holiday. Although it all sounds pretty grim to modern ears, I bet that in practice Sahmhain probably wasn’t all that much different from your typical bonfire and barbecue: Plenty of dancing, drinking, eating and joking around.
The Celts also thought that the spirits of the dead could wander freely during Samhain, and certain precautions had to be taken to protect the living from their malevolence. Households would carve turnips into frightening faces and use tapers to light them from within, leaving them outside their homes to ward the ghosts away. Young people wore masks or frightening makeup and wandered from home to home taking offerings of food or coin. People also played games of divination in hope of getting a peek into the future: the face of a potential spouse, or the gender of one’s first child.
When Christianity took a foothold throughout Europe, the ancient Pagan holiday of Samhain was appropriated into the Christian calendar and became All Saint’s Eve (or Hallow’s Evening), much in the same way that ancient Germanic fertility rites became the Christian holiday of Easter. With the official recognition of the church, the pagan rites of Samhain continued into the modern era, and when Scottish and Irish immigrants came to America they brought their holiday with them.
While some things changed – pumpkins are easier to carve than turnips – much of what makes Halloween such a unique holiday has remained intact throughout the centuries: this weekend, masked children wander door to door seeking treats while their parents meet the season with plenty of food, drink and party games of their own. Even religious communities who see something sinister in the holiday still often offer alternatives (”fall carnivals” and even “hell houses” aimed at setting backsliders back on a righteous path) that are probably still closer to the traditional pagan celebrations than organizers would care to admit.
Communities with more practical concerns about the holiday (fears of poisoned candy and child abductions persist despite no hard evidence to support them) still set aside time and space to allow their children to celebrate childhood rite of passage that is trick or treat, even if it’s in the slightly more acceptable form of “trunk or treat”.
See, that’s the thing about Halloween: No matter what or who is in charge, it’s just too fun to let fall by the wayside. Regardless of the context, there’s something primally satisfying about gathering around the fires with food and drink as the first chills of winter nip at the edges of our costumes. Enjoy this weekend, readers: Gorge on monster movies and candy. Scare a kid or two. Remember: It’s tradition.
Here’s to Halloween! May it always reign strong and true!