Halloween, a holiday observed on
October 31 and noted for its pagan and religious roots and secular traditions. In
much of Europe and most of North America, observance of
Halloween is largely nonreligious, celebrated with parties, spooky costumes, jack-o’-lanterns,
pumpkin carvings, and the giving of candy. But the holiday also marks the
beginning of Allhallotide, a three-day Christian triduum dedicated to
remembering the dead that begins with Halloween (October 31) and is followed by All
Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2).
Halloween had its origins in the
festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. On the
day corresponding to November 1 on contemporary calendars, the new year was
believed to begin. That date was considered the beginning of the winter period, the date
on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were
renewed. During the Samhain festival the souls of those who had died were
believed to return to visit their homes, and those who had died during the year
were believed to journey to the otherworld. People set bonfires on hilltops for
relighting their hearth fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits,
and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by
the ghosts thought to be present. It was in those ways that beings such as
witches, hobgoblins, fairies, and demons came to be associated with the day.
The period was also thought to be favourable for divination on matters such
as marriage, health, and death. When the Romans conquered the Celts
in the 1st century ce, they added their own festivals of Feralia, commemorating the passing of
the dead, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest.
In the 7th century ce Pope Boniface IV established All
Saints’ Day, originally on May 13, and in the following century, perhaps in an
effort to supplant the pagan holiday with a Christian observance, it was moved
to November 1. The evening before All Saints’ Day became a holy, or hallowed,
eve, from which the word "Halloween" evolved. By the end of the Middle
Ages, the secular and the sacred days had merged.
The Reformation essentially
put an end to the religious holiday among Protestants, although in Britain
especially Halloween continued to be celebrated as a secular holiday. Along
with other festivities, the celebration of Halloween was largely forbidden
among the early American colonists, although in the 1800s there developed
festivals that marked the harvest and incorporated elements of Halloween. When
large numbers of immigrants, including the Irish, went to the United States beginning in the mid 19th
century, they took their Halloween customs with them, and in the 20th century
Halloween became one of the principal U.S. holidays, particularly among
children.
As a secular holiday, Halloween has
come to be associated with a number of activities. One is the practice of
pulling usually harmless pranks. Celebrants wear masks and costumes for parties
and for trick-or-treating, thought to have derived from the
British practice of allowing the poor to beg for food, called “soul cakes.”
Trick-or-treaters go from house to house with the threat that they will pull a
trick if they do not receive a treat, usually candy. Halloween parties often
include games such as bobbing for apples, perhaps derived from the Roman
celebration of Pomona. Along with skeletons and black cats, the holiday has
incorporated scary beings such as ghosts, witches, and vampires into the
celebration. Another symbol is the jack-o’lantern, a
hollowed-out pumpkin, originally a turnip, carved into a
demonic face and lit with a candle inside. Since the mid-20th century the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has attempted to make the collection
of money for its programs a part of Halloween.
