Trick or Treat: Halloween is upon us!
Trick or Treat: Halloween is upon us!
Halloween is the spooky season we all know and love, but how did it all start?
Halloween is a tradition dating back over 2000 years. It evolved from ancient Celtic and Christian traditions into the widely celebrated holiday we know it as today. With all the trick or treaters canvasing our doors for goodies and treats today, I’d like to take a deep dive into the history of this exciting, and spooky day.
Halloween can be traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain. This marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. At the time it was believed that Samhain was when the boundary between the living and the dead was thin. This would allow spirits to cross over into our mortal realm. Spooky eh?
If we fast forward to the 8th century. Pope Gregory the 3rd designated November 1st as All Saints’ Day. A day to honor saints and martyrs. The night before being October 31st, was known as All Hallows’ Eve. Which eventually became our spooky day, Halloween. It is worth noting that to some Halloween is known as Devils Night.
As the Christian world and influence spread it often incorporated, or adapted local ‘Pegan’ traditions. Halloween as it were, absorbed elements of Samhain, including but limited to, the belief that it was a time when the living and the dead could interact. That means there is no need to break out the Ouija board on Halloween it would seem.
Over time as people moved across the world Halloween was brought to North America. This tradition was brought by Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 19th century and it began to take on a more secular, community-oriented character. This included costumes, parties, and trick-or-treating.
As the early 20th century became a thing we began to see Halloween take commercial influence to new extremes, including mass production of costumes and decorations. The holiday continued to evolve mixing its ancient customs with more contemporary elements.
Fast forward to today, Halloween is celebrated in many ways throughout the world. It has become a holiday for dressing up, partying, mutilating pumpkins and a full host of spooky activities.
While Halloweens history is long, it is also a testament to our cultures ability to adapt, grow, and adopt elements from other cultures, the past, and more, expanding into something new and exciting.
Happy Halloween.