The Real History of Halloween
When people imagine the origins of Halloween, they imagine darkness, death, and blood. The thought calls up the image of bloody sacrifices to a frightening god made under the cover of darkness by hooded figures. In reality, none of that is true. Most of what people know about the origins of Halloween is exaggerated or just made up.
There are many myths surrounding the pagans that celebrated Samhain. First off, the concept of “Samhain the pumpkin god” is completely fabricated as there’s no pumpkin god. There were never any sacrifices made. In fact, the Wiccan Rede explicitly states, “Do what thou wilst, but harm none.” There was no devil-worshipping either. These are myths that were used to encourage people to turn away from the paganism.
For the Celts, Samhain was not a god at all. In fact, Samhain is really a marking of a special time of year. In particular, it’s the first three days of a particular month. On the last day, a festival marked the end of the harvest season. This period is known as Samhain.
Samhain was the marking of one of two great doorways for the Celtic year: the light season, or Beltane (May 1st) and the dark time, Samhain (November 1st). Samhain, meaning “summer’s end,” is sometimes considered the more important festival because it marks the beginning of a brand new cycle. This makes sense because Celts believed that a day began at night. For Celts, out of darkness came the possibility of new beginnings, which is why Samhain was such a treasured time. Where Beltane welcomed summer with a celebration at dawn, Samhain brought magic because November 1st was considered the most magical day of the year.
Samhain marked the beginning of winter. People would gather for a huge feast to celebrate. In Ireland, this feast was known as the “Feast of Tara.” Fires in every single household would be extinguished and everyone would wait for Druids to light the new fire for the year at a special hill. As Celts believed that Samhain and Beltane brought the gods nearer to the earth, gifts were often offered in an effort to please the gods and to sometimes petition for healing. After the feast, new hearth fires would be lit, symbolizing the rise of a new year and a new beginning for everyone.
It was only after Christianity rose to power that Samhain became “Hallowmas,” All Saint’s Day, the day to commemorate the souls of the dead. The night before then became All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween. In fact, many Christian and pagan holidays have become intertwined during this period, including days like All Souls Day. Now Halloween has become a holiday that focuses on children dressing up in costumes and getting candy, but the origins of Halloween are much more complex.
The truth is that Halloween did not evolve from pagans sacrificing to a faceless pumpkin god. It evolved from a deeply sacred festival celebrating a new year.
Article written by Janice D. McDonald