2008 Woodie Awards
The Origin of the Halloween Holiday
Toni Triola
Issue date: 10/30/03 Section: Feature
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Ah yes. The holiday of goblins and frightful costumes (well not entirely) is upon us once more. Halloween has been, for as long as many of us can remember, a time of gaiety and mischief, and, most importantly, candy.
Though, this very modern conception is not at all the true roots of the holiday. Did you ever think for a second that Halloween was always a candy oriented holiday?
That children for centuries went door to door asking for treats on a night when the otherworldly creatures are said to run amongst the human race? Well, some of it may hold slightly close to the origins of this holiday.
The Holiday of Halloween has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.
The Celtic people celebrated their New Year on November first, marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.
They believed that on the eve prior to the New Year the worlds of both the living and the dead became blurred, and on this eve (Oct. 31), they celebrated Samhain. It was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to the earth on this night.
In addition to their possible destructive properties, these spirits were believed to make it easier for the Druids (Celtic priests) to predict the future. By future, it is meant the next year's predictions.
For a community of people whose lives were completely dependent upon crops and the unpredictable forces of nature, these predictions provided a source of comfort.
To celebrate this holiday the Druids built large bonfires, where people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. The Celtic people wore costumes during this celebration, usually comprised of animal skins and heads.
The Romans had taken over much of the Celtic territory by AD 43, and, over the course of the next 400 years, two festivals of Roman origins were combined with the Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day that the Romans traditionally honored the passing of the dead. The second was the day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees.
Though, this very modern conception is not at all the true roots of the holiday. Did you ever think for a second that Halloween was always a candy oriented holiday?
That children for centuries went door to door asking for treats on a night when the otherworldly creatures are said to run amongst the human race? Well, some of it may hold slightly close to the origins of this holiday.
The Holiday of Halloween has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.
The Celtic people celebrated their New Year on November first, marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.
They believed that on the eve prior to the New Year the worlds of both the living and the dead became blurred, and on this eve (Oct. 31), they celebrated Samhain. It was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to the earth on this night.
In addition to their possible destructive properties, these spirits were believed to make it easier for the Druids (Celtic priests) to predict the future. By future, it is meant the next year's predictions.
For a community of people whose lives were completely dependent upon crops and the unpredictable forces of nature, these predictions provided a source of comfort.
To celebrate this holiday the Druids built large bonfires, where people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. The Celtic people wore costumes during this celebration, usually comprised of animal skins and heads.
The Romans had taken over much of the Celtic territory by AD 43, and, over the course of the next 400 years, two festivals of Roman origins were combined with the Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day that the Romans traditionally honored the passing of the dead. The second was the day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees.