The True History of Halloween

More than 2000 years ago, the Celts, who lived in what is now Great Britain, Ireland, and France, began their new year on November 1. On this night (known as Samhain and pronounced sow-in), all the hearth fires in Ireland were extinguished and relit from the central fire of the Druids. The extinguishing of the hearth fires symbolized the dark half of the year while the rekindling from the Druidic fire symbolized the returning life that was hoped for in the spring.

The Celts believed that turning points (i.e. a new year) were magical times and that the new year was the most magical. It was believed that between the night of the last year and the morning of the new year, the dead could communicate with the living.

The concept of a heaven and hell did not yet exist, and the Celts did not actually have demons and/or devils anywhere in their belief system. In fact, while they did believe in things such as gods, giants, monsters, and spirits, they did not consider them evil. They did, however, consider then dangerous.

It has been said that wearing of masks and costumes was the Celts' way of appeasing these beings, but there is in fact, not a single bit of historical evidence that there was any costuming or begging as part of the Samhain festival. Actually, no one really knows where the custom of dressing in costume. According to Dennis Rupert, author of "The History of Halloween - It's Probably Not What You Think" (2008), even in the 1940s, trick-or-treating wasn't common.

Speaking of trick-or-treat, this term is all-American. It wasn't used until an article in the LA Times in 1938, and not even recorded in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary until 1941! And the "trick" part? Well, this is apparently all-American, too. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was a custom of playing pranks on Halloween, referred to as Mischief Night. Immigrants from Ireland and Scotland would play pranks and say it was the work of rambunctious "fairies" or "elves".

The "treat", of trick-or-treat, was created in the late 1930s. By this time, Mischief Night had gotten sorely out of hand - destruction of property, cruelty to animals, etc. It was around this time that communities got together and started to encourage a safer alternative to the night. It was suggested that the kids go door to door to receive treats from homes and shop owners, thus keeping troublemakers at bay.

So, while Halloween can, perhaps, be considered a little bit scary, nothing in history actually shows it deriving from evil. In fact, while not a Christian holiday, it did begin as a religious event. So if you want to dress up as a goblin, a clown, or even a massively large baby, go ahead - and have some fun while you're at it!

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*History of bobbing for apples: It was believed that the first person to bite an apple would be the first to marry in the coming year. (compare this to the tossing of the wedding bouquet)

*The purpose of the jack-o-lantern was to ward off evil, not participate in it.

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Rupert, D. (2008). The history of Halloween - it's probably not what you think. Retrieved October 2, 2008, from http://www.new-life.net/halowen1.htm.