Why We Have Ghosts on Halloween

The celebration of Halloween has codified in our modern culture as a time of ghosts, goblins, witches and the supernatural. While a great deal of the outward manifestation of our modern celebration has acquired this popular image from movies and television, there is a historical reason for the ghosts at least.

The ancient European pre-Christian culture of the Celtic nations marked the end of Summer and the Beginning of the Winter as their new year. This day was picked as the midpoint day between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. This generally occurred near the end of what the modern calendar calls October and the first few days of November. The harvest was in and the leaves were falling and the Celtic people took this time to celebrate the end of the cycle and prepare for the long winter where the possibility of death was greater in the cold and snow. The Gaelic word "samhraidhreadh", from which the better known name "Samhain" is derived, literally means "Summer's End".

It is in keeping with the Celtic way of thought that their new year start in darkness and cold as they also measured the beginning of their day with the sunset so that "day" followed the "night". Within their culture and beliefs this was a night where the Earth and the realm of the spirits cycled closest to each other and thusly a time when the spirits of those who had passed from life were most easily able to return to visit with their family and friends. The Scottish Feast of the Dead, "Fleadh nan Mairbh", was specifically held to honor the souls of those in their clan who had passed on. In all the Celtic nations across Europe, food and gifts were set out for the wandering spirits and extra plates of food were set at the table for the pleasure of those past family members to enjoy and be honored by.

To mark the end of the old year, all fires were extinguished with the dusk, not only candles and torches for illumination, but the cooking fires of the hearth as well. The old year thus passed. A hot ceremonial fire was then started in the center of the community. Using bones, hence bone-fire, shortened in our language to bonfire, to create a very hot and long-lasting blaze; this fire for the new year was taken from house to house to re-ignite the life-giving light for the year to come. It should be noted that in their system, the old year ended at dusk and the new year did not begin until the sun rose in the morning. Therefore this one night was "outside" of regular time.

So on this night people sat within the darkness while waiting for the new year's fire, or traversed the wilderness from village to home to bring it back. Within this darkness the spirits of the dead roamed and sought their lost families. That the mischievous inhabitants of the land of the Fey could also use the thinness of the veil between worlds to cross over and bedevil travelers made for a frightening experience through the long night.

With the coming of the Roman Church on the heels of the Imperial Armies, Catholicism strove to drive out the old ways and the old beliefs of the defeated Celts. To this end they created and sometimes adapted the holidays of the old religion to use for their own services as a transitional way to give Christian meanings to the old festivals. Thus was created "All Saints Day" to honor the departed holy men of their faith. Attempting to substitute a celebration of their dead departed in place of the Celts' dead departed met with questionable results. The night before All Saints Day became the primary time of celebration. All Hallows Eve became Halloween. Whether it is to celebrate and remember the eternal spirits of saintly churchmen or to celebrate and remember the eternal spirits of one's departed ancestors, this "Summer's End" night will always be known as the time for spectral visitations.