Hallow’s Eve

On the eve of Halloween, I wanted to know where did Halloween originate from?  How did it come to be?  Like most of us, we’ve only known October 31^st to be the day you dress up and go door to door for candy. However, was there a purpose to Hallow’s Eve?

So, where did Halloween come from?  Thanks to good ‘ol Google – I found it originated in Ireland over 2000 years ago.  It all started with a Celtic festival of Samhain – which marked the end of the harvest season and the coming of winter.   The transition day from a warm and fruitful summer to the cold and dark days ahead.  It was on Hallow’s Eve – October 31^st, that Samhain was celebrated (since they considered the next day – November 1^st – a new year).  Samhain, was a night when the boundary between the living world and the dying world was thin.  Ghosts or those whom have passed could return and walk the earth (so it was believed). 

It was also the time of year that fears would be faced because you were going into darkness.  The Celts fought back that darkness with masks to hide their faces from the ghosts and bonfires to banish the gloom and lanterns carved from turnips to fend off evil forces. However, it was also a celebration – with games and food –  when there was plentiful harvests.  Patrons dressed up in costumes and went door to door entertaining their neighbours – bobbing for apples and also left out food to welcome the spirits of their ancestors.   

Those traditions continued until Christianity influenced the Irish in the 9^th century and the celebrations began to dwindle.  The name Halloween came from the Christian All Soul’s Day knows as All-Hallows Day and since that was on November 1, patrons began to call Samhain – All Hallows Eve which eventually merged into the name Halloween.  

How did it eventually reach over the pond to here?  As beliefs and customs began to merge between the Europeans and the American Indians – Halloween began to take course in North American.  Play parties were the first – which were public events held to celebrate the harvest.  People would share stories of those who have passed – often ghost stories, talk about the future, sing and dance.  By the middle of the 19^th century, it was normal for fall festivals to occur, but Halloween was not yet common in the entire country.  

By mid 19^th century, more immigrants had come to America.  Millions of them were the Irish escaping the potato famine and it was these immigrants who made Halloween nationally popular within America.  Thus, going door to door all dressed up asking for food began to unfold and has unfolded into how it is celebrated now – costumes, parties, candy, haunted houses, fall décor, scary movies, and trick or treating – a nearly $6 billion industry.

This October 31^st, are you going to follow the Celtic history tradition?  Dress up?  Sing and dance to entertain friends and neighbours?  Carve some pumpkins and leave out candy?  We often dress up at work – to add a bit of fun to the office and we definitely enjoy handing out candy to the cute little ones who knock at the door. 

Is Halloween my favourite holiday? Well, no.  That would be Christmas, but I do enjoy the mystery, the cute kids full of excitement and wonder and of course, the chocolate.  You need to have fun in life and if doing so can also bring a smile to someone’s face, then that is an extra bonus.  Learning about how Halloween came to be was facinating – and finding out it originated in Ireland (a favourite place of mine) was staggering. I love to learn and understand new (and existing) traditions. So, as the fall colours begin to disappear, the crisp leaves gently float off the trees,  and the winter winds slightly sneak in, I wish you a very happy Halloween (or Samhain) to all of you.