History of HalloweenBy: Emily Sheridan

History Channel Video

• http://www.history.com/video.do?name=halloween

Celtic Festival of Samhain

• Considered October 31st as their New Year’s Eve• Boundaries between the living and the dead were blurred, hence ghosts

returned to Earth on this night• Celts believed the presence of these spirits help Druids to cast fortunes• Druids sacrificed crops and animals into sacred bonfires• Celts were costumes and told each other’s fortunes• After the celebration, hearth fires were lit from the sacred bonfire to protect

the people during the winter

Romans Conquer the Celts

• By 43 AD, most Celtic territory was controlled by the Romans

• Over the course of four hundred years, two Roman festivals were combined with Samhain: Feralia and a day to honor the goddess Pomona

Feralia

• Roman holiday at the end of October which commemorates the passing of the dead

The Goddess Pomona

• Pomona was the Roman goddess of fruit and trees

• Her symbol is the apple

• Presumably, “bobbing for apples” is traced by to this holiday

Influence of the Catholic Church

• In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1st All Saints’ Day

• Today, it is speculated the Pope wanted to replace a pagan holiday with a more “church appropriate holiday

• In 1000 AD the Church would designated November 2nd as All Souls’ Day

• Together, the three holidays are known as “Hallowmas”

Halloween Comes to America

Halloween in the Colonies

• The Puritan’s strict belief system restricted the celebration of Halloween

• Halloween was more commonly celebrated in Maryland and many of the southern colonies

• The first celebrations were known as “play parties”

• Large public events were held to celebrate the harvest

• Colonial Halloween festivals featured ghost stories and mischief making

Halloween in 19th Century

• Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house looking for food or money

• Young girls would divine the name of their future husbands

Twentieth Century

• Parties for adults and children were more common

• Parents encouraged community leaders to take “grotesque” practices out of Halloween; thus it became a more secular holiday

• “Trick or treating” practices revived

• Parties were moved from community centers to private homes

• Today, Americans spend approximate $6.9 billion dollars annually

Today’s Traditions

• “Trick or treating” dates back to the All Souls’ Day Parades in England

• Poor would beg for food, such as “soul cakes”

• The tradition of wearing a costume dates back to Celtic and European traditions

Halloween Around the World

El Dia De Los Muertos

• This specific celebration is observed in Mexico, Latin America, and Spain

• October 31st begins a three day celebration to honor the dead

• Most families construct an altar in memorial of their dead loved ones

• On November 2nd, families picnic at the gravesite

Guy Fawkes Day

• In England, effigies are burned in bonfires and fireworks are set off

• After the Protestant Reformation many Protestants stopped celebrating All Saints’ Day

• Guy Fawkes Day commemorates the execution of the notorious traitor

• It is recorded the Pilgrims celebrated this holiday at the first settlement in Plymouth

Halloween Myths and Legends

Superstitions

• The practice of avoiding black cats dates back to the Middle Ages when it was believed that witches could turn into cats

• Walking around a ladder rather than under it, dates back to the ancient Egyptian belief that triangles are sacred

• In Scotland and Ireland, girls would try to predict the identity of their future husbands

Presentation Provided by:

"History of Halloween." History Channel. 15 Oct. 2008. History Channel. 15 Oct. 2008 <http://www.history.com/minisites/halloween/>.