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The History and Customs of Halloween spans almost 3,000 years!

The history behind Halloween is long and there are some remarkable associations which, over millenniums of practice, survive in some form today.

The Celts were the first Halloween celebrants, around 2900 B.C., although the name of the original celebration was Samhain. The occasion of Samhain was to mark the end of their year, October 31, probably relating to the end of harvest.

However, the Celts also believed that the dead had their day each year on Samhain, allowed to roam the earth, sometimes disguised as animals. This put a little spookiness into the harvest season.

The Celts were pagans at this time. One of the customs on Samhain was to collect and exchange food to appease the gods and keep evil spirits at bay. To this end, they dressed in costumes, wearing and brandishing scary masks, designed to frighten off these evil spirits, in much the same way gargoyles were later used on churches.

Bonfires were also customary, as an added measure to ensure the evil spirits did not gain a foothold in their community. So costumes, masks, pumpkins and treats were an integral part of the history behind Halloween from the beginning.

Christians converted the pagan Samhain celebration into a Christian celebration of Halloween, followed on November 1 by All Saint’s Day. This cleverly served to divert the offerings to pagan gods and point celebrants in a Christian direction. This strategy did, eventually succeed.

Over a period of hundreds of years, Halloween gradually picked up superstitious myths and stories, some still hanging on to the pagan rituals and ideas. So, today’s ghost stories around the campfire became part of the history behind Halloween traditions.

While Halloween began as a celebration and ritual holiday for adults, in the early part of the 20th century, the adults started behaving badly, with malicious acts overshadowing the treat aspect. The malicious tricks became so severe, the history behind Halloween might have ended there. People banded together to preserve this fun holiday tradition for kids only. For about 50 years thereafter, adults didn’t go trick or treating.

Around the 1980s, adults celebrating Halloween came back in vogue. Although most adults still don’t go trick or treating, due to the typically chilly reception they receive, they do attend adult Halloween parties where the host provides the treats and everyone gets into costumes, just as the ancient Celts did.

For more information on The History and Customs of Halloween and some great ideas for the party click the link but its ok if your to scared, we understand.

The True History & Customs of Halloween

Halloween has become the second most popular holiday in the United States of America, second to only Christmas, at least based on retail dollars spent on the holiday. Halloween has not always been so popular, though it has virtually always been around. It is an ancient holiday with a history that stretches back for thousands and thousands of years, making it one of the oldest holidays around.

The origin of Halloween dates back two thousand years to ancient Ireland. The people populating the land at the time were called Celts, and every year, at the end of October, they had a huge ceremony and celebration. It was the end of the growing season, the harvest was over, and the dark cold months of winter was upon them.

The Celts built giant bonfires to dance around in animal costumes, hoping to appease the gods, thanking them for the bounties of the harvest, and pleading for protection from the dangerous months ahead.

The history of Halloween continues in this way until the spread of Christianity to the British Isles. Eager to turn this pagan holiday into a religious one, the Pope declared the day after, November 1st, All Saints’ Day. The Middle English word for All Saints’ Eve is where we get our modern “Halloween”. We lost the ritual sacrifices of livestock but retained the costumes and celebration.

The origin of Halloween followed the social and cultural growth of Britain and Ireland throughout the centuries, becoming more and more modern with the times. By the time of the great Irish immigration to the United States in the 19th century, Halloween was a holiday of costumes and door to door treats.

Once Halloween caught the imagination of the population of the United States, it was transformed into a community event, with costumed citizens gathering in community centers. This practice continued through the 1950′s, when trick or treating returned to the neighborhoods.

The origin of Halloween is a long and winding one. Halloween has transformed from a pagan ceremony, to a religious day, to a community celebration, while still keeping the spirit of fun, and a mystical respect for the unknown elements that lurk in our worlds.

Understanding more about the history of Halloween as I know do allows me to enjoy the day on a deeper level and I hope the same for you this Halloween.

The Darker side to the History Customs of Halloween

The origin of the celebration can be traced back to ancient Celtics. The have this feast called Samhain which is a festival held during the end of the harvest season and which is also the Celtic New Year.

According to Celts beliefs, during this time of the year, the spirits of the dead will go up to the surface world and try to posses living bodies for the year to come. To prevent there bodies from being possessed, Celts would light bonfires and dress up in all sorts of morbid costumes just to discourage the spirits of the dead from entering their bodies.

However, the practice of placing costumes in America can be traced to only as recent as the 1900s. It was only in the 1930s that Halloween costumes began to be mass produced. The usual costumes that people rent or make are those of different monsters including but not limited to vampires, ghosts, ghouls, demons, witches, and skeletons.
Even if it is the night that evil is supposed to surface, “good” costumes are also a common choice among children and adults alike. In fact, princess, fairy and angel costumes often times make it to the top ten list of top Halloween costumes.

Also popular are pop culture costumes which mimicked famous personalities, fictional characters, celebrities, and even politicians have an equal share in exposures during Halloween. Women, no thanks to commercial advertising, have also found this a good time to wear sexy outfits to show off their bodies and sexual prowess. But that is another story.

The fact that costumes for Halloween celebration have become so varied that the modern tradition have overshadowed the earlier tradition which makes wearing costumes during Halloween different from other dressing up feasts there is. And that is the concept of dressing up during Halloween is to mimic the supernatural, the ghoulish being, or basically the scary stuff.

Nevertheless, who are we to keep traditions from adapting to the modern times? Things will always evolve, that’s just how things naturally work. We can’t simply insist on wearing only scary stuff during Halloween. Creativity will play a role in this aspect and people will always crave for new things.

So not withstanding the darker origins of wearing Halloween costumes, we and our children and their children will continue to celebrate this day for as long as there are candies to share and creativity to spare.

If you would like to find out more about the History Customs of Halloween
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