The Origin of Halloween

From Ancient Rome to Ancient Ireland to the U.S.A.

Oct 9, 2009

This October you will no doubt tell scary ghost stories and attend a haunted Halloween party but where did it all come from? When was the first Halloween?

Ideally the holiday begins at sundown with gleeful children in costumes filling the streets. Their costumes are typically based on witches, ghosts, or monsters. It is a night of door to door candy collection. It is a night when children rule the streets. It is a night of disguise and mischief. For American children it is perhaps the most magical night of the year.

But why would such a tradition take root? Usually when we observe the origin of modern customs we find that the source is rooted in some old religious practice or superstition. Halloween is no exception to that observation. There are several ancient festivals or observances that have led to our modern Halloween.

Lemuria – The Roman Feast of the Dead

During the month of May in ancient Rome families practiced a ritual exorcism of ancestral or familial ghosts. The Romans believed the ghosts (which they called lemure) to be demonic manifestations of relatives, who either died tragically or with pent up rage, or simply the enraged ghosts of dead relatives themselves.

Whichever was the case, they did not want them around the house. So they dedicated the months of February and May to ridding themselves of these tormented spirits. During this time Roman families feasted for the dead, fathers scattered black beans around the house at night, and weddings were all but forbidden.

The Romans eventually spread out as far as Northern Europe, where they found the locals practicing similar rituals.

Samhain – The Celtic Feast of the Dead

The British Islanders also believed in seasonal spiritual activity. They saw the world of the living and the world of the dead being separated by a great barrier that was weakened by the changing of the seasons. In its weakened state this barrier allowed all manner of other worldly entities to enter this world. This was the beginning of the dark months.

During this night, food was left as a gift to appease miserable spirits; and fantastic creatures were believed to haunt the streets at night. It was traditional to kill the flame of light in every house at night and start it back up again. People gathered around bonfires and the family hearth to avoid the spirits that moved in with the darkness. It was not uncommon to see people in the streets wearing masks to hide their faces from the spirits and perhaps frighten away a few.

The ancient Celts broke their year up into two parts: the light time and the dark time. The light time consisted of the Spring and Summer months, while the dark time consisted of the Fall and Winter months. The Romans were as influenced by the Celtic fears of demons and ghosts as they were of their own familial spirits. As their culture merged with the Islanders the practices began to merge as well.

All Hallows Eve - The Catholic Feast of the Dead

After The Roman Empire adopted Christianity, the traditions changed yet again. Instead of gifts of food for the spirits, cakes were handed out to the poor as they came to you door. These were called soul cakes because they were exchanged for the promise of prayers for the souls of the dead. It was a custom of these Christians to pray for the souls of dead relatives.

Today participants in the festivities of Halloween don’t consider the night to be all that scary. Parents walk with their little ones, while older children run around on their own from door to door expecting a handout form each household. Unlike other holidays, Halloween doesn’t merit a day off of work or school. Families don’t travel far to celebrate it together. Besides a few pagans and possibly some devout Roman Catholics it is not part of any religious observance. It is, however, the most fun a kid can have on a school night. And in spite of the fact that people no longer believe that spirits rage in the streets, on this night most people enjoy a good scare, either in the form of a scary movie or just a good old fashioned ghost story.

Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween:From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

The copyright of the article The Origin of Halloween in UK/Irish History is owned by Marc Salyer. Permission to republish The Origin of Halloween in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.