Halloween is one of the oldest
holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday we
know as Halloween has had many influences from many cultures over
the centuries--from the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival
of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls
Days.
Hundreds of years
ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France, lived the
Celts. The Celts worshipped nature and had many gods, with the sun
god as their favorite. The Celts celebrated their New Year
on November 1st. It was celebrated every year with a festival
which marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning
of "the season of darkness and cold."
On October 31st after the crops
were all harvested and stored for the long winter, the cooking fires
in the homes would be extinguished. The Druids, the Celtic priests,
would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were
considered sacred) and would light new fires and offer sacrifices
of crops and animals. As they danced around the fires, the
season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin.
 When
the morning arrived the Druids would give an ember from their fires
to each family who would then take them home to start new cooking
fires. These fires would keep the homes warm and free from evil
spirits.
The November 1st
festival was called Samhain (pronounced "sow-en"). The festival
would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in costumes made
from the skins and heads of their animals. This festival would become
the first Halloween.
During the first century the Romans
invaded Britain. They brought with them many of their festivals
and customs. One of these was the festival know as Pomona Day, named
for their goddess of fruits and gardens. It was also celebrated
around the 1st of November. After hundreds of years of Roman rule,
the customs of the Celtic's Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona
Day mixed becoming one major fall holiday.
The next influence
came with the spread of the new Christian religion throughout Europe
and Britain. In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church would
make November 1st a church holiday to honor all the saints. This
day was called All Saint's Day, or Hallowmas, or All Hallows.
Years later the Church would make November 2nd a holy day.
It was called All Souls Day and was to honor the dead. It
was celebrated with big bonfires, parades, and people dressing up
as saints, angels and devils.
But the spread of
Christianity did not make people forget their early customs.
On the eve of All Hallows, Oct. 31, people continued to celebrate
the festivals of Samhain and Pomona Day. Over the years, the
customs from all these holidays mixed. October 31st became known
as All Hallow Even, eventually All Hallow's Eve, Hallowe'en, and
then - Halloween.
The Halloween we
celebrate today includes all of these influences, Pomona Day's apples,
nuts, and harvest, the Festival of Samhain's black cats, magic,
evil spirits and death, and the ghosts, skeletons and skulls from
All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day.
Links:
Food
and Entertaining
Halloween
Costumes & Masks
http://dcls.org/x/archives/halloween.html
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