The Spooky Roots of Halloween

Not many people actually know when Halloween began. There are several accounts on when it started. Halloween began around 2,000 years ago in Ireland. Back then, the Irish were known as Celts. Every year on November 1st, the Celts celebrated their new year. On the day before, the Celts believed that ghosts wandered around the city and caused trouble. Celtic priests, known as Druids, believed that this helped predict life in the future.

On October 31st, Celtics threw a Celtic festival of Samhain. They would throw bonfires and sacrifice their animals and crops. While this was going on, they would wear costumes they created using animal heads and skin.

The Roman Empire soon took over Ireland and combined their festivals together. One festival they had was called Feralia. On Feralia, they celebrated the passing of the dead. On the second day of the festival, they honored a Roman goddess named Pomona, the goddess of trees and fruit. On this day, they practice bobbing for apples, which is one of the traditions we have now.

In 609 A.D., Pope Gregory III expanded the festival to all saints and martyrs. On 1000 A.D., the church created an All Souls’ Day. This day was celebrated on November 2nd and honored the dead. This day was celebrated similar to the Samhain festivals: they wore costumes, threw bonfires and parades. The All Saints Day was also called All-hallows and the day before was called All-hallows Eve, which turned into Halloween.

Once Halloween came to America, not many colonies celebrated it due to Protestants and their beliefs. However, Halloween was more popular in the southern colonies, especially Maryland. Colonists had public events which included sharing stories of the dead, fortune telling, dance and sing. In the second half of the nineteenth century, more colonists came from other parts of Europe. Because of this, Halloween was getting more popular around the colonies.