Halloween has always been a time for scares, gathering together and closeness with the unknown. As Halloween has changed, it has developed traditions we associate with the holiday today.
Black and orange
According to a blogpost published by the Library of Congress and written by Heather Thomas –– a reference librarian for the Library of Congress –– the holiday started with a Celtic festival called Samhain (Pronounced SAH-win), a pagan religious festival that took place at the end of summer to welcome in the harvest. Many of the traditions we know today started with Samhain. By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had taken over much of the Celtic Territory. Over the next 400 years, the cultures would blend to create new traditions from Roman and Celtic festivals, according to history.com. The first new festival was called Feralia, “a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead.” The second festival was called Pomona, a day to honor the Roman goddess of fruit and trees — the special symbol of which was the apple.
The iconic color combination of the holiday finds its roots in Samhain and other related holidays which mark the passing of summer and coming of autumn. For the Celts, black represented “the death of summer” while orange represented the coming autumn, according to Thomas.
Ghosts and Scary Costumes
It was believed that during Samhain, spirits could freely walk the Earth, according to the Library of Congress. People coming into contact with the dead was a commonly held expectation for this time of year. Scary costumes were introduced to the season in an effort to avoid evil spirits that might come out during this time. “Celts donned disguises so that they would not be mistaken for spirits themselves and be left alone,” Thomas wrote.
When Christianity was introduced to the Celts, these beliefs blended into Christian ones. In 1000 A.D., the church made November 1, All Saints Day (or All Hallows Day), and November 2, All Souls Day, to honor the dead –– a decision which is widely believed today to be an attempt to supplant Samhain. These festivals were celebrated very similarly to Samhain. However, the darker aspects of Samhain (like ghosts and spirits) were celebrated on their own day, All Hallows Eve, which would eventually become Halloween.
Jack O’ Lanterns
Halloween came to America in the 19th century with the influx of immigrants — specifically those escaping the Irish Potato Famine — moving to America. Most original colonists did not bring Halloween with them due to rigid Protestant beliefs, but the Irish brought with them one of our most beloved traditions: the Jack-O’-Lantern. Jack O’ Lanterns come from an Irish tradition, allegedly based on the story of Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack was a man who trapped the Devil in a turnip and would only let him out if he agreed to not claim his soul when he died, according to Thomas. The Devil agreed, but when Jack died, Heaven didn’t want his soul either. He was cursed to spend eternity wandering the world as a ghost, with only a piece of burning coal in a turnip given to Jack by the Devil. “Locals eventually began carving scary faces into their own turnips to frighten away evil spirits,” Thomas wrote.
Every iteration of what we now call Halloween has helped shape the day we know today; blending traditions, symbols and imagery to create one spooky holiday. Halloween is an opportunity to connect with the long since past and forgotten, so we should be hesitant to forget where the day itself has come from.