History of Halloween: From pagan worship to your goodie bag
Jake Glavies
Issue date: 10/27/05 Section: ae
- Page 1 of 2 next >
The gold, orange and red leaves, having already fallen from their woody perch, rustle endlessly as children take to the streets for a night of ghoulish deeds and ghostly haunting. It is a night in which vampires, witches and ghosts walk the Earth, accompanied by their parents, asking for any manner of sweet treat. It's Halloween, of course!
Considered by many to be a "pseudo-holiday," Halloween is actually a celebration that dates back nearly 2,500 years and can be found, in varying forms, in 13 countries around the world.
Halloween: the early years
Halloween has its origins in the Celtic peoples of the 5th century B.C., who lived in present day Ireland, Great Britain and northern France. The Celts believed that on Oct. 31, the eve of their new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and dead became blurred. On this day, the spirits of those who had died throughout the previous year would come back in search of living bodies to possess. To ward off these spirits, the Celts would dress in costumes, consisting of animal heads and skins.
The Celts' use of costumes is an ancient precursor to our more modern traditions. However, we have chosen to replace animal heads with Homer Simpson masks and their skins with naughty French maid outfits.
Costume clad, Homer Simpson and his naughty maid must wait to set out on their ghastly Halloween trek, while a few more changes are made to their holiday du jour. For starters, it wasn't called Halloween yet! Enter the Catholic Church. The most important change came from, of all places, Vatican City. After spreading into Celtic lands, the Church designated Nov. 1, All Saints Day. The celebration was called "All-Hallows Day," while the night before, Oct. 31, became known as "All-Hallows Eve," and eventually, Halloween. It is widely believed that the Church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, church-sanctioned, holiday.
Halloween's Manifest destiny
Considered by many to be a "pseudo-holiday," Halloween is actually a celebration that dates back nearly 2,500 years and can be found, in varying forms, in 13 countries around the world.
Halloween: the early years
Halloween has its origins in the Celtic peoples of the 5th century B.C., who lived in present day Ireland, Great Britain and northern France. The Celts believed that on Oct. 31, the eve of their new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and dead became blurred. On this day, the spirits of those who had died throughout the previous year would come back in search of living bodies to possess. To ward off these spirits, the Celts would dress in costumes, consisting of animal heads and skins.
The Celts' use of costumes is an ancient precursor to our more modern traditions. However, we have chosen to replace animal heads with Homer Simpson masks and their skins with naughty French maid outfits.
Costume clad, Homer Simpson and his naughty maid must wait to set out on their ghastly Halloween trek, while a few more changes are made to their holiday du jour. For starters, it wasn't called Halloween yet! Enter the Catholic Church. The most important change came from, of all places, Vatican City. After spreading into Celtic lands, the Church designated Nov. 1, All Saints Day. The celebration was called "All-Hallows Day," while the night before, Oct. 31, became known as "All-Hallows Eve," and eventually, Halloween. It is widely believed that the Church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, church-sanctioned, holiday.
Halloween's Manifest destiny
Be the first to comment on this story