Next Sunday, in many places on the planet, the celebration of Halloween night will take place, the most terrifying of the year. Pumpkins, costumes and candies: thousands of children find themselves during these days with their families finalizing the preparations for a party whose origin is often confused.
Halloween or Hallowe’en is the contraction of All Hallows ‘evening (the eve of All Saints’ Day, which is commemorated in different ways in various parts of the world). And although the Hollywood industry has made us believe through series and movies that it is a party in the United States, the truth is that its birth has nothing to do with America.
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The celebration of All Saints came to the United States during the 19th century thanks to emigrants who arrived in boats packed with people from Europe. A large part of them were Irish Catholics who left for North America as a result of a great famine in the country around the year 1840. These people were the ones who brought the Halloween party to the United States, following the tradition of their ancestors.
Halloween, a celebration of Celtic origin
The word Halloween dates back to approximately the year 1745. However, its origin goes back several centuries before Christ. It is an event that comes from a Celtic tradition in which rituals were performed far removed from the costume parties, pumpkins and games that we all know today.
On October 31, the Celtic peoples celebrated a before and after in their calendar with a festival called Samhain, a term that in Gaelic means “the end of summer”. Thus, the last day of October marked the end of the harvest season and the change of season. In this way, Samhain became the most important pagan holiday in Europe. In addition to Ireland, it was also held in Scotland and the United Kingdom.
Why is Halloween on October 31?
As we have mentioned, the celebration takes place on October 31 because it is the day on which the Celtic year ended. Life was divided into two stages: one of light (spring and summer) and another of darkness (autumn and winter). The fall equinox was the turning point of the year when the days got shorter and the nights got longer. With all this, Samhein was presented as a party to say goodbye to the good weather and to Lugh, the sun god, which lasted for three days.
This is how the Celts celebrated Halloween in Ireland
For the Celts, these days of the year were of vital importance, as they marked the transition from one year to the next. They believed that on the night of the 31st the borders between the real world and the ‘beyond’ were broken and the deceased reappeared to walk among the living. For this reason, sacred rituals were performed whose main objective was communication with ‘the others’. The good spirits were invited while the evil ones were dissolved so that they would get as far away as possible.
There is a theory that the current tradition of dressing up for Halloween may allude to those practices in which the Celts wore costumes and masks to intimidate and ward off evil spirits. Fire played another fundamental role, since they became the center of the rites that were performed. Over the years, Samhein was used to help the dead find their way. To do this, the custom of leaving a candle lit in the window spread.
Why do we believe that Halloween was born in the United States?
The arrival of the Irish in the United States caused the transfer of their traditions to the other side of the pond, where they evolved and changed some of the activities carried out during that day. For example, the custom of carving the so-called Jack-o’-latern (the famous pumpkins) was later integrated. These come from the story of Jack the Stingy.
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The Halloween party began to be celebrated massively in the US from 1921, when the first parade was held in Minnesota. Little by little, it grew until in the 70s, the definitive boom took place thanks to John Carpenter’s Halloween saga. Since then, Halloween has been permeating society, which keeps the night of the 31st as one of the undisputed dates of the year.
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