Halloween is a famous yearly celebration that’s been rapidly growing more popular. Famous for the spooky scare experiences, trick or treating and creepy costumes, it’s a night of fun for those of all ages to enjoy. However, Halloween isn’t a new thing, in fact it originates with the Celts, a people who were the dominant power in northern Europe and mainly the British Isles between 750BC and 12BC – The same time period as the ancient Greeks!
Halloween started as the Celtic festival of Samhain, the night before Celtic new year on the 1st of November. The 1st of November marked the end of summer and autumn and the start of winter. Winter was often a time of death for the Celts, and they believed that the barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead was weakened on October 31st.
To celebrate, their Celtic Druids (priests) would build enormous bonfires for animal sacrifice and burning of crops as offerings to Celtic deities. It was a time where the Celts believed their Druids could make better predictions about the times ahead and provide them with hope and comfort throughout the harsh winters.
By the time it was 43AD, the Romans ruled most Celtic territory. Two Roman festivals were gradually combined with the Celtic ones and it’s believed the tradition of bobbing for apples originated from the Roman tradition of a day spent to worship Pompona, Goddess of trees and fruit. Her symbol was an apple, which is most likely why we have the tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween.
Finally, around 1000AD, the church made November 1st All Saint’s Day, celebrated similarly to Celtic Samhain. It was also referred to as All-Hallow’s Day, (Alholowmesse in Middle English), and so the Celtic celebration of Samhain came to be known as All-Hallow’s Eve and eventually Halloween. That’s where the name came from, and that’s how it’s been ever since.
