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A History of Halloween

10/20/2020

16 Comments

 
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On Halloween 2022, millions of American families will carve pumpkins, and unlike two years ago, most children will don costumes and go from house to house asking for candy. The coronavirus lockdowns are thankfully over. Still, in some churches and communities, families will participate in solemn religious ceremonies, or they will stay up playing games. The history of Halloween has its roots with the early days of Christianity and most likely, paganism. Studying this holiday teaches how the present is connected to the past, and, how it is challenging to know and understand the past. 
 
Christian Origins
Under the Roman Empire, early Christians faced great persecution for believing in Christ and for not following the Roman religion. Romans tortured and murdered Christians throughout the first three centuries. Then, in A.D. 313, Roman Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, and in 380, Emperor Theodosius I declared Catholic Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. The persecution in the Roman Empire stopped, but Christians throughout the world still faced danger and death because of their belief.
 
Early Christians honored those who died for their faith and considered these martyrs saints. Churches were dedicated to a particular saint, or saints, and that dedication day, or consecration day, was celebrated each year. The Pantheon had been a Roman temple to all the gods, but in 609 Pope Boniface IV dedicated it to the saints and made May 13th a yearly celebration. Pope Gregory III (731-741) dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to all the saints on November 1st. Later, in 835, Pope Gregory IV added this celebration of All Saints Day to the Church calendar on November 1st for all Christians to celebrate.
 
The word Halloween comes from the celebration of All Saints Day (All Hallow's Day, November 1st). From the very beginning of celebrating All Saints Day, Christians attended Holy Mass beginning the evening before November 1st. Thus, the celebration of All Hallow's Day begins in the Eve. “Hallow” means “Holy” in Old English. All Hallow’s Eve (or Even) refers to the day before All Holy Day, or All Saints Day. Masses occurred one day before All Saint’s Day, in the evening. A blending of these three words (All Hallow’s Eve in Old English) gives us the word Halloween.
 
Pagan Influences or Origins?
Celebrating or honoring the dead was common among pagan peoples of the world, as well as marking the transition from one season to another. Knowing what happened among pagan peoples however, is challenging, as many polytheistic peoples of Europe were also illiterate. There is a lack of primary sources. 
 
Over 2,000 years ago, Celts lived in Central and Northwestern Europe. Celts were pagans, people who believed in many gods. They believed that they could communicate with good and evil spirits. The Celts celebrated a day in the fall as the New Year. The night before was remembered as the end of fall, the end of harvest, and the end of the season where there were more hours of sunshine than dark. Samhain was the night when Celts believed the ghosts of the dead returned to earth, damaging farms, causing trouble and communicating with humans.

To honor the ghosts, Celts built huge bonfires, burned portions of their crops, and offered animal sacrifices. The Romans reported the Celts offered humans as sacrifices. The Druids were Celtic priests, in charge of the ceremonies. On the night of Samhain, Druids believed they could communicate with the dead, and told the fortunes of others. After the ceremony was finished, the Celts took fire from the bonfire and lit their hearth fires, believing their home would now be protected from evil spirits.

Also pagan, Romans celebrated the end of fall with a festival geared towards worshipping gods. The Roman Goddess of the harvest was Pomona, and her day was celebrated on November 1st. Pomona was also the goddess of love and fertility. It is believed that on November 1st, single Romans over a certain age were compelled to “marry” someone for a year. The Christian Church ended this practice of marriage for one year. Instead, on November 1st, Christian Romans would draw the names of saints to try to emulate or be inspired for the year.
 
Pope Gregory I and Converting Pagans
In early medieval times, Church leaders and missionaries accomplished the enormous task of evangelizing pagan peoples throughout Europe and parts of Asia. One issue in changing pagan practices was how to deal with shrines that had been dedicated to various gods, and how to end pagan ceremonies. Some Christians argued the need to destroy the shrines. Pope Gregory I, however, argued that these pagan shrines be consecrated as Christian places of worship. In a letter sent in 601 to the missionaries to the Angles, Pope Gregory I writes, “For those temples are well built, it is requisite that they be converted from the worship of devils to the service of God.”  Pope Gregory I also writes, “For there is no doubt that it is impossible to cut off every thing at once from their rude natures; because he who endeavors to ascent to the highest place rises by degrees or steps, not by leaps.”
 
It is evident that the early Christians used natives’ buildings and local customs for the purpose of conversion. Regarding Halloween, we do not have a document from Christian leaders explaining that October 31st was chosen as All Hallow’s Eve because of the Celtic celebration of Samhain or because of the Roman holiday of Pomona. However, it appears that there is at least some tie between the pagan celebrations and the Christian holiday, but, it may never be completely clear to what extent these are connected.

Post-Reformation Europe
After the Reformation in some countries of Europe, the celebration of Halloween was seen as Catholic and was outlawed. However, in Protestant England, the English celebrated their victory over Guy Fawkes. Guy Fawkes was a Catholic who tried to blow up the Protestant-sympathetic Parliament in 1605. He was caught and executed. On Guy Fawkes Day (November 5th) every year, the Protestant English would reenact Fawkes’ punishment by parading a scarecrow, the Pope in effigy, and other unpopular political figures, through the streets. Boys would dress up in costume and beg for coal to burn the scarecrows. Then, the scarecrows would be set on fire. Also, boys would play tricks on their neighbors.

Halloween in America
In America, Halloween evolved over the last four hundred years and is still evolving. Originally, Halloween was outlawed in many Puritan colonies, but in these colonies many celebrated Guy Fawkes Day and became fascinated with witchcraft and evil spirits.  In colonies with religious freedom, Catholics celebrated All Souls Day and All Saints Day.
 
The American Revolution brought forth a huge wave of religious toleration and civic participation, and Halloween started to evolve more into a secular community event instead of a religious one. Over the 18th and 19th centuries, Halloween became a time for parties, games for children, and matchmaking.
 
In the 1900s, American magazines promoted how to throw the best Halloween parties and large candy manufacturers promoted the idea of giving out candy to those who want to play tricks. As America became modernized and mass media reached all households, it appears that the current Halloween customs were strongly endorsed by candy makers as a way to make more money. Most recently, department stores create and promote Halloween decorations and Americans spend great amounts of time, energy, and resources decorating their homes.
 
Other Americans, however, still celebrate the Christian meaning of Halloween, by attending church, saying prayers, remembering the saints, and recalling the martyrs of the faith. These Christians are inspired to live as heroes for the Christian faith. Other church communities hold carnivals as a way to evangelize and to keep kids off the street from participating in Trick or Treating.
 
*Christian Origin of Halloween: http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=1116
 
 
*A copy of Pope Gregory I’s missionary letter regarding how to deal with pagan shrines:

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/bede/history.v.i.xxix.html : CHAP. XXX. A copy of the letter which Pope Gregory sent to the Abbot Mellitus, then going into Britain. [601 A.D.]


Questions
  1. What was the Celtic celebration of Samhain?
  2. What was the Roman celebration of Pomona?
  3. What was the early celebration of All Saint's Day?
  4. How did the English celebrate "Guy Fawkes Day" in the 1600s?
  5. About when in American history did the celebration of Halloween become more a community one and less of a religious one?

16 Comments
Laura link
10/31/2017 09:56:29 am

Thank you for this informative article! We read this aloud in our home school today and it has opened up great discussion.

Reply
Angie
10/29/2018 01:51:05 pm

Hi John, I enjoy your articles! I did some extensive research on Halloween, and I thought you might be interested in what I found: http://www.celebratingholidays.com/?page_id=1116

Reply
John De Gree
10/31/2018 08:21:14 am

Dear Angie, What a magnificent article you referred me to. It clears up many issues, and we will see, it may add more comments to the Halloween article as I alter it, or, as I may decide to replace mine with the one you sent me. Thank you!

Reply
Matthew Arnold link
10/30/2018 03:27:57 pm

The origin of All sSaint's Day is as follows: Pope Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter's in Rome to all the saints and fixed the feast for 1 November. Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration on 1 November to the entire Church. In Old English it was the feast of "All Hallows."
The Vigil for this important feast was called All Hallows’ Eve, which got contracted to Halloween. It was a day of fasting and prayer in preparation for the great feast on All Hallows, which began in the evening with a Vigil Mass. St Odilo of Cluny popularized the feast of All Souls Day on 2 November in the 13th century. The business about "Samhain" is nonsense. The world Samhain is the Celtic word for autumn, but the pagan celts (like most all pagans) held their celebrations for the dead in the springtime. The idea of death as a "grim reaper" bringing in a harvest of souls is purely Christian and can be traced to Our Lord's parable of the weeds and the wheat (Matthew 13.24-30).

Reply
Rachel White
11/1/2018 05:58:44 am

Is there a reason you omitted the practice of Reformation Day, observed by the Reformed communities? Many celebrate it instead of Halloween.

Reply
John De Gree
11/1/2018 09:30:44 am

Dear Rachel, I just read a great article about Reformation Day. It doesn't say specifically HOW it is celebrated, but it explains it and ties it to America's religious freedom. It's a facebook post from Gateways to a Better Education. I'll try and post the link here: https://gogateways.org/blog/teach-a-civics-lesson-about-martin-luther-teaching-without-fear-part-12?fbclid=IwAR2OpzeWCHnvHLuKse_vls6TZvUH3-8gi7YiChF4Z7YWq-EM4b9Qmca6htI

Reply
Steven Moreno
11/1/2018 09:08:55 am

Mr.Degree you are a very smart and good teacher.

Reply
Jackie
10/22/2019 01:11:13 pm

I homeschooled my children when it really wasn't done. I am a Messianic Jew and from the time my oldest was 7 I realized HASHEM did not want us to Celebrate it since it is holiday from Witch Craft. I realized this when I was reading my Bible one day just before Halloween and I heard the LORD tell me that it was Satanic and as HIS child that I should not allow it in my home. To this day I have not given candy out and I turn off all our lights. I find I am better off listening to the LORD and what HE says to me than listening to any Church or denomination if it does not follow what HE says.

Reply
Emma Erickson
10/23/2019 09:53:04 pm

I really enjoyed this article and will share it with others!!! Thank you!!
Emma

Reply
Esperanza
10/24/2019 08:03:39 pm

thank you for a great article! I'm glad a difference was noted in that this is primarily a Catholic holy day. As a Protestant, I don't pray to saints or anything similar. I admire the men and women of God that have come before us, but in no way give them as much prominence as most Catholics do. Especially an Hispanic, I don't celebrate day of the dead.

As Protestants my family and I don't do any kind of truck or treating. My homeschooled stay home from co-op. At night, we l stay home, or go to a church service to pray for those that are deceived by the world. Our Pastor's birthday is on Oct 31st, so sometimes we have a birthday party for him, and also remember "Reformation Day".

Thanks again for a great article

Reply
Ginnie
10/25/2019 05:03:22 am

Thank you for all your hard work on all these posts. I read them all to my teens when they come out and it opens up some deep research and conversations between us. Thank you!!!

Reply
Frankie Ruiz
10/31/2019 02:00:43 pm

What a Great article !

Reply
Amy Rudisill
10/28/2020 08:55:16 am

Thank you for sharing! Just to clarify, All Saints is observed by Catholics a couple of days before All Hallows. All Hallows Eve is the Catholic vigil mass for all the dead who are not Saints, and coincides with Halloween. Incidentally a simple internet search will show that the Church of Satan and Wiccans both hold Halloween is a high unholy day in their practice - and they do have specific nefarious rites for this day. It really comes down to what camp you want your family to be spiritually aligned with.

Reply
Kate
10/28/2020 10:59:01 am

Amy, I'm not sure where you got your information from but All Saints Day is NOT celebrated a couple days before Halloween. As the article states, Halloween is All Hallows Eve, which is the eve of the Holy day All Saints Day.
Before 1955 the 3 days of All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day were a triduum and Catholics went to Mass all 3 days.
As for the Church of satan and Wiccans, satan has been notorious for taking what glorifies God and twisted it into evil. He is the Father of Lies. Examples: Garden of Eden, Rainbow- God's promise to never flood the earth into a sign for LGBTQ, S*x- God's design to unite a man and woman, who are married, into the "one flesh" spoken of in Genesis, into a an activity for anyone with anyone out of lust. There are plenty more examples, if needed.
Just because satan twists something to lie to the world doesn't mean the original is wrong. Rainbows still show God's beauty and promise, married people continue to experience God's gift of s*x and continue the human race. Don't let satan steal what God has ordained as good.

Reply
Amanda
10/21/2022 09:57:34 pm

Amen

Jessica J. Tabor link
2/2/2021 03:25:32 am

Thanks for information technical knowledge i will try this informative and helpful article..

Reply



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    John De Gree

    John De Gree writes the current events with a look at the history of each topic. Articles are written for the young person, aged 10-18, and Mr. De Gree carefully writes so that all readers can understand the event. The perspective the current events are written in is Judeo-Christian. 

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