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Why do we celebrate Halloween ?

Halloween is a Catholic feast celebrated annually on the evening of October 31st.

The origins of Halloween go back over 2000 years and it has its roots in old Celtic tradition. The Celts, who lived in Great Britain and Ireland, celebrated Samhain (pronounced saow’in) on this day. Samhain was one of the major Celtic feasts and it was celebrated from sunset on October 31st to sunrise on November 1st.

Samhain marked the end of harvest and the beginning of the dark winter season. Many people also considered this day the beginning of the new year.

On a more spiritual level, some Celts believed that on this day the Mother Goddess descended into the realm of the dead (also called the Otherworld) to retrieve her husband. It was believed that the veil between the two worlds was very thin on this night and that spirits, ghosts, fairies and other creatures could easily cross over from the Otherworld and into the world of the living. Even though that idea might seem frightening to many, the Celts did not consider this a bad thing at all. They happily welcomed the spirits of loved ones, who they believed came with blessings - but on the other hand, they needed to protect themselves from the vengeful, mischievous and evil spirits.

In the 8th century, Christianity was becoming the dominant religion in the region. The Catholic Church adopted many of the traditions associated with Samhain and turned the pagan feast into a Christian holiday called All Hallows’ Eve. Like Samhain, All Hallows’ Eve was dedicated to honouring the dead, but the main focus was now on remembering the faithful dead – Hallows refers to ‘the saints’.

All Hallows’ Eve is actually the first day in a three day celebration honouring the dead called Hallowmas or Hallowtide. The second day of Hallowmas is called All Saints’ Day and is celebrated on November 1st and the third day is All Souls’ Day and is celebrated on November 2nd. Hallowmas is a time of prayer and remembrance.

Over time, All Hallows’ Eve was shortened to Halloween and the day became as popular and festive as Samhain once was.

For many centuries, celebrating Halloween was a very European tradition which was especially popular in Ireland and Scotland – the old Celtic domains. In the mid to late 19th century, Ireland and Scotland experienced a mass immigration to the United States. Over 1,500,000 people immigrated to America during this time. Today, more than 15% of the American population can claim Scots-Irish ancestry. The Irish and Scottish immigrants brought with them the traditions surrounding Halloween – such as costumes and pranks. Because of them, the holiday and the traditions surrounding it became very popular in North America at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1930s Halloween became a community holiday and by the 1950s it was considered an all-American holiday.

Today, not many people remember the origins of this holiday when celebrating Halloween. It is a day dedicated to dressing up, good-natured pranks, scary decorations, parties and last but not least … candy.