Halloween is a tradition passed around for generations. Everyone dresses up as something then goes around to houses saying “Trick-or-Treat” so they could get some candy, but what about the origins? Where did Halloween start and what’s the meaning behind it?  

Well, it started as a Celtic spiritual tradition. Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “sow-win”) is modernly celebrated October 31 to November 1 to welcome the harvest season and to signal “the dark half of the year”. People who celebrated the Samhain believed that the barriers between the human world and spiritual world would weaken and spirits would be able to pass over to our world. This would create more interactions between humans and other beings from the Otherworld. In Ireland, the commanding officers had thrones prepared for them during this festival. Anyone was to commit a crime or to raise their weapon during the ceremony, the punishment was a death sentence. 

Since the Celts believed that the barrier between the worlds was weakened, some people would leave food offerings outside of villages that were left for fairies, or Sidhs. It was said that ancestors would also cross over during this time so the Celts would dress up as animals and monsters, so the fairies weren’t tempted to kidnap them. There were also other mythical creatures associated with this festival such as a shape shifter known as Pukah and the Lady Gwyn, who was a headless woman that was dressed in white who chases night wanderers accompanied by a black pig. There was also the Dullahan, which is a man who is beheaded and carries his head in his arms while riding a horse whose eyes are flamed. Their appearance was a sign of death to anyone who might have seen them.  

During the Samhain, people also told stories like “The Second Battle of Mag Tuired” which is about the final battle between Tuatha de Danann and Fomor. The battle was said to be held on the Samhain. There were also stories like “The Adventures of Nera” which portrays someone named Nera encountering a corps and fairies then entering the underworld.  

After a while, the Christians decided to make Samhain their own. The Pope Boniface tried to move the celebration to May 13th in the 5th century, but it didn’t work out in the end. In the 9th century, Pope Gregory decided to move the celebration back to its original time but declared it All Saints Day on November 1st, and All Souls Day on November 2nd.  

There were also tricks during this time but most of the time the tricks were to be blamed on the fairies. The celebration was brought to America from Irish immigrants as they brought their traditions to us. The trick-or-treat part of the holiday was said to have started from when the people in Ireland dressed up in costumes and went door to door singing songs to the dead. Borrowing that tradition, the Americans went door to door asking for food or money. The young women thought they could do tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors to try and figure out who their husband would be.