Halloween Through the Centuries

Celtic Origins and Christian Contributions to the Eve of All Hallow

Sep 7, 2009

The association of Halloween with the dead as well as with evil spirits originates in pre-Christian Europe and may reflect universal supernatural customs and rituals.

The origins of Halloween are often equated with pre-Christian Celtic and Druidic practices, yet centuries of contributions by various pagan groups, the Catholic Church, and later Protestant traditions gave the holiday a distinctive form so that contemporary societies have come to associate it with witches, bats, black cats, glowing pumpkins, and the return of the dead, if but for one night. These are the symbols that define Halloween, one of the most popular American celebrations.

The Association of Halloween with Evil

In the United States, the celebration of Halloween is a modern event; it was scarcely celebrated before the 19th-Century. New England Puritans, with their preoccupation of the devil and witchcraft, associated it with the Antichrist. In Europe, however, All Hallow Eve had a long history that some scholars even equate with the Roman festival of Parentalia (festival of the dead).

The Celts celebrated Samhain, an agricultural festival at the end of the summer that began the period of winter and darkness. Later Christian feast days highlighting the coming of darkness adopted many of the practices like bonfires and prayers for the dead. For Catholic Europe, All Saints’ Day began a period of misrule that, in the later Middle Ages, including masking and impersonation. The period ended in February during Candlemas, when an imminent spring saw ever extended periods of day light.

Bonfires were always a part of the rituals, from Celtic times throughout Christian Europe. Church bells were rung, frequently all night, to remind the faithful that death was near and to pray for the souls in purgatory. Bonfires also attracted bats that circled above the flames to feast on insects attracted to the fires; Hence, the association of bats with Halloween.

Witches, Black Cats, and “Souling”

With the late 15th-Century publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, the association of witchcraft with the devil and the forces of evil took on a new life, resulting in the witch craze of the next 150 years. In terms of Halloween, it was not inconsistent to equate witches with other evil spirits that lurked in the countryside on this night of heightened supernatural intensity. Additionally, cats, long associated with evil in European superstition, were thought to be the mediums used by witches or witches themselves in disguise.

During the late Middle Ages, “souling” became a common practice, notably in England and Ireland. The poor went to the doors of the rich begging for charity, carrying hollowed out turnips illuminated with small candles. Those that shared with the soulers had prayers said for them, the light in the turnip representative of purgatory. The jack-o-lantern of today’s Halloween celebrations has origins in these old practices.

Halloween as a Day of the Dead

Above all, Halloween was a day devoted to the dead. Graveyard processions were held and relatives placed flowers and food at graves of departed family members. Bonfires warded off evil spirits, especially ghosts and witches. As Sir James Frazer has demonstrated in his study of magic and religion, celebrations for the dead are universal. Romans honored the dead in yearly rituals as did many other societies.

Mesoamerican cultures appropriated Catholic Halloween practices when European missionaries converted native peoples, resulting in the Day of the Dead that features both pre-Christian rituals as well as Catholic rituals. So it was in other cultures as well, including those of Asia and the Middle East. Halloween will serve a purpose as long as societies equate supernatural beliefs with modern realities.

History professor Nicholas Rogers at York University summarizes the impact of early Halloween practices, stating that “it represented a time out of time, a brief interval ‘when the normal order of the universe is suspended’ and ‘charged with a peculiar preternatural energy.’”

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