Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of
years. The holiday we know as Halloween has had many influences from many
cultures over the centuries. From the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival
of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days.
Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France, lived
the Celtics. The Celtics worshipped nature and had many gods, with the sun god
as their favorite. It was "he" who commanded their work and their rest times,
and who made the earth beautiful and the crops grow.
The Celtics celebrated their New Year on November 1st. It was celebrated
every year with a festival and marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the
beginning of "the season of darkness and cold."
On the eve before their new year (October 31), it was believed that all the
dead people were called together . The dead would take different forms, with the
bad spirits taking the form of animals. The most evil taking the form of cats.
On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long
winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished. The Druids, the
Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were
considered sacred). The Druids would light new fires and offer sacrifices of
crops and animals. As they danced around the the fires, the season of the sun
passed and the season of darkness would begin.
When the morning arrived the Druids would give an ember from their fires to
each family who would then take them home to start new cooking fires. These
fires would keep the homes warm and free from evil spirits.
The November 1st festival was named after Samhain and honored both the sun
god and Samhain. The festival would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in
costumes made from the skins and heads of their animals. This festival would
become the first Halloween.
During the first century the Romans invaded Britain. They brought with them
many of their festivals and customs. One of these was the festival know as
Pomona Day, named for their goddess of fruits and gardens. It was also
celebrated around the 1st of November. After hundreds of years of Roman rule the
customs of the Celtic's Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona Day mixed becoming
1 major fall holiday.
The next influence came with the spread of the new Christian religion
throughout Europe and Britain. In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church
would make November 1st a church holiday to honor all the saints. This day was
called All Saint's Day, or Hallowmas, or All Hallows. Years later the Church
would make November 2nd a holy day. It was called All Souls Day and was to honor
the dead. It was celebrated with big bonfires, parades, and people dressing up
as saints, angels and devils.
But the spread of Christianity did not make people forget their early
customs. On the eve of All Hallows, Oct. 31, people continued to celebrate the
festival of Samhain and Pomona Day. Over the years the customs from all these
holidays mixed. October 31st became known as All Hallow Even, eventually All
Hallow's Eve, Hallowe'en, and then - Halloween.
The Halloween we celebrate today includes all of these influences, Pomona
Day's apples, nuts, and harvest, the Festival of Sanhain's black cats, magic,
evil spirits and death, and the ghosts, skeletons and skulls from All Saint's
Day and All Soul's Day.
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