The history behind Halloween is long and spans almost 3,000 years! There are some remarkable associations which, over millenniums of practice, survive in some form today.

Here are some tidbits and lore on the interesting origins of Halloween which are not widely known. This can help you start a conversation with a Halloween party guest you’ve been dying to meet.  If you’re hosting a party, you can make a booklet on your PC to hand out as party favors. Illustrated with Halloween icons, Gothic fonts or scary photos, adds to its value as an unusual memento and trivia collectible.

The Celts were the first Halloween celebrants, around 2900 B.C., although the name of the original celebration was Samhain. The occasion of Samhain was to mark the end of their year, October 31, probably relating to the end of harvest. However, the Celts also believed that the dead had their day each year on Samhain, allowed to roam the earth, sometimes disguised as animals. This put a little spookiness into the harvest season.

The Celts were pagans at this time. One of the customs on Samhain was to collect and exchange food to appease the gods and keep evil spirits at bay. To this end, they dressed in costumes, wearing and brandishing scary masks, designed to frighten off these evil spirits, in much the same way gargoyles were later used on churches. Bonfires were also customary, as an added measure to ensure the evil spirits did not gain a foothold in their community. So costumes, masks, pumpkins and treats were an integral part of the history behind Halloween from the beginning.

Christians converted the pagan Samhain celebration into a Christian celebration of Halloween, followed on November 1 by All Saint’s Day. This cleverly served to divert the offerings to pagan gods and point celebrants in a Christian direction. This strategy did, eventually succeed.

Over a period of hundreds of years, Halloween gradually picked up superstitious myths and stories, still hanging on to some of the pagan rituals and ideas. Thus, today’s ghost stories passed from generation to generation, became part of the history of cities like Atlanta, Savannah, New Orleans and San Diego, which are rich in supernatural folklore. 

Around the 1980s, adults celebrating Halloween came back in vogue. Although most adults still don’t go trick or treating, due to the typically chilly reception they receive, they do attend adult Halloween parties where the host provides the treats and everyone gets into costumes, just as the ancient Celts did.

Say, how about a Celtic Halloween costume?  That would turn up some interesting conversations!

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