Halloween: Past, Present and Future 1
Individuals look forward to the last night of October no matter what their ages! Halloween means a celebration of individuals of all ages running around in their costumes and parties with friends, neighbors and relatives. It’s a time when people can and do wear what they want and eat sweets voraciously. Halloween was not always this way however. The origins of Halloween date back thousands of years, to a festival that was Celtic, called ‘Samhain’ (SOW-IN).
Celts lived in what is now the United Kingdom, Northern France and Ireland some two thousand years ago. ‘Samhain’ was their New Year and came each November 1. This period was the beginning of the winter months and marked the end of summer and harvest. It was a time of cold and darkness. Therefore it became associated with death, and ‘Samhain’ was considered the crossing over of the dead and the living.
Ghosts of the dead were believed to walk the earth again on ‘Samhain’ causing trouble and destruction to food supplies. Druids, who were Celtic priests believed it to be easier to predict the future at this time, and the whims of nature were thought to be prevalent. The prophecies made by the Druids brought comfort and solace during the long, bleak winters.
The Druids made bonfires and sacrificed animals and crops to the Celtic Gods. They also were in costumes, and made these costumes of animal skins. They wore the heads of animals and made predictions to each other while wearing these and they told each others’ fortunes. These bonfires were also considered sacred and after the celebration, the hearth fires were lit from the bonfires.
Romans eventually conquered the Celts territories and ruled for four-hundred years. ‘Samhain’ was combined with a Roman festival called ‘Feralia’ and another called ‘Pomona’. ‘Feralia’ was a celebration of the passing of the dead, while ‘Feralia’ was the Goddess of fruit and trees. This is how ‘bobbing for apples’ got started in modern day traditions as ‘Pomona’ used the apple symbolically.
