Where Did Halloween Originate: The Western History Of Halloween

Danielle Cameron
Erica Rogers
English 11B-Sec 1-Sep 16wk 2015
03 December, 2015
Where Did Halloween Originate: The Western History of Halloween “Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out contagion to this world.” This quote by William Shakespeare accurately sums up many cultures’ feelings towards modern-day Halloween. But where did Halloween originate? While there are several different ideas, the one that seems to be the most popular is that Halloween originated from an ancient Celtic rite called Samhain (pronounced sah-win). Halloween has strong roots in Paganism, which is the cause of negative connotations with Christian religion. Many modern Halloween traditions and symbols started

Costumes, although much changed from the Celtic traditions, started with Samhain. The belief was that the souls of the dead that came into our world during the “no-time” needed to be appeased by the wearing of masks. This would assure that people and livestock would survive the winter, and it would also allow the townspeople to escape the notice of the real spirits that would wander the streets during Samhain (Skal, 20). Dressing in full costume became very popular in Ireland and Scotland in the late 19th century, where children and adults alike would dress up and go “souling” or “mumming”. This means that short songs or plays would be performed in exchange for soul cakes (spiced cakes) or other food or trinkets. If nothing was given after the performance, a “trick” would be played on the home owner. This practice was first recorded in North America in 1911, and has transformed into the trick-or-treating we know today (Rogers,

Some of the foods in the history of Halloween are pumpkins, turnips, apples, cake, nuts and kale. Turnips actually used to be carved instead of pumpkins, until the first Irish immigrants arrived in America, and found the much larger pumpkin. Apples were used by the Celts in divining “games”, and were seen as very powerful divining tools, especially when it came finding out who a marriage partner would be. The modern game bobbing for apples comes directly from this Celtic tradition. Cake, as was previously mentioned, was used as a “treat” for the people who would come around door to door. The same soul cakes were also offered to the spirits of the dead, believing that it would appease and nourish them during their long journey to the otherworld. The Celtic people also believed that unless the spirits were fed, they would harm the living. Nuts, especially chestnuts and walnuts, were considered to be very powerful divining tools. Kale, as well as cabbage and leeks, were also used as divining tools for telling the future. The amount of dirt that stuck to the stalk of the vegetables indicated the amount of fortune that one could expect from a mate (“Halloween Food