Background and beliefs in the classical world
Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, where the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, three festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain where they celebrated with bonfires and disguises to confuse the returning spirits.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead and celebrating the Manes (Roman spirits of the dead, particularly the souls of deceased individuals). Feralia was an ancient Roman public festival The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween. The last was called the Lemuria, celebrated over 3 days as even numbers were considered unlucky.
The Lemuria was also a festival for the dead, but honored the lemures, or the more dangerous spirits of people who died violent or untimely deaths. (Fun fact: lemurs were named after them because they were also considered scary and unlucky.) At midnight on the last day of the Lemuria, the Roman paterfamilias - the head of the family - would wake up and put on special clothing: no buckles, pins, or other items were allowed and he had to be barefoot. The paterfamilias would make the sign of representing a phallus for luck and fertility. He would then put nine uncooked black fava beans in his mouth and spit them out as he walked around the house saying, with each one, "With these beans, I redeem me and mine." The lemures would stoop to pick them up since the beans were thought to contain the souls of the dead. When all the beans had been spat out, the paterfamilias cleaned his hands and said, nine times, "Ghosts of my fathers, be gone."
Christian development
By the 9th century, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted older Celtic rites. Following this belief, the Christian belief formed that good people would turn into Saints (or 'Hallowed Ones'). In 1000 A.D., the church made November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It’s widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls’ Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints’ Day celebration was also called All-hallows and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. 'All Saints Day’ is celebrated on 1st November (the day after Halloween) in order to have a day beginning the celebration and to prepare for all the saints and the souls who come back on All Souls day. As a result of this mythology, later on (noticeably starting throughout the Iron Age) many people feared the return on evil spirits and so dressed up in scary costumes and painted their faces as a way of honouring the ’Saints’ as well as frightening the less desirable souls and encourage them to leave back to the land of the dead. Today these traditions have continued all around the world, evolving and adapting so that each country has a slightly different tradition, but all commemorate the blurring of the line between the living and the dead one night per year.
Traditions around the world
Whilst the tradition of dressing up has become almost universal amongst people of all ages, some traditions have created a slightly different Halloween experience to others;
Mexico- In Mexico they celebrate ‘El Día De Los Muertos’ where people put up photos of their lost friends and family on the ‘ofrenda’ as well as other objects which will welcome the spirits back to this altar.
Austria- In Austria, some people will leave bread, water, and a lighted lamp on the table before retiring on Halloween night. It was once believed that these would welcome the dead souls back to earth on a night that Austrians considered to be magical.
France- Unlike most nations of the world, Halloween is not celebrated by the French in order to honor the dead and departed ancestors. It is regarded as an "American" holiday in France and was virtually unknown in the country until around 1996. A combination of the French love of parties, fete's and costume events, and some simple crass commercialism has led to the rapid rise of the holiday in France. Hong Kong- The Halloween celebration in Hong Kong is known as "Yue Lan" (Festival of the Hungry Ghosts) and is a time when it is believed that spirits roam the world for twenty-four hours. Some people burn pictures of fruit or money at this time, believing these images would reach the spirit world and bring comfort to the ghosts. Fires are lit and food and gifts are offered to placate potentially angry ghosts who might be looking for revenge.
Germany- In Germany, the people put away their knives on Halloween night. The reason for this is because they do not want to risk harm to (or from) the returning spirits.
So whether you're going tricking or treating this year, hiding your knives or leaving bread, water and a lighted lamp on your bedside table, remember the origins of this spooky festival and the reason for its celebration,
Viola and Zoe
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