Glendora's Blog

As this spooky holiday draws nearer, I thought it might be interesting to dig a little deeper into the origins and traditions associated with Halloween. Why do we carve up pumpkins and fiend for candy? And what does “Halloween” mean in the first place?

After a bit of research, I feel like I’ve uncovered some interesting facts about one of my favorite holidays.

As it turns out, Halloween is not a native holiday to America. Instead, Halloween, or Samhain, was actually introduced to Americans by Irish immigrants in the 19th century. Samhain, is an ancient Celtic festival which celebrates the end of the harvest season. “Well that doesn’t sound ‘dark’ at all” you might say. In actuality, Samhain wasn’t exactly a family get together. History.com notes that “[The] day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.” For the Gaels, they believed that the dead would rise and cause harm to the living. By ruining the crops or causing illness, it would leave the Gaels helpless for the harshness of the coming winter months.

Costumes and masks became tradition as the Gaels would dress up to mimic, impress, or appease the lurking, evil spirits.

OK, so maybe costumes make sense, but why cut up a pumpkin? The story goes that an old farmer, Jack, chased the devil up into a tree and carved a cross into the trunk to keep him there. Quite unhappy, the devil cursed Jack forcing him to wander the earth with a lantern made from a turnip. Pumpkins became the popular choice on America due to their size and today we carve “pumpkin lanterns” for Jack. Thus, Jack-O’-Lanterns. Its also believed that Europeans, in fear of evil spirits, or the devil himself, developed the idea of carving faces into vegetables to symbolize a head. They thought the idea of light and knowledge (from the head) would scare away unwanted guests.

Pretty interesting stuff, I’d say. Of course there is much more to learn about Halloween, so if you’d like to learn more, check out Wikipedia or History.com. In the meantime, here are some more fast facts:

• Halloween is short for All Hallows’ Even

• All Saints’ Day became fixed on November 1, 835

• In Mexico, “Trick Or Treat!” is replaced with “¡Noche de Brujas, Halloween!”

• In 43 AD, Roman festivals and Samhain began to combine. Bobbing for apples became a Samhain tradition as apples were the symbol for Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees.

• Samhain was actually held on November 1st, not October 31st.

• The passing out of candy originated with the belief that the dead would rise and visit the living. To appease the risen spirits, the homeowner would offer fruit and treats.

• Some believe that nocturnal animals, like bats and cats, have supernatural abilities to communicate with the dead. It was also thought that witches could turn into black cats and Dracula into a bat.

• American’s spend an estimated $21 million in Halloween candy.