How To: The origins of the Halloween tradition

Halloween is originally a Celtic custom - in the night from October 31 to November 1 the druids say goodbye to summer - the season of the goddess - and celebrates the reign of the prince of death, Samhain, who reigns during the winter. In the Celtic calendar, this marks the beginning of the new year.

Even though this tradition dates back to the times before Christ, it was still excessively celebrated during the first centuries AD. Celtic belief said that on this night, life (summer) handed over dominion to death (winter) for half a year, which made it the ideal moment for the dead to walk among the living. They believed that the dead would choose the body of a living person for one year. So people offered them sacrifices to prevent them from choosing their own body. Furthermore, they believed that the border between the realm of the dead and the realm of the living was especially thin during this night so that it was easier to communicate with the dead. In order to make this easier they celebrated and offered the dead all kinds of goodies as an incentive to return to them for a short while. That way they wanted to stay in touch with their relatives even after their deaths.

Historic celebration It was a great celebration with bonfires and feasts. On the occasion of the start of the new year people meditated and made predictions for the next year - about war, peace, politics, harvests and diseases. They made sacrifices to the gods to propitiate them. The Irish changed this tradition a little. They dressed up in terrifying costumes for this night in order to make the ghosts pass them by and not recognize them as living. The masks and costumes were meant to ward them off.

Christianization of Halloween By now, Halloween has become a Christian tradition. However, it was a long and hard fight to get there. While people back then could be convinced relatively easily to adopt the new religion, Christianity, but quite frequently they were not prepared to give up their old customs and traditions. In order to protect the new Christians from sin, the old customs were simply integrated into Christianity.

In 837, Pope Gregory IV decided that Samhain should be used to honor the dead. That way, All Saint's was established on November 1 and All Soul's Day for the next day. The result was that the population didn't have to get used to new customs, and the church could still claim to have defeated pagan rites. However, especially in the Celtic areas the original pagan rites could not be eradicated that easily. The name Halloween was coined in the 16th century. The Protestant Church introduced the name All Hallowed Evening. Until this point, the real Halloween night had not been a Christian ritual, but this new name Christianized it for good.

Halloween in the US today In America, the old US traditions were revived. The tradition was modernized and gradually took on the form it has today - the form of a not so Christian holiday that happily celebrates many old pagan traditions. Children dress up in costumes and ring doorbells to ask for candy, calling the typical "trick or treat." They will either get candy or play a trick on the house owner.

Halloween in Germany: www.halloween-city.de/halloween_deutschland.html.