Where did Halloween originate from?

Question

Who made it up and why, whats the origianl story?

Answer 1

The word itself, "Halloween," actually has origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But in 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.

One story says on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.

Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess.

A better explanation of why the Celts extinguished their fires was not to discourage spirit possession, but so that all the Celtic tribes could relight their fires from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning in the Middle of Ireland, at Usinach.

Some accounts tell of how the Celts would burn someone at the stake who was thought to have already been possessed, as sort of a lesson to the spirits. Other accounts of Celtic history debunk these stories as myth.

The Romans adopted the Celtic practices as their own. But in first century AD, Samhain was assimilated into celebrations of some other Roman traditions that took place in October, such as their day to honor Pomona, Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which might explain the origin of our modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween.

The thrust of the practices also changed over time to become more ritualized. As belief in spirit possession waned, the practice of dressing up like hobgoblins, ghosts, and witches took on a more ceremonial role.

The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. At that time, the favorite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates.

The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

The Jack-o-lantern custom comes from Irish folklore. As the tale is told, a man named Jack, notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.

According to folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but was also denied access to Hell because he tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.

So, although some cults may have adopted Halloween as their favorite "holiday," the day itself did not grow out of evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new year, and out of Medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. And today, even many churches have Halloween parties or pumpkin carving events for the kids. After all, the day itself is only as evil as one cares to make it.

Answer 2

Where Did Halloween Originate

Answer 3

How about on October 31, 1793 Marie Antoinette and 21 other Christias were slaughtered during the French Revolution

Answer 4

Hi,

This question has been answered a hundred times here. You will get lots of answers using the search box. You will find several different answers and some are correct to a point ( there are several origins actually)

Ignore all answers that mention the devil or satan as those are false lies spread by brainwashed thumpers.

Answer 5

Halloween was the largest holiday for the Wiccan religion. I believe it was called Sammain (not sure Wiccans...sorry). The Catholic church appropriated it into All Saint's Day feast (Nov. 1) because they knew pagans would still celebrate it. They did the same for Christmas (Winter Solstice) and Easter (Vernal Equinox).

Answer 6

Sorry CW, Halloween was around looooong before the Catholic Church. No sacrifices were made and people did not fear possession by spirits. This is a lot of misinformation. You obviously did not get this story from any pagan, with whom the celebration originates.

The Celts never killed anyone in sacrifice, that was propoganda spread by Julius Cesar in Roman times while he was trying to take over the area.

However, you are correct in that it is that the day is believed to be that in which the veil between the physical and spirit worlds is thinnest. The day is known as Samhain. Like all pagan holidays, the day is reckoned beginning at Sundown.

As opposed to making houses unviting places to be, people would set an extra place at the table for the friendly spirits of departed loved ones. Jack O lanterns were made and lit and put outside the house to ward away wayward, lost spirits that might cause mischief (but not possession). These invoke the spirits that protect the house and its inhabitants.

People would go outside to mingle with the spirits, but would dress up so that any spirits who meant to do harm would become confused and pass them by.

An important part of participating in all this, the reason it's such a fun and sacred celebration, is to put on the shoes of things that frighten us. Thus we get to know them and we are not afraid of them anymore. We take the darkness and turn it into light. The fun of scary things is the thrill of conquering our own fears, of knowing that afterwards everything is still okay.

The Celtic pagans, like most pagans, celebrate EVERY aspect of life in its turn throughout the year. This includes death. It's important to accept death as part of life and to not let fear of it hinder you. Halloween is the day to do this.

Answer 7

Here is a link to everything you ever wanted to know about Halloween.

Answer 8

Some tribe or village thing in the past cuz they actually believed Halloween decorations would scare of demons or something

Answer 9

Behind the name... Halloween, or the Hallow E'en as they call it in Ireland , means All Hallows Eve, or the night before the 'All Hallows', also called 'All Hallowmas', or 'All Saints', or 'All Souls' Day, observed on November 1. In old English the word 'Hallow' meant 'sanctify'. Roman Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherians used to observe All Hallows Day to honor all Saints in heaven, known or unknown. They used to consider it with all solemnity as one of the most significant observances of the Church year. And Catholics, all and sundry, was obliged to attend Mass. The Romans observed the holiday of Feralia, intended to give rest and peace to the departed. Participants made sacrifices in honor of the dead, offered up prayers for them, and made oblations to them. The festival was celebrated on February 21, the end of the Roman year. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints' Day to replace the pagan festival of the dead. It was observed on May 13. Later, Gregory III changed the date to November 1. The Greek Orthodox Church observes it on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Despite this connection with the Roman Church, the American version of Halloween Day celebration owes its origin to the ancient (pre-Christian) Druidic fire festival called "Samhain", celebrated by the Celts in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Samhain is pronounced "sow-in", with "sow" rhyming with cow. In Ireland the festival was known as Samhein, or La Samon, the Feast of the Sun. In Scotland, the celebration was known as Hallowe'en. In Welsh it's Nos Galen-gaeof (that is, the Night of the Winter Calends. According to the Irish English dictionary published by the Irish Texts Society: "Samhain, All Hallowtide, the feast of the dead in Pagan and Christian times, signalizing the close of harvest and the initiation of the winter season, lasting till May

Answer 10

If you want to know your going to have to do the research. It was a Pagan holiday, moved and taken over by the Christians. They changed the theme and the meaning and centuries later it turned into the capital mess you see today. No one here is close to the truth.

Answer 11

Haloween began on the "Hill of Ward" County Meath Ireland, google the pictures/information and see for yourself.