Hallows’ Eve - transformation of death
Halloween is coming! And I thought it was time, to dig a little deeper to understand where this tradition comes from. This festival of pumpkins, costumes, and sugar comas that you regret on November 1st. But this cute, candy-collecting kids-circus, an inspiration for a lot of horror movies, actually started as a pretty dark ritual. So grab your broom and witch hat, because here comes a rollercoaster ride through the history of Halloween.
Where It Comes From
We begin with the ancient Celts, who about 2,000 years ago in what is now Ireland, the UK, and northern France, celebrated the festival of Samhain. This was their New Year's Day, on November 1st. The day marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter (read: misery and a lot of dying from the cold). The Celts believed that on the evening before Samhain, on October 31st, the boundary between the world of the living and the dead blurred. Spirits could then come out for a night, wandering around, spooking people, and, if you were unlucky, ruining your crops.
To protect themselves from these spirits, the Celts lit massive bonfires and wore animal skins as a kind of prehistoric cosplay (but without Instagram). They also sacrificed animals because apparently, keeping spirits happy involves roasting a sheep on the BBQ. Some people still believe this...
Fun fact: they also made lanterns out of turnips (nope, not pumpkins—that’s a later American twist), which is where the whole “jack-o'-lantern” tradition comes from.
The Evolution to What It Is Now
Fast forward to Christianity, which over the centuries, like an overenthusiastic neighbor, decided to slap its own party on top of local traditions. The Church tried to sober up Samhain by renaming it All Saints’ Day on November 1st, a day to honor saints (sounds thrilling, right?). The evening before All Saints’ became All Hallows’ Eve, which after a few beers and some dialect tweaks, got shortened to Halloween. I can hear myself saying it.
But how did Halloween become all about candy and costumes? Well, we can thank the Irish and Scottish immigrants who flooded into the US in the 19th century. They brought their Samhain-like customs (not costumes) with them, and in the melting pot of America, Halloween got a makeover. Instead of warding off spirits, it became more of a social event. Over the years, it became increasingly commercial (shock!), with candy companies thinking: "Why should Christmas be the only holiday that makes us rich?" Like with Sinterklaas (our Dutch party) was turned into Christmas by a cafe?ne - and originally even cocaine - infused soda-drink, I think...
By the 1950s, Halloween had transformed into what we know today as a children’s holiday, complete with costumes, games, and "trick-or-treating." That last part comes from an old tradition where poor people would go door-to-door on All Saints’ Day and receive food (mostly cakes) in exchange for prayers for the dead. Nowadays, this has evolved into kids demanding candy with the threat of playing a prank on you if you don’t comply (aka the "trick").
The Deeper Meaning of Halloween
So, the deeper meaning? Well, originally, Halloween was about the interplay (a game company that published Baldur's Gate last century) between life and death, about respecting the seasons and the fear of the unknown*. It’s essentially a celebration of transitions: from autumn to winter, from life to death. Spirits, monsters, and other creepy figures represent humanity’s fear of what we can’t control or understand. The idea of "dress up as your fear" might come from an ancient belief that if you look like a monster, the monster will leave you alone. Smart, right?
Today, it’s mostly an excuse to collectively dive into nostalgia, fantasy, and a bit of chaos. The boundaries still blur—not between the living and the dead anymore, but between the everyday and the magical, between your regular self and your witch-, vampire-, or, if you’re lazy, "I’m just wearing a mask" version.
So yeah, what was once a ritual to appease the dead has now become a major commercial holiday where we mostly try to escape the daily grind (and grab some extra candy). But maybe, deep down, Halloween is still a little bit about embracing the unknown and laughing at our fears—while going door-to-door dressed as a penguin.
*a small PS is that fear of the unknown is actually the most stubborn reason why we don't change... To end with a serious note... ;-) 70% of all our actions are influenced by fear...