The History of Halloween

Halloween is popular in Ireland, where it is said to have originated, and is known in Irish as "Oíche Shamhna" or "Samhain Night". Pre-Christian Celts had an autumn festival, Samhain. End of Summer", a pastoral and agricultural "fire festival" or feast, when the dead revisited the mortal world, and large communal bonfires would be lit to ward off evil spirits.

On Halloween night in present-day Ireland, adults and children dress up as creatures from the underworld (ghosts, ghouls, zombies, witches, goblins), light bonfires, and enjoy spectacular fireworks displays (despite the fact that such displays are usually illegal). The children walk around knocking on the doors of neighbors, in order to gather fruit, nuts, and sweets for the Halloween festival. Salt was once sprinkled in the hair of the children to protect against evil spirits.

The houses are decorated by carving pumpkins or turnips into scary faces and other decorations. Lights are then placed inside the carved head to help light and decorate. The traditional Halloween cake in Ireland is the barmbrack which is a fruit bread. Each member of the family gets a slice. Great interest is taken in the outcome as there is a piece of rag, a coin and a ring in each cake. If you get the rag then your financial future is doubtful. If you get the coin then you can look forward to a prosperous year. Getting the ring is a sure sign of impending romance or continued happiness. Usually these days only the ring is included in commercially made barn bracs.

Games are played, such as ducking/bobbing for apples, where apples, monkey nuts (peanuts) and other nuts and fruit and some small coins are put into a basin of water. The apples and monkey nuts float. Coins are harder to catch as they sink. Everyone takes turns catching as much can be caught using only the mouth and no hands. In some households the coins are pushed into the fruit for the children to "earn" as they catch each apple. The Scottish and English have taken this tradition into their customs with a game named ducking, after the fast movement of a person's head under the water to try to get something without having the head under the water for too long. Another game involves trying to eat an apple, hung from the ceiling on a string, without using the hands.

England and Wales

The Anglo-Saxon invasions of the 5th and 6th centuries AD pushed the native Celts north and westward in Britain, to present-day Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, and Cumbria, taking the festival of All Hallows Eve with them. All Saints Day (All Hallows Day) became fixed on the 1st of November in 835, and All Souls Day on the 2nd of November circa 998. On All Souls Eve, families sat up, and little "soul cakes" were eaten by everyone. At the stroke of midnight there was silence with candles burning in every room to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes and a glass of wine on the table to refresh them. The tradition continued in some areas of northern England as late as the 1930s, with children going from door to door "souling" for cakes or money, by singing a song. The English Reformation in the 16th century de-emphasized holidays like All Hallows Day and its associated eve. With the rise of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations in 17th century England, many Halloween practices, especially the building of bonfires, were transferred to 5 November. Halloween celebrations in the UK were re-popularized in the 1980s with influence from America, and saw the reintroduction of traditions such as pumpkin faces and trick-or-treat.

United States and Canada

Halloween did not become a holiday in America until the 19th century, where lingering Puritan tradition meant even Christmas was scarcely observed before the 1800s. American almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th centuries make no mention of Halloween in their lists of holidays. The transatlantic migration of nearly two million Irish following the Irish Potato Famine (1845–1849) brought the holiday and its customs to America. Scottish emigration from the British Isles, primarily to Canada before 1870 and to the United States thereafter, brought that country's own version of the holiday to each country.

In the United States, Halloween has become the sixth most profitable holiday (after Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentines Day, Easter, and Father's Day).