A Brief History of Halloween

When someone is asked to describe Halloween, most people in the modern day would say candy, costumes, horror, and the colors orange and black as their answers.

Will a majority of them say a ritual, a day of worshiping the dead, or paganism? Possibly not, as each generation for many years has changed or rewritten what Halloween actually means.

Now it is no secret that Halloween is considered one of the nation’s most popular holidays, right behind Christmas, with it being a culture and commercial success with children.

The holiday’s representation is something most people do not often pay attention to, considering that Oct. 31 in ancient European colonies was celebrated as a festival for the end of the summer.

Originally called Samhain, the day was supposed to represent the beginning of the dark half of the Celtic year; the colder half of the year.

The day would consist of feasting, bonfires and rituals. The day would last from sunset Oct. 31 to Nov 1.

As the years passed, the idea of Samhain began to change as it was a day when the dead would revisit the world of the living as ghosts and both dimensions would intertwine one that particular day.

Though the Celtic originally set the day of what we call Halloween, many other cultures had their own way of worshiping the dead.In order to convert more pagans into the Christian faith, they made a day called Lemuria.

Lemuria was similar to Samhain; it was at first on May 13 and held the tradition that the dead would haunt people if a proper ritual were not held at their graves. This then changed to All Saints Day to honor the Christian faith.

Once it became very popular among Christians, the day was moved to Nov. 1 and changed to All Hallows day. The Celtic people then changed Samhain to All Hallows Eve, then finally Halloween.

Others cultures, like Mexico, celebrate these traditions, but call it Dia De Los Muertos (Day Dead of the Dead) and celebrate it from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, following the Christian All Souls Day.

The idea of trick or treating also came fromChristians as a way to help the poor on All Souls Day. The poor would go door-to-door and ask people for food; once the food was given the poor would pray for the souls lost in purgatory so that way they would get into heaven.

As for the trick, the idea became more popular in the early 20th century as youth would cause vandalism to people’s property for the sake of their own enjoyment.

Thus, the idea of giving children candy to stop them from vandalizing took shape and made the term trick or treat a catchy thing to say around Halloween.

To the majority of people who celebrate Halloween, it is only done to have a good time.

JJC sophomore student, Kelly Schick, gave her opinion on Halloween.

“It’s a great time to dress up and be a character that you want to be. It’s a nice way for kids to explore their surroundings, and it’s also a nice way to get the community involve on a day where a neighbor’s child is getting something from you without causing any problems,” Schick said.

Schick continued, “I do not know much about the holidays origin, but I think that it’s nice to turn something what is seen as bad into something that is good.”

Though the holiday itself can be fun, there are those who find that it might be getting a little bit out of control with its horror theme.

English Professor Teresa Carrillo and her family have been celebrating the holiday for many years and love the ideas behind it, yet she often feels the concept of Halloween is being ruined by others who have fun by their own means.

“When I was trick-or-treating with my family, there was a house that had a lot of scary decorations on them, and at another house a person was jumping out and scaring my six year old. It bothered her so much that she ran all the way down the sidewalk to me,” Carillo said.

“We believe that the gore is getting out of hand,” Carillo continued. “We like seeing the people in their costumes and see them having a good time, but the horror, blood, and gore is something we do not tolerate.”

Though the ideas of Halloween will continue to change and influence people, it will still remain the same in future generations.

People would prefer to stick with something that not only they enjoy, but something that they can enjoy with the rest of their family.

Halloween brings people together, it can show their creativity and imagination and as one JJC student, Ryan Ramey, would put it “it’s a day about dressing up, getting free candy, and having blast.”