The Hair Raising History of Halloween

How did Halloween Originate? Halloween, the second most celebrated holiday today, was originally a pagan celebration that honored the dead. The origiin of Halloween dates back to over 2,000 years ago and was referred to as "Hallow's Eve."

The culture of Halloween is traced all the way back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain, and Northern Europe. The traditions began with the feast of Samhain, which was a yearly feast that was held on October 31st in order to honor the lives of the dead.

The Samhain festival was a giant harvest that held sacred bonfires to mark the end of the Celtic year and the beginning of a new one. The celebration was mostly based on superstitions, but there was a belief that this was a day when the spirits of the dead would cross over into the other world.

The Celtics believed that during the night, the souls of the dead would roam the streets and villages. In order to satisfy the unfriendly spirits, the Celtics would leave out treats and gifts to satisfy the evil spirits to make sure that the next year's crops would be plentiful.

When we think about Halloween, we cannot help but to also think of the jack-o-lantern. The creation of the jack-o-lantern originated from an Irish myth about a man named "Stingy Jack."

According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him and tricked the Devil into turning into a coin to pay for their drinks. After the Devil transformed, Jack stored him in his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from SHifting back into his original form. Jack finally freed the Devil on the condition that the Devil could not claim his soul for at least one year.  

Next, Jack tricked the Devil once again into climbing a tree to pick a piece of fruit. When the Devil went up the tree, Jack carved a cross into the bark, trapping the Devil until he agreed to not claim Jack's soul for another ten years.

The legend claims that after Jack died, God would not allow an unsavory figure like him into heaven. The Devil also denied Jack entrance to Hell. Finally, the Devil sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his path. Jack put the coall into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth ever since.

So although making jack-o-lanters from pumpkins is the most commonly used method today, jack-o-lanterns were origninally scultped from turnips, potatoes, or beets. It wasn't until immigrants from Ireland and Scotland came to the United States and discovered that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, made much more practical jack-o-lanterns.

Thanks to the Samhain festival and Stingy Jack, we now have a holiday where we can raid the candy aisles at the supermarket and dress up as a Netflix screen holding a bag of ice without judgement.'Tis the season to be creepy and crawly.

Happy Halloween!