History of Halloween

by Sofia Munif

Everyone celebrates Halloween by dressing up and eating candy, however, do people know the story of halloween and where it came from?  

Samhain: turnip lantern

Halloween originated from a Pagan festival called Samhain. Samhain marked New Year’s Eve to the Pagans. During Samhain, Pagans believed that the barrier between the world and the spiritual world was the thinnest, meaning that spirits of the dead could come into our world and interact and be partly human again - a bit like the Disney movie “Coco”.  They thought that the spirits would cause trouble and damage the harvest they had collected before winter. To avoid this, they protected themselves by lighting huge bonfires, sacrificing animals and  disguising  themselves, so that the spirits could not recognise them. The costumes were usually made of animal skins and heads.  This is probably where carving the pumpkins and placing a candle in them as well as dressing up in costumes originated. 

But where did the name Halloween come from? The name Halloween arose in the 9th century when Pope Boniface IV decided to make 1 November a day to honour Christian saints and martyrs.  This day later became a way to honour the dead.  Historians believe that the church was trying to get rid of the pagan festival, Samhain, and replace it with a church holiday.  This day was called all souls day but over time it changed to All - Hallows eve. This day was very similar to the pagan festival as it had big fires and people dressed up in costumes of angels, saints and devils. The name later changed to the one we recognise, Halloween. 

Nowadays, the 31st October is a commercial holiday, this is where people dress up, wear monster costumes,  buy lots of candy and sweet food and carve pumpkins. Today,  Halloween is a way for business’ to make large amounts of money. In 2021, it is estimated that people spent £600 million pounds in the UK on Halloween purchases.  Over the past couple of years when Covid-19 hit, Halloween became less popular. People stopped trick or treating, they stopped dressing up and they stopped partying. In 2022, expect Halloween to come back to life!