Halloween is right around the corner!
- Daniel McMahon
- Oct 28, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 4, 2024
How did we get from warding off ghosts to becoming the ones people are afraid of?
Lynae Munkholm ('27) & Gabriella Chiang ('27)
To start off, let’s figure out how Halloween came about in the first place.
Most might know already, but it holds major roots in Christianity, most likely evolving from the celebration of Christian martyrs and saints (also known as ‘All Saints Day’). These celebrations dated back to as early as 4th century Rome.
You might be thinking, “That doesn’t sound like Halloween at all!”, and you are right. ‘All Saints Day’ also went by another name; ‘All Hallows Day’, which might start to sound a bit more familiar now.
Originally, the celebration of All Saints Day was held on May 13th, and was placed on the Roman calendar by Pope Boniface. A century later, the date was changed to November 1st by Pope Gregory the Third and was only added to the universal Christian calendar another century after, meaning it would be celebrated by churches everywhere instead of just Rome. Also, with the date changed to November 1st (the day before October 31st), it would’ve been celebrated as ‘All Hallows Eve’ contributing to the name and date of Halloween.
Furthermore, on All Hallows Eve, people often practiced the tradition of souling. They would go door-to-door asking for soul cakes and would often be disguised/dressed up among many other practices. This also leads to the tradition of ‘guising’, practiced in Scotland and Ireland where young people would dress up and go door-to-door either singing or performing to receive a treat or money in return. The practice of souling is thought to have been inspired from the Celtic tradition of mumming. Mumming is a masquerade tradition in which performers would perform a traditional play.
Halloween is also believed to have a few more origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (which begins on October 31st and ends on November 1st in the northern hemisphere).
In Samhain, people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts, however, they didn’t dress as ghosts; there is little mention of that in the practice of souling. But, in the Scottish tradition of guising it is stated that they dressed as malicious spirits, with the belief that they would be disguised and protected against any wandering spirits, which could have evolved in the traditions of costumes today.
At the end though, this seems like a case of traditions evolving to fit modern standards more, many practices combining to become new ones and old traditions long forgotten.Nowadays, all you can see is scary movies, a popular one being “IT”, horrifying costumes in stores, the aesthetics of halloween decor, and the spooky vibes of trick-or-treating during nighttime.
Well I hope you enjoyed that brief history lesson as well as Halloween! Happy haunting!
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