Halloween Research Paper

📌Category: History, Life, Traditions
📌Words: 1164
📌Pages: 5
📌Published: 11 April 2022

Halloween, the coveted October holiday that children (and LGBTQ+ youth) look forward to as a time to dress up and consume egregious amounts of candy, is arguably one of the most rich and history-laden holidays. Its roots can be traced back all the way to the pagan holiday Samhain (which has begun to increase in popularity), to All Saints Day, and eventually, to the Halloween known and loved by many today. The over-commercialization of Halloween has caused it to be the second most expensive holiday, right behind Christmas. Despite this exploitation of many Halloween traditions for the sake of business, many of the legends and activities that Halloween lovers partake in have intense similarities to ancient rituals, superstitions, and stories. 

First and foremost, the word Halloween itself has a deeper meaning. It is a contraction of “hallow” which means holy person, and een, a variation of “eve.” It is synonymous with All Hollow’s Eve, if one has the desire to have a bit more class, and All Saint’s Day, a Christian holiday meant to replace many of the pagan traditions, was once known as All-hallowtide, which also contains the word “hallow” in it. This is almost poetic, as the history of the name traces the journey that pagan traditions took to become the modern Halloween.

The first stop on this journey is the pagan holiday of Samhain (pronounced Sa-win). Steeped in Celtic tradition, Samhain was a three-day festival of death and rebirth. The Celtic calendar revealed this time to be increasingly imperative, as it symbolized the moving of the light part of the year into the dark section. Consequently, this is also the period in which numerous crops have been harvested and stored for winter. Fittingly, in modern Irish, Samhain loosely translates to “summer’s end.” Therefore, ancient Celtics revered this holiday as not only a time to usher the dark in safely, but to celebrate their yields. Numerous traditions reflect this ideal. For instance, one common tradition consisted of a fire festival, which was meant to protect the family from spirits, as well as death, and ensure luck in the coming season. During this fire festival, families would leave their home fires burning in the hearth while everyone gathered in the fields around a celebratory bonfire. At the bonfire, sacrifices were made to the Celtic gods (usually in the form of a cow) and each family took home a flaming stick from the fire to relight their fireplaces. This was thought to bring good fortune and protection to the residents within. Of course, other traditions were intertwined with this one. Since many believed that the barriers between our world and the spirit world broke down during this time, a variety of precautions were taken to prevent spirits from attacking. These precautions included donning costumes comprised of animal hides to hide from them, and putting offerings out for creatures similar to fairies known as Sidhs. The tradition of costumes was adopted by Christains and carried through All Saints Day, eventually becoming a staple in Halloween tradition. The parallels between Samhain and Halloween continue, though. The many spirits that they are hiding from include Pukah, a shape-shifting creature that receives harvest offerings, Lady Gwyn, a headless woman who dresses in white and runs around with a black pig, and a variety of gangs that enter houses and steal souls. The most prominent of these, however, is the Dullahan. The fact that they are headless people who carry their heads and ride flame-eyed horses is almost exactly the same as the legends of the headless horseman. Children took advantage of these spirit stories, and many pranks were played and blamed on mischievous spirits. In addition to these unwelcome haunts, it was also believed that dead loved ones came back into our world while the barrier was weak. These spirits were celebrated with a feast and celebrations. While this particular tradition may not have carried over to American Halloween, it does align with Day of the Dead traditions in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. Some documents also recorded that Samhain was celebrated with six days worth of drinking, but these are few and far between. 

When Rome conquered Celtic lands in 43 CE, they converted Samhain into a holiday more aligned with Christain beliefs, known as All Saints Day. Instead of honoring Celtic spirits and gods, Celtics were forced to honor Christain saints and martyrs. Certain traditions were altered to fit this narrative. For example, sacrifices were replaced with offerings to the less fortunate. This event is specifically linked to modern trick or treating, as this tradition evolved as it spread over Europe. People began offering food to those in need, in exchange for prayers to lost loved ones. Eventually, this task fell to children, who would acquire money, bread, or sweets. This became known as All Souls Day, and was one of the days celebrated in the three day stretch that was previously reserved for Samhain. As Halloween became more popularized, offering children candy became more commonplace as a way to discourage Halloween tricks, which had also carried over. However, instead of blaming these tricks on Celtic deities, they were blamed on Christian figures. The phrase “trick or treat” most likely came from this tradition, in which the adults asked the question and desperately hoped that the child only wanted some candy. 

Up until the 1850’s, there were very few Hallloween celebrations in the U.S, largely due to the immense number of Protestants in the colonies. (There were very few traditions that included costumes and fire rituals, but nothing other than that, and primarily in colonies such as Maryland) However, the rise of the Potato Famine brought significant numbers of the Irish population to the Americas. Here, their traditions assimilated and became commonplace. Trick-or-treating, haunts, spooky stories and bobbing for apples are just some of the traditions they brought over.  

However, how did simple little celebrations in Irish communities turn into the monstrosity of an event that modern Halloween is? Well, the answer is simple. In the late 1800’s, there was a movement to move Halloween into a more community-centered celebration than a prank and costume filled day of havoc. The rise of Halloween parties allowed more festive costumes, games, and foods of the season to be shared. Often, they were held at community centers, libraries, or neighborhoods. Throughout this movement, grotesque and frightening undertones were discouraged, in order to make the holiday more family friendly. This led to the loss of many superstitions, traditions, and long-held beliefs by the early 1900’s. After the baby boom, many of these parties were moved to the home or classroom, where children could more easily be accommodated.

From there, Halloween fluctuated based on the economy. Costumes became the first thing commercialized, quickly followed by candy companies after World War II. Since then, shops such as Spirit Halloween that specialize in spooky decorations, overpriced costumes, and immense amounts of candy have become a staple of the Halloween season. Spooky movies also offered promise, with Halloween movies showing record high box office numbers and engagement. Now, here we are, with a $6 billion dollar Halloween industry and too many horror movies to count. 

Halloween - a rich holiday teeming with tradition and thrill, has its roots in Samhain. Whether its name is All Hollow’s Eve or All Saints Day, the time-honored tradition of sacrifice (no longer of cows, but of candy) and disguising oneself against spirits continues on. Hopefully this holiday will continue to be enjoyed for years to come, and its history will forever live on in the spirit of Halloween.

+
x
Remember! This is just a sample.

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Order now
By clicking “Receive Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails.