Spooky History
Once a year we get decked out to roam the streets of our neighborhoods in search of candy and mischief. But does anybody really know why?
By Jessica Fleming
Skiff Staff

The name Halloween is a version of the term All Hallows’ Eve, or the Eve of All Saints’ Day, a holiday set up by a Pope in the eighth century.

In the time of the ancient Celtic druids, Oct. 31 was New Year’s Eve, a time for observing religious festivities. Samhein (pronounced Sow-in, meaning summer’s end) as it was called, signified the end of the summer and harvest. Priests would tell futures based on the belief that, for this one day, the separation between the worlds of the natural and supernatural thinned, allowing a seemingly more accurate perception of future events than ones made at any other time. Though evidence supports the practice of burnt offerings, these sacrifices were usually in the form of crops or livestock.

This was also the time for paying respects to the dead. Later Roman influence combined these practices with Fevalia, an October festival honoring the dead, and a day honoring Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees, perhaps giving cause to the custom of bobbing for apples.

There is some debate over the role of costuming at this point in time, as sources dispute the role of ceremonial garb in this druid religious practice. Much later, however, there rose a belief that mischievous spirits walked the streets on this night and it became appropriate to disguise oneself to avoid being attacked by such spirits. This led also to the practice of leaving offerings in front of a home, so that the passing spirits might be inclined not to enter the home or harm the household. From there it progressed to handing out “soul cakes” to beggars who visited on that evening, in exchange for prayers for dead relatives of the household. The term "trick or treat" originated in America in the 20th century, when it became a supported means of combating the increasingly violent pranks of adolescents around the 1950s.

The spooky holiday has changed in many ways from the druid’s harvest festival, but the desire to congregate and celebrate is still very apparent.