Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off potential evil spirits. The Celts, who lived roughly 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1st. This day marked the end of the summer harvest and the beginning of a cold and dark winter. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary that separated the world of the living and the dead became blurred. During this festival, they believed that the ghosts of the dead would return to Earth and that their return would make it easier for priests to make predictions about the future. For individuals who were completely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source as the priests were about to provide them with information that made them feel more comfortable through the long winter months. To commemorate the event, priests would build big sacred bonfires, where people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.
Around A.D. 43, the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory and began to implement some new traditions. The first was Feralia, where Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. She was represented by an apple, and the incorporation of this celebration likely explains the tradition of bobbing for apples, which is practiced today on Halloween. In the second half of the 19th century, America was flooded with new immigrants. Millions of Irish fleeing the Irish potato famine helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Borrowing from European traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money in exchange for prayers for their passed loved ones. This became the tradition we now know as trick or treating.
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