Short History of Halloween

Samhain

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, and is celebrated at the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. It was used by ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Gaels believed that October 31st is the day the boundaries between the living and the dead dissolves and the dead become dangerous for the living bringing with them all kinds of problems, such as sickness and damaged crops. Bonfires' were built, costumes and masks were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them, to hide from them.

The term Halloween is shortened from All Hallows' Even (both "even and eve" are abbreviations of "evening:, but Halloween gets its "n"from even). It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European pagan traditions, until Popes Gregory III and IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints' Day from May 13 to November 1st.

Jack-o'lantern

In America the carved punpkin with a lit candle inside is Halloweens' most prominent symbol, and is commonly called a jack-o'-lantern. These lanterns originated in Europe and were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga.

The Celts believed the head was the most powerful part of the human body, and contained the spirit of knowledge, used the head of the vegetable to frighten off any superstitions.

The name jack-o'lantern comes from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling hard-drinking old farmer who tricked the devil into climbing into a tree and trapped him there by carving a cross into the tree trunk. The devil in revenge placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with only the light he had; a candle inside of a hollowed turnip

. Pumpkins took the place of turnips, since they were so available in American, and their size made them easier to carve, this was around the mid 19th century.