Embrace the Spiritual Roots of Halloween

Halloween is much more than a children’s holiday to dress up and go trick-or-treating. While this is what the holiday has morphed into in modern times, it wasn’t always that way. So how did it begin?

There are traditions and rituals that are still part of the holiday that are thousands of years old, according to History.com. But many people have no idea where they came from. From carving pumpkins and wearing costumes to superstitions about ghosts and black cats, you must look back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.

The Celts lived 3,000 years ago in Central and Western Europe and pre-date Christianity. They celebrated their New Year on November 1, and this date marked the end of the harvest and heralded the cold weather season. But the Celts believed in something far more mystical, that on the day before the new year, it was believed that boundaries between the living and the dead became blurred and that the ghosts of the dead could return to earth.

The Rituals of Samhain
The Celtis Druids or priests believed that these spirits could help determine the future. In a world filled with uncertainty, this helped to provide comfort during the long winter. One of the traditions was to build a sacred bonfire where costumed people offered sacrifices. They then used the sacred fire to light their hearth fires (that had been allowed to go out) and give them protection during this long dark season.

Another fire ritual associated with Samhain that is still practiced today is carving lanterns from root vegetables reported The BBC. The practice began in Ireland where people used turnips and not pumpkins. They were named Jack-o’-Lanterns after a Celtic myth about a man named Jack who made a pact with the devil to not be sent to hell, but he was not admitted to heaven, so he was condemned to wander the earth with a turnip lantern.

In Ottery St Mary in the UK there is still a flaming tar barrels ritual that was practiced in ancient times to chase away evil spirits.

All Saints’ Day
By the ninth century, Christianity has spread into the Celtic lands and began replacing the Celtic rites and traditions. Pope Gregory III incorporated a day called All Saints Day and around 1,000 CE, the Catholic Church made it a day to honor the dead.

“There is a long tradition of costuming of sorts that goes back to Hallow Mass when people prayed for the dead,” Nicholas Rogers, a history professor at York University in Canada told BBC.

All Saints Day was celebrated with masses and visits to graves. The night before the traditional date of Samhain was called All Hallows Eve and eventually Halloween.

Connections to Today
The need to feel connected and part of something bigger than yourself is at the heart of most early Halloween traditions. And while interest in Druidry and Celtic rituals is growing, you do not have to be a pagan to take part in these traditions. Even trick-or-treating comes from these ancient practices.

While rituals about death can sound scary, according to a blog on Spirituality & Health, it can still be a meaningful and relevant time. Winter is the time for reflection, for remembering those you have lost and holding on to your dear ones. It is also time to set your intentions for the rebirth of the sun in spring.

You can also celebrate with your own Halloween rituals, these could include burning a candle, smudging herbs, reading tarot cards, or just sitting by a window with a pumpkin latte and watching the leaves fall.