Some of the most iconic features of modern Halloween traditions can be traced back to ancient rituals. The most influential of these appears to be the Celtic feast day, Samhain. However, alongside the date itself, the customs associated with the day including trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, and apple bobbing, all have roots in ancient beliefs and practices.
The Feast of Samhain
The Celtic calendar (influenced by the pastoral and agricultural year) began on November 1st. Traditionally, this was marked by the great feast of Samhain. Coinciding with the end of harvest season, livestock would be slaughtered and great bonfires lit. The association with the supernatural of modern Halloween festivities may also hark back to the tradition of ancient burial mounds being opened and spirits (aos si) were believed to walk the earth.
There are records of food being left as offerings and places being set at dinner for departed family members. In the 9th century, the western church endorsed Samhain renaming November 1st ‘All Saints’ Day’, making October 31st ‘All Saints’ Eve’ or ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ from which the term Halloween is derived. Despite Halloween having evolved since then, many still celebrate the festival of Samhain today.
The Jack- O’-Lantern
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterThe earliest known use of the term Jack- O’-Lantern is in England in the 1660s.This is to refer to a light phenomenon also called Will o’the Wisp. This folklore term was used to explain the bright lights occasionally appearing above marshes or bogs that we now know as bioluminescence. The main story that seems to have given the Jack-O’-Lantern its name comes from a mid-18th century Irish folktale of Stingy Jack. In various versions of this legend, Jack is a blacksmith who cheats the devil in a wager. Sometimes trapping the devil in crosses, sometimes tricking him into turning himself into a silver coin.
In each variation, Stingy Jack has led a life of crime and so cannot go to heaven. However, as he has outsmarted the devil, he cannot be taken to hell either and so his spirit is doomed to wander the earth after death. When Stingy Jack asks the devil how he will be able to see which way to go, the devil throws Jack a fiery coal which Jack promptly puts in a carved-out vegetable (sometimes turnip or pumpkin). The ghostly firelit pumpkin being Stingy Jack’s ghostly lantern. And so, the legend of the Jack-O’-Lantern was created.
Love Rituals
Although associated with more ghoulish superstitions, there was also an ancient tradition of young girls hoping to see their future husband reflected in a candlelit mirror. It was then possible to discover his initial by throwing a complete apple peel over her shoulder – the letter formed would be that of her future beau.
Another popular Halloween tradition was to line a hot fireplace (or around a bonfire) with hazelnuts, giving each the name of a prospective husband and reciting “if you love me pop and fly; if you hate me, burn and die.” To guarantee a dream of her future love on Halloween, a young girl could place her shoes in the form of a ‘T’. a potent talisman representing the Norse god, Thor. she then said: ‘Hoping this night my true love to see, I place my shoes in the T.’ While less popular than some Halloween traditions, some do still carry out the traditional love rituals for their amusement.
Bonfires
Often witnessed as part of Samhain feasts, bonfires were also believed to have a cleansing and purifying property; a symbolic clearing of the year past to prepare for the year ahead. They may have also served the practical purpose of preparing the earth for the new agricultural year. A more superstitious purpose may have been to ward of spirits (driven away by the light). There are also some theories that suggest ancient pagans may have lit the fires to ensure the sun would return after the dark of the winter. Although bonfires are more commonly associated with Bonfire Night today, there are some who enjoy gathering around a fire at Halloween.
Trick or Treat
There are conflicting theories on the origin of this popular tradition. The truth is likely to be a combination of all of these. Firstly, during Samhain, food would be left out as offerings to wandering souls who walked the earth at night. In time, merrymakers began to dress as these spirits in exchange for small food offerings. The German-American tradition of belsnickeling also saw people dressing in ghoulish costumes and going door-to-door. In this tradition, those who answered would have to guess who was disguised and then give a small offering if they were wrong.
This is reminiscent of the Scottish practice of ‘guising’ (or ‘souling’). Mostly children (although poorer adults were recorded to have taken part also) would go door-to-door, in costume, offering prayers for the dead on All Souls’ Day. Over time, the prayers evolved into jokes, tricks, songs and other entertainment in return for money or food. The practice of trick-or-treating remains popular today, particularly in the United States.
Apple Bobbing
Also known as ‘ducking’ or ‘dooking in Scotland, or Snap Apple Night in Ireland and Newfoundland, apple bobbing is an ancient Halloween tradition. The likely origins are the merging of the Celtic Samhain with the Roman fruits and orchards goddess Pomona, whose symbol was the apple. When conquering Britain, Romans introduced the apple to British soil. Already a powerful symbol in Roman culture, when Celts cut the apple in half (lengthways) they observed that the seeds formed a pentagram; a symbol they associated with fertility.
From here, variations of bobbing for or spinning for apples were commonplace amongst young, unmarried folk. The purpose was one of divination: ‘Who would be the next to marry?’, ‘Who will my partner be?’, and other questions were apparently answered by whoever could first catch an apple or let an apple fall.
