Happy Halloween! Unless of course you suffer from samhainophobia, which is the official name given to the fear of Halloween. If you suffer from this malady, then crawl back under the covers and hope that the sheets and blankets will protect you from the ghosts, ghouls and monsters under your bed!
It turns out that Samhain (pronounced ‘sow-in’) is an ancient Celtic festival which most scholars believe was the origin of Halloween.1 The Celts lived primarily in what is now Ireland, the UK and northern France and celebrated their New Years on November 1st. “Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth”.1
Halloween has evolved like so many other things over the years. After the Romans conquered the Celts, they added their own twists by incorporating traditions from two of their festivals, Feralia and the day honoring Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. Subsequent to that, when Christianity spread to the Celtic lands, they eventually introduced All Saints Day, meant to honor the dead, on November 2nd.
When the colonies were first settled in America, Halloween was not widely celebrated given the strict belief systems in the Protestant communities. It was somewhat more common in Maryland (very interesting) and in the southern colonies. Halloween continued to evolve as more cultures meshed together in the New World, but took a big leap forward with the huge influx of Irish immigrants. “In the second half of the 19th century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing the Irish Potato Famine, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally.”1
“Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats.
Thus, a new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday after Christmas.”1 That last figure is pretty staggering – $6 billion spent on Halloween.
It turns out the America is not the only country that celebrates Halloween although each country that does celebrate Halloween has their own twist on it. Some of the countries that do celebrate Halloween are: Austria, Canada, Belgium, China, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, and, of course, Ireland.
I was most surprised to see China on this list. In China, Halloween is known as Teng Chieh. “Chinese people celebrate Halloween by placing the water and food in front of photographs of their dead friends and family members. They believe that the holy spirits travel on the earth on the Halloween night.”2
In France, it turns out that Halloween wasn’t even celebrated until 1996 and is known as an American holiday rather than a time to honor dead and martyred people. In Germany, they put away the knives on Halloween because they don’t want harm to come to the returning spirits!
I’m sure there are many, if not most Americans, who believe that Halloween is an American holiday. However, if it weren’t for ancient non-Christian people and a constant flow of immigrants into this country, there would be no Halloween. And that just goes to show the depth and richness of the cultural buffet on this planet. If only more people were willing to take advantage of it and embrace it instead of trying to force everyone to just eat angel food cake and vanilla ice cream!
I sincerely hope you don’t suffer from samhainophobia and have a truly exceptional Halloween! May all of the monsters under your bed be friendly! Happy Halloween.