Happy Halloween from the Jefferson County Post!

Halloween has been a favorite holiday throughout the ages, and now that the much-anticipated day is upon us, let’s take a look at how the holiday evolved to the point it is at today. Halloween is a peculiar celebration, and calls out the spooky and unknown things and allows them to thrive, even if just for one night. From trick or treating to haunted houses, people around the world can’t wait for the night of fright. How did this hallowed holiday get started?

Experts report that the origins of Halloween began with the Ancient Celtic Festival of Samhain. Samhain was a celebration of the Celtic New Year, usually occurring on November 1st. The celebration marked the end of summer and the harvest, and ushered in the beginning of the winter and the dark and cold usually associated with human death.

The Celts believed that on the night before the New Year (October 31st) the boundary lines between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. To commemorate the event, and honor the dead, they built huge bonfires where they burned crops and animal sacrifices to their deities. The Celts would wear animal costumes consisting of animal’s skins and heads as they tried to look into the fires and tell each other’s fortunes.

The celebrations of the holiday would continue in these ancient ceremonies throughout the ages, all the way up to the 9th century during the reign of the ancient Romans. In the 9th century, the influence of Christianity had spread prominently in the Celtic lands that had already blended with older cities. History explains that around 1,000 AD the church wanted to make November 2nd All Saints Day, which would be a holiday to honor the dead.

Many people believed that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic holiday with a Christian holiday of their own. Eventually, All Saints day would also be called All-Hallows or All Hallowmas. This would again continue through the centuries until it was called All-Hallows Eve, which would evolve into the modern holiday Halloween.

You might be asking yourself if Halloween is still a universal holiday, or if only certain parts of the world still celebrate it. In Mexico and Latin America, All Souls Day is celebrated around November 2nd. All Souls Day is usually a three day celebration beginning on October 31st. The celebration is a colorful mix of Catholicism and traditional latin culture, and is meant to honor the dead; many believe that on the holiday the dead can return to their earthly homes. This is why families construct altars in their homes for the dead, consisting of candy, flowers, and favorite foods and beverages of the deceased.

In England, however, many do not celebrate Halloween. Experts report that the English stopped widely celebrating Halloween after the Protestant Reformation because a large portion of the population no longer believed in the concept of Saints. Instead, they celebrate a holiday called Guy Fawks Day. Guy Fawks was convicted in 1606 of attempting to blow up the English Parliament building. Although the holiday has lost much of its political edge and original meaning, it has been adapted into a popular social holiday with custom akin to All Saints Day, or Halloween. People celebrate throughout the country by lighting bonfires and children go around on the holiday in a unique form of trick-or-treating. In Ireland, where Halloween began, the holiday is still alive and well, much like here in the United States. From all of us here at the Jefferson County Post, have a happy Halloween!