Many of the ancient people of
Europe marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter by
celebrating a holiday in late autumn. The most important of these holidays that
influence later Halloween customs was Samhain, a holiday observed by the
ancient Celts, a tribal people who inhabited most of Western and Central Europe
in the first millenium BC. Among the Celts, Samhain marked the end of one year
and the beginning of the next. It was one of four Celtic holidays linked to important
transitions in the annual cycle of seasons.
Samhain began at sundown on
October 31 and extended into the following day. According to the Celtic pagan
religion, known as Druidism, the spirit of those who had died in the preceding
year roamed the earth on Samhain evening. The Celts sought to ward off these
spirits with offerings of food and drink. The Celts also built bonfires at
scared hilltop sites and performed rituals, often involving human and animal
sacrifices, to honor Druid deities.
In Britain, Romans blended local
Samhain custom with their own pagan harvest festival honoring Pamona, goddess
of fruit trees. Some scholars have suggested that the game of bobbing for
apples derives from this Roman association of the holiday with fruit.
In British folklore, small magical
being known as fairies became associated with Halloween mischief. The
jack-o’—lantern, originally carved from a large turnip rather than a pumpkin,
originated in medieval Scotland. Various methods of predicting the future,
especially concerning matters of romance and marriage, were also prominent
features of Halloween throughout the British Isles.
Between the 15th and 17th
centuries, Europe was seized by a hysterical fear of witches, leading to the
persecution of thousands of innocent women. Witches were thought to ride flying
brooms and to assume the form of black cats. These images of witches soon
joined other European superstitions as symbols of Halloween.
(Taken from: Encarta Reference Library, 2005)
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