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The Facts on Halloween
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HALLOWEEN
The Pagan Roots of Halloween
By John Ankerberg, John Weldon and Dillon Burroughs
Guest Writers

CBN.com

(Excerpt from The Facts on Halloween by Harvest House Publishers)

Are the specific customs of Halloween related to pagan beliefs?

Since Halloween itself originated in paganism, it is not surprising that its cus
toms are related to pagan belief. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica,
In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic Festival of Samhain was observed
on October 31, at the end of summer . The souls of the dead were supposed to revis
it their homes on this day and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significa
nce, with ghosts, witches, goblins, black cats, fairies and demons of all kinds
said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers con
trolling the processes of nature. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the m
ost favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death.

It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purpose
s.
Halloween symbols, customs, and practices undoubtedly have had a variety of infl
uences upon Western culture throughout history. However, in early American histo
ry, Halloween was not celebrated due to America s strong Christian heritage. It wa
s not widely observed until the twentieth century. Initially, it was practiced o
nly in small Irish Catholic settlements, until thousands of Irish migrated to Am
erica during the great potato famine and brought their customs with them. To som
e degree, our modern Halloween is an Irish holiday with early origins in the Cel
tic winter festival. Interestingly, in American culture, the rise in popularity
of Halloween also coincides roughly with the national rise in spiritism that beg
an in 1848.
Irish Holiday
Ireland is the only place in the world where Halloween is actually a national ho
liday (celebrated with fireworks); children are even released from school for th
e week.
Among the modern customs and practices of Halloween, we can note numerous probab
le or possible influences, some of which follow.
Where did the jack-o -lantern originate?
The carved pumpkin may have originated with the witches use of a collection of sk
ulls with a candle in each to light the way to coven meetings. But among the Iri
sh, who, as noted, prompted the popularization of Halloween in America, the lege
nd of Irish Jack explains the jack-o -lantern. According to the legend, a stingy dru
nk named Jack tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree for an apple, but th
en cut the sign of a cross into the trunk of the tree to prevent the devil from
coming down. Jack then forced the devil to swear he would never come after Jack s
soul. The devil reluctantly agreed.
Jack eventually died, but he was turned away at the gates of heaven because of h
is drunkenness and life of selfishness. He was sent to the devil, who also rejec
ted him, keeping his promise. Since Jack had no place to go, he was condemned to
wander the earth. As he was leaving hell (he happened to be eating a turnip), t
he devil threw a live coal at him. He put the coal inside the turnip and has sin
ce forever been roaming the earth with his jack-o -lantern in search of a place to r
est. Eventually, pumpkins replaced turnips since it was much easier to symbolize
the devil s coal inside a pumpkin.
How did the tradition of trick-or-treating begin?
There are several ancient practices that point to this tradition. One possibilit
y is from the notion that ancient witches had to steal the materials needed for
their festivals. The Druids may have believed that witches held this day to be s
pecial, something clearly true for modern witches.
The idea of trick-or-treating is further related to the ghosts of the dead in pa
gan, and even Catholic, history. For example, among the ancient Druids, The ghost
s that were thought to throng about the houses of the living were greeted with a
banquet-laden table. At the end of the feast, masked and costumed villagers rep
resenting the souls of the dead paraded to the outskirts of town leading the gho
sts away.
As already noted, Halloween was thought to be a night when mischievous and evil
spirits roamed freely. As in modern poltergeist lore, mischievous spirits could
play tricks on the living so it was advantageous to hide from them by wearing costum

es. Masks and costumes were worn to either scare away the ghosts or to keep from
being recognized by them:
In Ireland especially, people thought that ghosts and spirits roamed after d
ark on Halloween. They lit candles or lanterns to keep the spirits away, and if
they had to go outside, they wore costumes and masks to frighten the spirits or
to keep from being recognized by these unearthly beings.
Where did Halloween costumes originate?
Besides the reasons given above, Halloween masks and costumes were used to hide
one s attendance at pagan festivals or as in traditional shamanism (mediated by a wi
tch doctor or pagan priest) and other forms of animism to change the personality o
f the wearer to allow for communication with the spirit world. Here, costumes co
uld be worn to ward off evil spirits. On the other hand, the costume wearer migh
t use a mask to try to attract and absorb the power of the animal represented by
the mask and costume worn. According to this scenario, Halloween costumes may h
ave originated with the Celtic Druid ceremonial participants, who wore animal he
ads and skins to acquire the strength of a particular animal.
An additional layer of tradition explaining the origin of Halloween costumes com
es from the medieval Catholic practice of displaying the relics of saints on All
Saints Day: The poorer churches could not afford relics and so instituted a proce
ssion with parishioners dressed as the patron saints; the extras dressed as ange
ls or devils and everyone paraded around the churchyard.
Going from door to door seeking treats may result from the Druidic practice of b
egging material for the great bonfires. As we will see later, it is also related
to the Catholic concept of purgatory and the custom of begging for a soul cake.
As for the trick custom of Halloween, this is related to the idea that ghosts and
witches created mischief on this particular night. For example, if the living di
d not provide food, or treats, for the spirits, then the spirits would trick the liv
ing. People feared terrible things might happen to them if they did not honor th
e spirits. The Druids also believed that failure to worship their gods would bri
ng dire consequences. If the gods were not treated properly in ritual, they woul
d seek vengeance. This was therefore a day of fear. Further, some people soon re
alized that a mischievous sense of humor, or even malevolence, could be camoufla
ged that they could perform practical jokes on or do harm to others and blame it o
n the ghosts or witches roaming about.
What s the significance of fruits and nuts at Halloween?
Halloween traditions often involve fruit centerpieces, apples, and nuts. Three o
f the sacred fruits of the Celts were acorns, apples, and nuts, especially the h
azelnut, considered a god, and the acorn, sacred from its association to the oak
. Fruits and nuts also seem to be related to the Roman harvest feast of Pomona,
apparently the goddess of fruit. For example, in ancient Rome, cider was drawn a
nd the Romans bobbed for apples, which was part of a divination that supposedly
helped a person discover their future marriage partner.
How did we get the tradition of telling ghost stories?
It became a natural expression of Halloween to tell ghost stories when dead soul
s were believed to be everywhere, and good, mischievous, and evil spirits roamed
freely. These stories further originated as a personal expression of these beli
efs.
More from CBN.com's Halloween Resource Section
Harvest House Publishers book The Facts on Halloween

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