The Little-Known Ancient Roots of Halloween

The annual celebration of Halloween on October 31 is a mainstay across much of the Western world. While modern Halloween traditions include spooky costumes and trick-or-treating, it is an ancient festival that can be traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the turning of the Celtic year. It was also a time when the veil between the worlds was thin, allowing ghosts and other supernatural beings to pass through, giving Halloween its spooky side. Through the Romans, Samhain was integrated into the Christian festival calendar, becoming All-Hallows Eve, before evolving into the modern secular festival of Halloween.

Where Does Halloween Originally Come From?

The Celts of Ireland, Britain, and Northern France treated 31 October much as we treat New Year’s Eve, marking the closing of one annual cycle and the beginning of another. Called Samhain by the Irish, meaning “end of summer,” it was known as Calan Gaeal in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall, and Kalan Goanv in Brittany (Northern France).

While the earliest written evidence for Samhain dates to the 9th century, when Ireland was already Christianized, there is strong evidence that it was an ancient festival. Several Irish Neolithic passage tombs are aligned with the rising sun on Samhain, suggesting that the date was important from prehistoric times. The Gaulish Coligny Calendar from the 1st century BCE calls this time of year “Samoni.”

Because the literary sources come from Christian times, they describe a mix of pagan and Christian customs. It suggests that the ancient pagan festival was associated with the god Crom Cruach, who seems to have been both a solar and a fertility deity.  He is a god hidden by mists who accepts “firstborn” sacrifices in exchange for good harvests. This probably means that he received the first takings of the harvest, but there is some evidence that he also received human sacrifices. In this case, “firstborn” probably referred to the most important person in the community rather than birth order. It is suspected that several Irish bog burials represent the ritual sacrifice of kings or other important persons, possibly interred around the time of Samhain.