The History of Halloween: From Samhain to Jack-o'-Lanterns

Where did Halloween come from? For this Halloween episode of the Soul Rising podcast, Erin Marie dug into the history, using The Canadian Encyclopedia, History.com and Wikipedia, and I joined in with a few guesses and a lot of questions. Here's the short version, plus our take on whether the veil really gets thinner this time of year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGZh8y_R0lc

Key takeaways

• Halloween grew out of Samhain, a Celtic festival marking the end of summer and the harvest.
• The Church later added All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, and the names blended into "All Hallows' Eve," then "Halloween."
• Trick-or-treating traces back to "souling," and jack-o'-lanterns to an Irish legend about Stingy Jack.
• As mediums, we don't think the veil physically thins. We think spirit is here all year, and Halloween changes our awareness.

Where does Halloween come from?

Halloween began as Samhain, a Celtic festival (pronounced SOW-in or SAH-win; the sources we found disagreed, and so did we). The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1, which marked the end of summer and the harvest and was closely tied to death and the coming winter. People believed the ghosts of the dead returned to Earth on October 31.

To get through the night, people:

• left offerings outside their doors to keep fairies away
• dressed as animals or monsters to ward off bad spirits
• lit huge bonfires and danced around them
• told each other's fortunes, because they believed it was the best time for predictions

Some accounts say the festival lasted three days and three nights.

How did Rome and the Church shape it?

By 43 AD the Romans had invaded the Celts' lands and merged their beliefs with Celtic ones. One example is Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees, whose symbol was an apple. Some historians link her to why we bob for apples.

Later, in the 700s, Pope Gregory III named November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honour the saints. It was an effort to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a church-approved holiday. People still danced around bonfires and dressed up, this time as saints, angels and devils. The night before became All Hallows' Eve, and over time the two names blended into Halloween.

Where does trick-or-treating come from?

On All Souls' Day (November 2), people with less money visited wealthier families and received pastries called soul cakes in exchange for praying for the family's ancestors. This was called souling, and children later adopted it, going door to door asking for gifts.

Irish, Scottish and English immigrants brought these customs to Canada and the U.S. by the late 1800s, including disguises to ward off ghosts and offerings of food to appease restless spirits. The first recorded use of the phrase "trick or treat" in Canada was in 1927, in Alberta. Early on, kids often performed poems or little tricks for coins, small tokens or cakes. During the Great Depression, the "tricks" turned more mischievous.

Why do we carve jack-o'-lanterns?

Jack-o'-lanterns were originally carved from turnips, potatoes or beets, foods local to the land. Carving them was a way to ask for good fortune: people were storing their harvest for winter and hoping it would keep. The carved faces were also meant to ward off evil spirits.

The name comes from an Irish legend about Stingy Jack. Jack repeatedly tricked the devil, so the devil couldn't take his soul. When Jack died, heaven didn't want him and neither did the devil, so he was left to wander the night with only a carved turnip. People began calling him "Jack of the Lantern," which became jack-o'-lantern.

When Irish and Scottish immigrants came to North America (many during the Potato Famine), they brought the tradition with them. Pumpkins were native and plentiful here, so they replaced turnips and potatoes.

Try this: when you carve your pumpkin, set an intention for it. We like the idea of treating it as an offering for good fortune, rather than a decoration left on the step to rot.

Is the veil really thinner on Halloween?

Sources describe Samhain as the time of year when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. Erin asked me whether readings feel different around now. For me, not really.

We both believe spirit is here with us all the time. We're starting to think of "here" and "there" as the same place, and of the veil as more about our perception than a physical barrier that thins. During spooky season we expect to notice more, so we do, and that awareness may be part of what makes the veil feel thinner. As working mediums, we know we can connect any time of year.

Listen, watch and keep exploring

You can listen to the full episode on the Soul Rising Podcast page. Looking for more spooky season? Our other Halloween episode covers ghosts vs. spirits and physical mediumship.

If you'd like to connect with a loved one in spirit, I offer virtual mediumship readings for clients in the U.S., Canada and worldwide. You can find Erin at emsoulwrk.com.

Happy Halloween,

Amy B. x