The Origins:
Halloween began to evolve as early as AD 270 from the Celt’s culture in Ireland who practiced a special costume party event the night before their annual feast of “Samhain,” that had a two-fold purpose. The feast wasn’t solely a memorial to commemorate their deceased relatives however also a thanksgiving to close the end of the summer season of light and to organize diligently for entering into the darkness of the long winter season.
Superstition has it that the “eve” before the feast was then a time to beat back any evil spirits that they believed were forged out or released from the spirit world realm into their physical world and who would return to attack the feast celebration. believing that demons, witches, and hobgoblins were real and existed, October 31st then became an annual costume event to try through disguised look fool the evil spirits into thinking they were not humans to be harmed.
The Druids, who were the Celt’s ruling class, required of everybody to attempt tricking the evil spirits by dressing up to look like goblins, witches, and devils, and by carving ugly, monstrous faces on gourds lighted with candles, and by sweetly putting treats outside their door. The challenge, consistent with superstition, was to divert the evil spirits attention far from their feast the subsequent day.
On All Hallows’ Eve, Christians in some parts of the world visit cemeteries to pray and place flowers and candles on the graves of their loved ones. The top photograph shows Bangladeshi Christians lighting candles on the headstone of a relative, while the bottom photograph shows Lutheran Christians praying and lighting candles in front of the central crucifix of a graveyard.
Missionary Involvement:
The Lord had completely different plans for the Celt’s and through the second century . He sent some missionaries to England and Ireland to convert the people to Christianity. When the Christian missionaries traveled from Europe and arrived within the land of the Celt’s, the Druids, after hearing the Gospel, became longing for all their people to become Christians and to denounce their pagan gods and practices like superstitiously placating and cast off evil demon spirits. In time, they adapted and combined the tradition of their feast on November 1 and “all Hallows Eve” along with the Gospel. The Christian monks decided it might be an effective way to share the Gospel and to dispel and lay to rest the Celt’s superstition concerning ghosts and evil spirits. That Christ, their Creator and Savior, defeated Satan, death, and evil at the cross and thru Him alone, evil demons were swamped and would break away.
Halloween Samhain Feast also provided a chance to be reminded of or find out about Christian heroes and martyrs together with the Celt‘s continued to officially acknowledge and commemorate the souls of their blessed dead who had been declared saints.
Many scholars agree that the commemoration of saints on November 1st originated in Ireland, spread from there to England, and so to the continent of Europe with the increase of Christianity. By the ninth century, the Roman catholic church adopted the Celt’s Halloween tradition and Pope Gregory IV sent out an official letter of notification urging that Halloween be discovered harmonized with All Saints Day throughout the roman empire.
Halloween is derived from the term All Hollows Eve and “Hallomass,” which means Holy evening.
