What is the origin of Halloween?
                     What is the 
origin of 
Halloween?
Introduction
 The word "Hal loween" comes from Al l  Hal lows '  Eve 
and means "hal lowed evening."
 The his tory of  Hal loween dates back to  a  pagan 
fest ival  cal led Samhain.
Source: www.countryliving.com
What Does Halloween 
Mean?
 The current Engl ish name Hal loween traces back to 
medieval  Chr ist iani ty.  The word ha l low is  der ived 
from the Middle and Old Engl ish words for  holy.
Source: www.countryliving.com
Why Do We Celebrate 
Halloween on October 31?
 The ancient  Gae l ic  fest ival  o f  Samhain,  which 
occurred on November 1  but  k icked off  the evening 
before,  i s  cons idered the ear l iest  known root  of  
some of  our  secular  Hal loween tradit ions.
Source: www.countryliving.com
Carving Jack-o’-Lanterns
 The tradi t ion of  carv ing Jack-o’ -Lanterns  or iginated 
in I re land us ing turnips instead of  pumpkins.  I t  is  
a l legedly based on a legend about a man named 
St ingy Jack who repeatedly  trapped the Devi l  and 
only  let  h im go on the  condi t ion that  Jack would 
never go to Hel l .  
Source: blogs.loc.gov
Seeing Ghosts
 The fest ival  o f  Samhain marked the transi t ion to 
the  new year at  the  end of  the  harvest  and 
beginning of  the  winter.  Cel t ic  people bel ieved that  
dur ing the  fest ival ,  sp ir i ts  walked the Earth.  
 Later  on,  Chr is t ian miss ionar ies introduced Al l  
Souls ’  Day on November 2 ,  which perpetuated the  
idea of  the l iv ing coming into  contact  wi th the  
dead around the  same t ime of  year.  
Source: blogs.loc.gov
Wearing Scary Costumes
 In order to  avoid being terror ized by al l  the evi l  
sp ir i ts  walk ing the Earth dur ing Samhain,  the Ce lts  
donned disguises so that  they would not  be  
mistaken for  spir i ts  themselves and be left  a lone.  
Source: blogs.loc.gov
Trick-or-Treating 
 There is  much debate  around the or igins of  t r ick-
or- t reat ing,  but  general ly  there are three theor ies.  
The fi rst  theory suggests that  dur ing Samhain,  
Cel t ic  people would leave food out  to appease the  
spir i ts  t ravel ing the Earth at  n ight.  
 Over t ime,  people began to dress as  these 
unearthly  beings in  exchange for  s imi lar  off er ings 
of  food and dr ink.  
Source: blogs.loc.gov
Black Cats
 The idea of  be ing spooked by black cats  dates  back 
to the Middle Ages,  when these dark fe l ines were  
considered a symbol  o f  the  Devi l .  
 I t  d idn’t  he lp that  centur ies  later ,  accused witches 
were often found to have cats ,  part icu lar ly  b lack 
ones.
Source: blogs.loc.gov
Black and Orange
 The tradit ional  Hal loween colors  of  b lack and 
orange a lso t races back to the Cel t ic  fest ival  of  
Samhain.  For  the  Ce lts ,  black represented the  
“death” of  summer whi le  the  orange symbol ized 
the  autumn harvest season.  
Source: blogs.loc.gov
Lighting Candles and 
Bonfires
 For much of  the ear ly  h is tory of  Hal loween,  
tower ing bonfi res were  used to l ight  the way for  
souls  seeking the after l i fe .  These days,  l ight ing 
candles  have general ly  replaced the  large 
tradit ional  b lazes .  
Source: blogs.loc.gov