There is much more to Halloween than candy, The Exorcist, and parties. Many of our traditions today originated hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, and Halloween is certainly no exception. Samhain was the ancient Celtic celebration on October 31st that marked the transition to their new year on November 1st. It was an important festival because it symbolized the harvest and the prospect of a cold and often dreary winter. Celtic peoples believed that spirits came to earth and shared their presence with the living for the night before the new year.

Dating back to approximately 2,000 years ago, the Celts spent the evening around giant bonfires sacrificing animals to their deities while disguising themselves in animal skins. The bonfires were sacred because they were interpreted as protection from the coming harsh winter. The significance of the bonfire continued in each home when the communal festivities subsided by lighting a small fire for warmth and security. Dress was a significant aspect as well. As the National Geographic News reports, Celts dressed in animal costumes possibly in order to prevent the dead from possessing the living. It was essentially a diversion. Moreover, young adults may have dressed up as the opposite gender, which established a temporary escape from gender norms. Even though the spirits were construed as malevolent forces, the presence of the dead assisted Druids, Celtic priests or shamanists, in fortune-telling. Similar to the bonfires and the animal costumes, these prophecies also served as protection and security for the fast-approaching winter.

On a lighter note, it is believed that Celtic people generated the foundations for modern trick-or-treating. Dressed in animal skins, people would visit one another's homes and act silly in order to receive food and drink. This year, in the United States alone, it is estimated that 58 million adults will celebrate Halloween in costume, and there are 36 million children who may trick-or-treat not including all the high school and college students who still do! Clearly Samhain, and therefore Celtic culture, has influenced the United States enormously, even if most people tend not to realize it.

All the credit for the American celebration of Halloween can't be given to the Celts, however, because there was a clear blending of cultures and traditions when originally Roman values, then Christianity, spread into the Celtic region. One possible explanation for the popularity of bobbing for apples is the hybridization of Roman beliefs and Samhain, according to The History Channel. In the early first century, the Roman Empire had conquered a lot of Celtic land. Interestingly, before mixing with Celtic culture, Romans celebrated Feralia, which was one day spent honoring the dead at the end of October. This holiday served in conjunction with a Roman festival dedicated to Pomona, the goddess of fruit. The result of the joining of Pomona festivities and Samhain most likely contributed to the current tradition of bobbing for apples.

The mixing of Roman beliefs and Celtic traditions is analogous to the merging of a unique Celtic-oriented, Christian celebration of All Hallows' Eve. In the late first century Christian values reached Celtic territory, and rather than letting Celtic celebrations of their new year continue without approval from the Catholic Church, Pope Boniface IV proclaimed November 1 to be All Saints' Day. Therefore, this decision emphasized the mounting predominance of the Catholic Church in daily life and otherwise non-Christian celebrations. All Saints' Day was also known as All Hallows', which led to Samhain being dubbed All Hallows' Eve.

It is truly amazing how over thousands of years humans have produced distinct traditions, essentially through globalization. As the world continues to get "smaller," humans inevitably intermingle and fashion their own eclectic culture. Halloween is an amazing hybridization that persists in being revised and edited by different peoples all over the world. If you celebrate Halloween this year, acknowledge the complexity of its heritage, and don't forget to thank the Celts for a most magical holiday.