Halloween, as we know it today, is very different from its origins, which go back more or less 3,000 years. A traditional folk and pagan festival, it was first celebrated on the evening of October 31 by the Celts from the British Isles. Discover the stories and legends surrounding this ancient festival and remember that at Crématorium Montréal, we always organize rituals according to your own customs and traditions.

Samain, considered the ancestor of Halloween

A religious holiday, Samain was celebrated in early autumn by the Celts and Gauls. More than 3,000 years ago, it was observed over a period of 7 days (3 days before and 3 days after Samain), under the authority of the Druids, and represented a kind of New Year’s celebration. Its purpose was to bring the current year to a close and to celebrate the start of the New Year, so that it would begin serenely. At that time, the cycle of the seasons was of great importance because it was closely linked to the earthly cycle of life and death, including the announcement of the end of summer (autumn) as well as the end of the harvest. According to various sources, “the night of Samain was neither part of the year that was ending nor of the year that was beginning. This festival was a closed period outside of time when, according to the beliefs in those days, the unreal mixed with the real.” It was claimed that those who had died during the year would return to visit their loved ones one last time. The Celts dressed up as horrible creatures in order to protect themselves from evil spirits by posing as demons. Today, we consider Halloween to be the legacy of the Samain, with our scary costumes and symbols related to death.

The legend of the jack-o’-lantern

An emblematic symbol of Halloween, the jack-o’-lantern (a lantern made from a pumpkin) is a legend from an old Irish tale. The legend relates that a man named Jack mocked the devil a number of times. So not being able to go to heaven or hell when the time came, he was condemned to wander aimlessly with only a piece of coal in a turnip dug out as a lantern to light his way. According to legend, he reappeared every year on Halloween, which was the day of his death. The famous lantern would then enable the spirits to find their way back. In North America, the local pumpkin replaced the turnip that was used in Europe.

All Hallows’ Eve: the night before All Saints’ Day

All Saints’ Day is a Catholic holiday that originates from a commemoration of all the martyrs, was first instituted in Rome in 613 by Pope Boniface IV and celebrated on May 13. Later moved to November 1 and extended to all the saints in the 9th century, a number of historians consider that the date was chosen to Christianize the Samain festival. If we study the history of Halloween, we find that its present name is an alteration of All Hallows’ Eve, which literally means “the eve of all the saints”, i.e. the eve of All Saints’ Day, the solemn holy day of the Catholic church. November 1 therefore continues to be a date associated with the worship of the dead.

In short, although Halloween was introduced to North America by the massive influx of Irish and Scottish immigrants in the mid-19th century, it became popular around the 1920s. In Canada, it would take another decade or so for the door-to-door tradition we know nowadays to actually take hold.

Today, a highly mercenary attitude has developed around the celebration of Halloween and it has become very commercialized. It is still celebrated mainly in Ireland, but also in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada. The best known tradition is without a doubt the one where children dress up as ghosts, monsters, witches, vampires, zombies, etc., and go knocking on doors to ask for sweets.