I hope you’re all set to celebrate Halloween 2010, with costume, food and carved pumpkin ready to go? This weekend brings us one of the biggest party nights in the social calendar of the United States and Northern Europe, but did you know how we celebrate Halloween can be traced directly back to the old Irish festival of Samhain?

The Irish have long done things their own way, beginning with the Celts unusual relationship with time… they reversed the clock for Winter and started their days at sundown! They believed in beginning with darkness and working towards the light (an appropriate thought for us today I think, given how things are). Samhain (translated as ‘the end of Summer’) fell on November 1st, and was celebrated as the end of the harvest season and the start of the new year. It was also a time for reflection across the country, when all fires were extinguished, before being later re-lit, thus bring light from the pitch darkness and marking the new beginning.

It was believed that on this night the spirits of ones’ ancestors could roam the earth, along with the rather scary Pooka (a black talking horse with burning eyes), and the Banshee (who could kill you if she saw you). The practice of wearing costumes and masks grew from a desire to copy or placate these and other evil spirits.

This custom remained in place throughout the centuries, and was brought to America during the time of the Famine. It was then known as ‘guising’, whereby little children dressed up in costumes and went door-to-door requesting food or coins. Trick-or-treating however, didn’t become widespread practice until the 1930’s. The more ostentatious dressing up that we now do was developed in the States and exported back to Ireland, bringing the tradition full circle.

Along with the bonfires, the Celts also placed candle lanterns on their windows to keep the spirits from their homes. The lanterns were made by carving faces onto hollowed out turnips. This tradition came to America from the earliest settlers, who carved pumpkins instead as they were more available and larger (hence much easier to carve).

As part of the nights celebrations there were also fertility rituals. These entailed burning sacrifices inside a ‘man’ created from wicker… usually small animals, prisoners of war, or unpopular neighbors! It was seen as a very good omen to become pregnant on the Samhain, a tradition which continues to this day in Ireland with the ring hidden in the Halloween Barmbrack (festive bread filled with sultanas and raisins), which are an omen of impending marriage should you receive one of them!

The Christian festival of All Hallows Day was originally celebrated in the Springtime, but was moved to November 1st in the 8th century by Pope Gregory III. It is thought that this was because the Irish people still celebrated Samhain, so a Christian alternative had to be provided (since the Irish had been converted by St. Patrick at this point). This practice of incorporating pagan lore into Christianity was quite common; Christmas replaced the Winter solstice celebrations and, in Ireland, Saint Brigid’s Day falls on the Celtic festival of Imbolc. The night before was All Hallows Evening, which shortened over time to Hallowe’en as we now know it.

While the Celts celebrated Samhain for a full week, we now have just one night to get dressed up and party. I’m sure that the ancient Celts would have been thrilled to see their how traditions have continued through the ages as they have, though quite what they would have made of our now-traditional ‘saucy nurse’ costume is anyones guess!