The history of Halloween and the meaning of its symbols

In October, as autumn settles over the northern hemisphere and the leaves on the trees turn their most beautiful colors, many children and families around the world are getting ready to celebrate Halloween. It's time to put on your best costumes, have fun scaring each other, ring the doorbells for treats and get together with your loved ones to celebrate. Halloween is a big event in English-speaking countries. It is celebrated to a lesser extent in other European countries, but tends to gain ground. It is also important to know that the celebration of the dead takes other forms in other parts of the world: in Latin America, in Asia

or in Polynesia. Perhaps you have already asked yourself about the history of Halloween and the meaning of its rituals and symbols? Let's go, we reveal all the secrets about the scariest of all holidays.

History of Halloween: what is its meaning, its origins and why October 31?

Halloween is the contraction of "All Hallows Eve", an English expression translated by "the eve of all saints" or "the eve of All Saints", in reference to the Christian holiday. To understand its origins, we must go back a long way, 600 years before Christ, when the Celts ofIreland

celebrated the passage from the light to the dark season in late October or early November.

On the night of October 31 to November¹

, they gathered for the festival of Samain, the time of year when the livestock had to be brought in, the crops were stored in the granaries, conflicts had to be settled and debts paid. It is also at this time that the dead were reunited with the living and that ghosts came to haunt them. On October 31, the Celts used to dress in a frightening way to keep them away. When children went out into the street to wish them well, they also had to give them something so as not to risk a bad year. These are all traditions that Irish immigrants brought with them to the United States. They were later taken up to celebrate Halloween as we know it today and make it popular all over the world.

Candy, witches, orange and black... why such rituals and symbols on Halloween?

In Anglo-Saxon countries and many European countries, the celebration of Halloween goes hand in hand with many rituals and symbols. In homes, gardens and store windows around the city, decorations of spider webs, skeletons and vampires bloom in October. This way of recreating the atmosphere of a haunted house or a spooky cemetery refers to the festival of Samain, during which the boundaries between the living and the dead were broken. Just as in the past, when the Celts put on disguises to scare away the spirits of the dead who could not identify them, people today dress up in costumes of witches, vampires and other scary monsters and characters. However, some people prefer to dress up as a princess, a knight, a famous character or a superhero.

WitchesWitches, which our imagination nowadays represents by an old lady with a hooked nose, a black dress, a pointed hat and flying on her broom, are above all these independent healers who were demonized and burned at the end of the Middle Ages so that people would turn more to religion and medicine. They are now part of the symbols of Halloween because in the 19th century, manufacturers depicted them on their greeting cards, judging that they could easily be associated with anything related to darkness and black magic.

The black cat, the owl, the bat and the spiderAmong

the animals often represented at Halloween, there is the black cat. Simply because in popular beliefs, they are said to be the favorite four-legged companions of witches. For the owl, this bird that lives at night is often perceived in the collective imagination as scary and of bad omen.

At the time of the Samain festival, when the Celts lit fires to scare away evil spirits, the bat was attracted by the insects that hovered around the fire. It also symbolizes night life and some species feed on blood, like vampires. Therefore, it has its place in the Halloween celebration. As for the spider, it has always provoked fear and mistrust throughout the centuries. It is also often found in dark, abandoned and scary places. Something to tremble about!

Trick or Treat and candy

Once the decorations are up and the costumes on the evening of October 31, children parade through their neighborhoods and ring their neighbors' doors to ask for candy to the sound of "Trick or Treat". This is another reference to the Celtic festival of Samain, during which it was necessary to be generous with the children, but also to leave apples and cakes at the entrance of the village so as not to upset the malevolent spirits. Candy, chocolate bars, do not hesitate to make a small stock for the evening of Halloween, the children do not miss the opportunity to come and ring the bell and leave with a bag full.

Pumpkins The

pumpkin is THE true symbol of Halloween. Before the orange cucurbit took over, the mascot was the turnip. This refers to the legend of Jack O'Lantern. It tells that on the night of his death, Jack Stingy of his patronymic was denied entry to heaven and hell. Condemned to wander, the devil gave him a piece of ember that he installed in a turnip to light himself and protect himself from the icy wind. Until the 19th century, the turnip remained the symbol of Halloween, the date on which the tradition wants Jack O'Lantern to reappear. However, the vegetable was less readily available than the pumpkin when the Irish arrived in the United States

, so the cucurbit took over. Today, families buy pumpkins for Halloween, empty them out and put a candle inside to light up the scary face they took the time to carve. Orange and

blackOrange and black are the colors of Halloween. Orange obviously refers to the pumpkin, but not only! It is also the color of autumn, the season when the party is held and the leaves of the trees have beautiful orange colors.

Why black? Simply because it is the color of the night, the one that symbolizes darkness and fear.