Long before pumpkins and costumes, Halloween has its roots in an ancient Celtic festival: Samhain . Celebrated around October 31st , it marked the end of the light season and the beginning of the dark season in the calendar of the ancient Celts.
At Samhain, it was believed that the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead became porous . Spirits could move freely. To protect themselves and honor the souls, communities lit large ritual fires , left offerings , and practiced agricultural rites linked to the cycles of nature.
Samhain was a time of transition : the end of the harvest, the storing of crops, preparation for winter. But it was also a time of spiritual connection , when the invisible became tangible. This night was both feared and revered, for it reminded everyone that death is part of the cycle of life.
From Samhain to All Saints' Day: the Christianization of rites
With the spread of Christianity in Europe, pagan festivals were gradually integrated into the new religious calendar. Samhain did not disappear: it was transformed.
In the 8th century, the Church fixed All Saints' Day on November 1st , a feast dedicated to all the saints. The following day, All Souls' Day (November 2nd), was devoted to prayer for the deceased. This adaptation allowed for the preservation of certain popular practices (offerings, prayers, remembrance of ancestors), but by giving them a new Christian meaning.
Thus, the spirit of Samhain survived, clothed in a different theology. The fires and rituals became vigils, processions and prayers, but the night of October 31st remained marked as a gateway between two worlds .
Jack-o'-lantern: from turnips to pumpkins
One of the most famous symbols of Halloween is the carved pumpkin , but its origin is Irish and much older.
According to the legend of Jack-o'-lantern , a cunning drunkard managed to trick the devil, but was condemned to wander eternally with a burning ember, which he placed inside a hollowed-out turnip . To ward off unwanted spirits, the Irish carved lanterns from turnips or beets , which they placed on their windowsills.
When Irish migrants arrived in America , they discovered that pumpkins were plentiful in the fall and better suited to carving. Gradually, the pumpkin jack-o'-lantern became the quintessential symbol of Halloween, associated with light dispelling shadows.
Parallels with other festivals of the dead
Remembering the dead and communicating with the afterlife are not unique to Europe. All over the world, societies have created rituals similar to Samhain.
- In Mexico , Día de los Muertos (November 1st and 2nd) is a joyous celebration: decorated altars, marigold flowers, candles, favorite foods of the deceased, and music transform mourning into a party. It is a living dialogue with the ancestors .
- In Japan , the Obon festival (in summer) sees lanterns illuminated to guide the spirits. Families gather and dance the Bon Odori , celebrating the return of souls for a few days.
- In China , the Ghost Festival ( 7th lunar month) is an opportunity to honor ancestors by burning paper offerings (clothes, miniature houses, symbolic money) to help them in the afterlife.
These traditions show that, despite the diversity of cultures, humanity shares a common desire: to remain connected to its dead and to honor the memory of those who have crossed the threshold.
Modern Halloween: Heritage and Spectacle
Over the centuries, Halloween has evolved. Popularized by Irish and Scottish immigrants in the United States, it has transformed into a fun, family-friendly holiday.
The costumes and masks are reminiscent of ritual disguises once used to deceive spirits. Trick-or-treat (asking for treats under threat of a prank) has its roots in medieval quests where food was given in exchange for prayers for the dead.
Today, Halloween is a mix: the ancient legacy of Samhain and modern practices of consumption and entertainment. But behind the decorations, the themed parties and the candy hunts, it continues to play its essential role: to offer a ritual space where we laugh with death , where we tame the unknown through play and imagination.
Halloween as a universal archetype
Beyond folklore, Halloween expresses an anthropological truth : man needs rites of passage , moments where life and death converse.
Halloween reminds us that death is an end, yes, but also a metamorphosis . Like Samhain, like Día de los Muertos, like Obon, it expresses the same intuition: we are not separate from our dead, we live in a web that connects us to them.
Thus, Halloween, which has become a commercial holiday today, remains in its essence a universal archetype , a way to tame the shadows, to celebrate our ancestors and to re-enchant our relationship with the night.
A living legacy
From Samhain fires to Halloween pumpkins , from All Saints' Day prayers to the flower-adorned altars of Día de los Muertos, all these traditions tell the same story: that of a humanity that refuses to forget and seeks to give meaning to death.
Halloween, in its modern form, preserves the memory of these ancient roots. It is a festival of shadow and light, of fear and laughter, of death and life.
She invites us to accept that the night is part of the cycle, and that the dead always walk beside us, as long as we continue to give them a place in our stories and celebrations.