When was halloween created

But in the midst of the Halloween party games and sugar rushes, have you ever wondered about the origin and history of Halloween? Here, we're sharing Halloween's origin and meaning in the hopes that it'll make your celebrations even more enjoyable. After all, this old-fashioned holiday actually dates back many, many years.

It's a lot older than you might think! And as for the witches and wizards that you've come to associate with it? They're part of the story, too. Here's the true tale of how Halloween officially came to be. You already know that Halloween takes place on the last day of October, but here's something you might not know: The word itself literally means "hallowed evening," and was previously known to early European celebrators as All Hallows' Eve.

The name was eventually shortened to "Halloween," which we know and love to this day. The pagan and Christian occasions hadn't always been back-to-back, though.

Perhaps in an attempt to offset the occasion with a religious celebration, Pope Boniface IV ultimately made the call to change the observance to its current November 1 date. Halloween falls on October 31 because the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain , considered the earliest known root of Halloween, occurred on this day.

It marked a pivotal time of year when seasons changed, but more importantly, observers also believed the boundary between this world and the next became especially thin at this time, enabling them to connect with the dead. This belief is shared by some other cultures; a similar idea is mentioned around the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which also typically occurs in October and involves saying prayers for the dead.

This is also where Halloween gains its "haunted" connotations. The early pagan holiday of Samhain involved a lot of ritualistic ceremonies to connect to spirits, as the Celts were polytheistic. While there isn't a lot of detail known about these celebrations, many believe the Celts celebrated in costume granted, they were likely as simple as animal hides as a disguise against ghosts, enjoyed special feasts, and made lanterns by hollowing out gourds hence, the history of jack-o'-lanterns.

Over time, as Christianity took over and the pagan undertones of the holiday were lessened, the basic traditions of the holiday remained a part of pop culture every year; they simply evolved and modernized. The mystical rituals of earlier times evolved into more lighthearted fun and games. For example, the somewhat heavy concept of connecting to the dead was replaced with the more lighthearted idea of telling the future. Bobbing for apples, for example, became popular as a fortune-telling game on All Hallows' Eve: Apples would be selected to represent all of a woman's suitors, and the guy—er, apple—she ended up biting into would supposedly represent her future husband.

In fact, Halloween previously posed a huge albeit rather superstitious matchmaking opportunity for young women in the 19th century. This comes from the fact November 1 is All Saints' Day, a Christian feast dedicated to celebrating the faithful departed, including all the saints.

In Christian tradition, people start celebrating major feasts the night before they take place — take Christmas Eve, for instance. Historians have linked Halloween to Samhain, the Celtic festival of the summer's end celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. According to Celtic mythology, the veil between the Otherworld and our world thins during Samhain, making it easier for spirits and the souls of the dead to return.

People would make offerings of food in order to get on the good side of these spirits and departed ancestors, according to the Mirror. Pope Gregory IV switched it to the current date in , according to Britannica. His reasons were unclear, although influence from Celtic factions of the church and the fact that it makes sense to commemorate death during the fall are possibilities.

Halloween has come to be most closely associated with the pumpkin, but apples have played an important role in its history. After all, apples make numerous appearances in Celtic mythology and are often connected to the Otherworld. The reason? Well, the practice used to be considered a form of divination performed around Halloween, according to NPR. That's right — people would dunk their heads in a vat of water and try to bite into floating fruit in a quest to figure out their future spouse.

Ladies would mark an apple and toss it into the tub. The thinking was they'd be destined to whoever pulled it out of the water. Modern day, intricately designed pumpkin creations certainly make for impressive decorations. But back in the day, folks in Ireland dubbed their carved, fiery turnips "jack-o'-lanterns" thanks in part to an ominous legend.

One night, a conniving local drunkard named Jack trapped the Prince of Darkness in a tree by hacking a sign of the cross into the bark. In exchange for letting Satan climb down, Jack had him vow to never claim his soul. Jack proceeded to act like a jerk his whole life. When he died, he was not allowed in heaven. So he tried to return to his old pal, the Devil. But Satan upheld his end of the deal, hurling a piece of coal from hell at the dead man for good measure.

Left without anywhere to go, Jack placed the blazing coal in a turnip to use as a lantern. The dead man then set out, doomed to wander until he can find an eternal resting place. By the ninth century, Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted older pagan rites. In A. Celebrations in England resembled Celtic commemorations of Samhain, complete with bonfires and masquerades.

Known as "souling," the practice was later taken up by children, who would go from door to door asking for gifts such as food, money and ale. In Scotland and Ireland, young people took part in a tradition called guising, dressing up in costume and accepting offerings from various households. An effigy of Guy Fawkes is burnt on Bonfire Night, Modern-day trick-or-treating also has elements akin to annual celebrations of Guy Fawkes Night also known as Bonfire Night.

On this night, which commemorates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot in , British children wore masks and carry effigies while begging for pennies. Some American colonists celebrated Guy Fawkes Day, and in the midth century, large numbers of new immigrants, especially those fleeing the Irish Potato Famine in the s, helped popularize Halloween. In the early 20th century, Irish and Scottish communities revived the Old World traditions of souling and guising in the United States.

By the s, however, pranks had become the Halloween activity of choice for rowdy young people.