There is much more history behind Halloween than people think and it goes way back to ancient times.
Halloween as we know it today is derived from another ancient Christian holiday that is called All Saints. These festivals began to be held in the 7th century when the Catholic Church established the All Saints’ Day (also known as All Hallows’ Day) on November 1st to honor saints and martyrs. The evening before, October 31st, became known as All Hallows’ Eve, which later evolved into Halloween.
Samhain/Hallowe’en
But before the catholic church started with this day it was an ancient festival. she was held in many European countries, including Iceland and the other Nordic countries as well as Celtic countries. It was a harvest festival and to celebrate the coming of winter, then the cold and darkness took over, the earth fell asleep and death reigned. It was because at that time people only divided the year into two seasons, winter and summer, and counted time in winters (years) and nights rather than in years and days. In Iceland, for example, in the old days, people were said to be 20 winters old, but not 20 years old. The first day of winter in Iceland is, for example, at the end of October on the 21st-28th. October and is then on one of these days and depending on the year when it is.
In ancient Iceland there was this festival called Winter Nights, and in the Nordic countries called disting. In the northern part of Scotland and in Ireland, at this time there is still a festival called Samhain in Gaelic, the festival of the dead. In recent times, it has been called Hallowe’en. The Celts believed that on the night of October 31st, the boundary between the living and the dead became blurred. They believed that the spirits of the dead would return to Earth during this time.
Then in medieval Europe, Halloween was observed with a mix of pagan and Christian customs. People would light bonfires, wear costumes to ward off evil spirits, and play games.
There was a tradition that on Samhain/Hallowe’en burning candles were placed in carved turnips and in Ireland and Scotland it was customary to light bonfires. Also, both teenagers and adults went from house to house dressed in costumes and wearing masks.
When the Irish and Scots immigrated to America in the 19th century, the Halloween festival moved with them. In the United States, on the other hand, pumpkins were grown that were much larger than turnips and easier to carve. Thus, pumpkins took over from turnips as a symbol of American Halloween.
So Halloween is not a ready-made American tradition rather an old European harvest festival mixed with a Christian holy day. And has evolved into Halloween like it is today.