Halloween is a complicated holiday, with several different possible meanings, depending on the background of the person celebrating. The holiday as we know it comes from three primary roots: old Celtic pagan ritual, Catholic traditions, and American secular celebration. With three such different sources it is no wonder that Halloween has no one meaning.
For Catholics the holiday is tied to All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day. Halloween night falls between the two celebrations, one of the saints in heaven, one of the dead not yet in heaven and not of the status of saints. Halloween was originally Hallowed Evening for those who celebrated the event: the Holy Evening between the two holy days, when the spirits of the departed saints and those of other people were close in heart and mind, and the spirits of evil lurked nearby in reaction to all the holiness. For these olden days Catholics the “meaning” of Halloween was a meaning of respect for the saints and the dead and protection against the lurking threat of evil, Satan, and the dead who had found no peace.
For older pagan tradition the connection with the dead also was present. Samhain, as Halloween was called in Celtic culture, was a time when the livestock was slaughtered for the coming winter, the fodder for the beasts reckoned up, and the last of the grain and produce was harvested. At the same time the sweet time of the year ended and the “dark” of the year began. As Catholic Christians also did, the pagans saw the time as a magical transitional point, when spirits lurked close and death needed to be remembered.
The Celts put out the fires of their homes, lit “bonefires” that burned the bones of slaughtered stock, and relit all the fires of the community from the main bonefire. It marked the beginning of the year, and the start of great events. In this tradition Halloween meant both joy and fear, beginnings and endings: it was one of the “gates” of the year when powers came through and acted on the common world. A dangerous time, yet also a necessary and joyful time, filled with bounty and hope.
These two traditions mingled in Ireland, and eventually were brought to America during the Great Potato Famine. Here we dropped most of the religious beliefs of either tradition and kept the meaning of magic, mystery, mischief and mild mayhem. For most Americans Halloween means only games, costumes, trick-or-treat and a sort of innocent freedom for both children and adults: a time when we can play at ghosts and magic, set aside our dignity, run around in the dark and eat much too much candy.