When is Halloween 2017 and what is it?

The nights are drawing in, there’s a chill in the air and there are pumpkins on sale in the supermarkets. It can only mean one thing: Halloween. This year, Halloween will take place on Tuesday, October 31. And while there are few who will pass up a chance for a party, its roots go far deeper – and even more sinister than you might think. Here’s everything you need to know about the origins of Halloween



Ancient origins


Peter Smith, right, and Keith Stock use a 1917 International Harvest Titan in the vintage ploughing class a the 46th British National Ploughing Championships near Goole

Before smartphones, Facebook, and even regular clockwork, lives were ruled by the sun and the seasons.

One of the most important moments in the calendar was the end of the harvest, which is hardly surprising since the quality of the harvest could spell the difference between life and death during the winter.

The end of harvest season also tied in with the autumn equinox, a moment signalling the start of the darker months.

Samhain – ‘Summer’s End’, AKA Halloween - is one of four traditional Gaelic festivals which marks the equinoxes and the solstices in the year, including Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh.

Changes in the year have always been mystical times, with a huge amount of suspicion about them. People believed they were also days where the fabric between the realms of the living and the dead were at their weakest.

So Samhain became a festival for the dead, where sacrifices were made to protect your family from bad spirits, bonfires were lit to scare them off, places were set at the dinner table to appease and welcome them, and people dressed up in costumes to impersonate the spirits for the same purpose.

It still has a strong role in Neopaganism – and in witchcraft or Wicca. For Wiccans, it is the most important festival of the year, and the best time to communicate with those who have died.

A religious revolution

Then came Jesus, quickly followed by the Roman Empire, and the spread of Christianity through the vast reaches of the known-world.

Just like Christmas and Easter, evidence points to a Christian hijacking of the pagan festival.

There are recordings of celebrations of Samhain since ancient times – and celebrations of ‘All Hallows Eve’ only began in earnest the eighth century.

Like Samhain, All Hallow’s Eve is essentially a festival for the dead.