Halloween expert and anthropology Professor Dr. Wendy Fonarow explores the fascinating world of America’s most widely celebrated unofficial holiday and discusses the spooky day’s pagan origins.
“People often think of it as being anti-religious, but the name itself is a contraction of All Hallow’s Eve, and this is a recognized holiday in the church,” Wendy explains.
“It’s from an original pagan practice – actually not just one – but all over Europe you had pre-Christian traditions. And when the church was solidifying its power, it made a really savvy move, instead of outlawing indigenous traditions, what they would do is instead baptize them.”
For example, Wendy said the church altered the practice of people celebrating their dead relatives, instead shifting the focus to celebrate the Sainted dead, which is how All Hallow’s Eve came to be.
She explains further that the original All Hallow’s Eve was established in the springtime during the 7th century under Pope Gregory I in southern Europe, but about 230 later the holiday was moved to the current October 31 date to accommodate northern Europe’s Festival of the Dead when the church moved.
“Because the dead were thought to be out walking, it was thought that other supernatural beings could take advantage of this time and basically get up to no good. At the same time, you wanted to light the way for the dead to make it to their final destinations. So there would be village fetes and bonfires, and people would go door-to-door basically asking for contributions for the village feast.”
When the people were parading around during this time, many began to obscure their face with soot or masks to be unrecognizable to evil spirits and this eventually evolved into dressing up themselves as scary spirits, Wendy said.
Watch the full episode to hear more about Halloween’s haunted history, including how costumes and trick-or-treating evolved, plus the huge role pets now play in the celebration
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