The Real Origins of Halloween — 2,000 Years of the Dead

Halloween was never about the devil. The word itself means "holy evening" — and the holiday is a 2,000-year-old blend of a Celtic New Year and a Christian feast of the dead. This is the real story: Samhain, the Church, the turnip that became a pumpkin, the children at the door, the witches and the black cats — and the two myths about Halloween that are still believed today. Both of them are false. Chapters: 0:00 Halloween Was Never About the Devil 1:22 Samhain: The Celtic New Year 3:02 Rome and the Church 4:58 The Lantern 7:14 The Doorstep 9:04 Witches and Black Cats 10:58 The American Reinvention — and the Myths That Aren't True 13:00 What Halloween Really Is Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Where Did Halloween Come From?" and "Halloween"; Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Jack-o'-lantern"; History.com, "How Trick-or-Treating Became a Halloween Tradition"; The Collector, "The Strange Celtic Origins of Modern Halloween Traditions"; LoveToVisitIreland, Samhain guide; Wikipedia, "Poisoned candy myths" and "Cultural depictions of cats"; Idle & Awake (jack-o'-lantern timeline, OED dates). All images are public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Music: "EBB" by Density & Time, from the YouTube Audio Library. Subscribe to The Dark Past Chronicles for a new dark history story every week.