> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# How the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain shaped modern Halloween
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/102707-story/
- Published: 2007-10-27T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T03:41:41.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Events, Santa Monica, #archive-import

ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the 400 years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV designated Nov. 1 All Saints’ Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English, “Alholowmesse” meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All- Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

In A.D. 1000, the church made Nov. 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. Together, the three celebrations — the eve of All Saints, All Saints’, and All Souls’ — were called Hallowmas.

That was then. Today, it’s really all about ghouls and goblins, pumpkins and candy, slutty nurse outfits and ripped-abs Spartans.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 27, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102707.pdf?ref=smdp.com)