How did Halloween begin? Halloween is an old ritual and has continued till today. The American ritual of Halloween has changed over the course of history, and is very different from when Halloween started; Halloween's ritualistic functions and the reasons for doing the ritual have also changed. Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” connects to the ritual of Halloween by how both rituals, the Lottery and Halloween, show change over time.
The ritual of Halloween can be traced back two millennia, all the way to Europe. It began as the “ancient Celtic festival of Samhain … in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France” (“Halloween 2022”). They celebrated this festival on October 31 (“Halloween 2022”). Samhain “…
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During the ritual of Samhain, “Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities” (“Halloween 2022”). They believed offering sacrifices was a way to ward off the dead, and helped them to make it through the winter. The History article “Halloween 2022” also relays, “During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.” Rome, after conquering the Celtics in 43 A.D., combined two Roman-origin festivals, Feralia and a day to honor Pomona, with the Celts’ Samhain festival (“Halloween 2022”). The combining of Pomona’s symbol, which is an apple, with the ritual of the Celts, “… probably explains the tradition of bobbing for apples that is practiced today on Halloween” (“Halloween 2022”). Continuing with history, as Christianity expanded more and more, the church began to have an influence on the ritual as well. The church introduced the holiday rituals of All Saints’ Day on November 1st and All Souls’ Day on November 2nd.