Origins of Halloween
Halloween was originally a Celtic festival called Samhain. It was celebrated around November 1st, which marked the transition from harvest to winter. Ghosts and spirits signaled the start of winter. Therefore, The Celts celebrated Samhain with bonfires and disguises in order to confuse the spirits.
Roman Festival of Lemuria
The Romans conquered the Celts in 43 AD and introduced two new festivals called Lemuria and Feralia. They influenced the Celtic cultures of celebrating and exorcising the dead.
Feralia celebrated the Roman manes or spirits of the dead.
Lemuria was celebrated on three days- May 9, 11, and 13 because “even” days were considered unlucky. It was a festival for the dead and honored the lemures. Lemures were more dangerous spirits because those people died violent/untimely deaths.
On the last day of Lemuria at midnight, the paterfamilias (paternal head of the family) would wake up and put on special clothing. No pins, buckles, or other items were allowed and they had to be barefoot.
The paterfamilias would make a sign of manus fico (fig hand) which was a sign of fertility and luck. They would also put nine uncooked black fava beans which contained the souls of the dead and spit them out around the house as the lemures would stoop to pick them up.
Lemuria’s Influence on Halloween
Lemuria isn’t practiced today but it still has a legacy on Western culture.
For example, the practice of purifying the house of the souls of the dead is still practiced with the baking of ossa dei morti (bones of dead) in Italian culture.
The Lemuria festival was Christianized because of Roman pagan influence. The poor people of the town or city would knock on the doors asking for a soul-cake in return for prayers.
Doesn’t that sound similar to today’s tradition of Trick-or-Treating on Halloween?!
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