1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,920 Speaker 1: Who doesn't love Halloween. But come on, where did it begin? 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:09,560 Speaker 1: I'm Patty Steele. Before trigger treating, there were yikes, human sacrifices. 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:17,080 Speaker 1: That's next on the backstory. We're back with the backstory. 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,599 Speaker 1: Halloween is a really festive time of year. Costumes, treats, parties, 5 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: jack o lanterns. Here's the thing. These were all part 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: of traditions that were born from not so festive traditions 7 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: in ancient Ireland. And those traditions have a really dark, 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: frightening origin, involving torture and human sacrifice. We're going back 9 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,599 Speaker 1: thousands of years to the misty countryside of Ireland. It 10 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: was a time when Irish folks or Celts, worshiped pagan 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 1: gods as well as nature and the land itself. It 12 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: was the end of the harvest season late October, and 13 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: that was when they celebrated a holiday called Swen. They 14 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: believed at that time of beings from the underworld could 15 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: emerge and ravage the landscape, killing the greenery and turning 16 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: it into the golden brown of autumn before winter arrived, 17 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: and there was only one way to stop them. Sacrifice 18 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: your food, your livestock, or even your life. There was 19 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: one place in particular they gathered to celebrate the harvest, 20 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: and most importantly, to pay tribute to their gods. It 21 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: was a settlement called Rockrohan, and it's known as the 22 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: birthplace of Halloween. A temple sat on a massive mound 23 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 1: in the middle of the settlement, surrounded by a graveyard 24 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: for the Celtic nobility. It was a very wealthy place, 25 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: but working class folks would travel there to take part 26 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: in the festivities as well. It was a huge part 27 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: of their culture. They would eat, play games, tip back 28 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: a few, sort of like today's Halloween parties, but it 29 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: was way more than that. They'd also use usen to 30 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: announce declarations of war and peace, and even arrange marriages. 31 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: Imagine what this looked like. Huge feasts, lots of drinking 32 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: of mead and wine, dancing around huge bonfires, crackling and 33 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: leaping into the night sky. At the center of all 34 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: of this, the Celts believed that this was the time 35 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: the spirits of their dead ancestors returned. But it wasn't 36 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: just the dead loved ones that arrived. Also apparitions, demons, fairies, 37 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: and monsters, some of which they felt were incredibly dangerous, 38 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: and that is where you see the beginnings of Halloween. 39 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: These beings arrival was through what were called the Cave 40 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: of the Cats, where the hell caves in northwestern Ireland, 41 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: which still exist nearby archaeological digs date back almost six 42 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: thousand years. To pacify these evil beings and protect their 43 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: crops and livestock, the Celts would offer them food, drink, 44 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: and part of their harvest. And to protect themselves, they'd 45 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: light ritual bonfires everywhere across the countryside, on hilltops and 46 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: in fields. They'd even carry small parts of the fire 47 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: home with them to keep the home lit and safe 48 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: from the demons. They'd carve frightening faces into root vegetables 49 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: like turnips and potatoes to intimidate the demons. They didn't 50 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: have access to pumpkins. Then they would make the veggies 51 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: look like the severed heads of enemies, and they placed 52 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: burning embers inside that hollowed out vegetables to animate the 53 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: carved face as well as to protect the embers, and 54 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: that was the first of the jackalanterns. Now. On top 55 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: of that, they would also wear disguises, including masks and 56 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: different animal skins to make themselves look like the demons, 57 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: so they wouldn't be dragged back down into the underworld, 58 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: and those were the first costumes. But it got more disturbing. 59 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: The priests, called druids, would sacrifice animals and humans to 60 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: placate gods of the underworld. In fact, if the harvest 61 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: was bad, they'd even sacrifice local kings, blaming them for 62 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: angering the gods. The deaths involved torture and dismemberment to 63 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: further placate those furious gods. This went on for centuries 64 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: until the Romans arrived in Ireland. They added their own 65 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: harvest festivities, including honoring their Goddess of Fruit and Trees, 66 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: whose symbol was the apple, which many say may explain 67 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: the tradition of bobbing for apples at Halloween. Now. Eventually 68 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: Christianity took cold for most people in Ireland. But here's 69 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: the thing. The party surrounding Sowen was pretty much ingrained 70 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,599 Speaker 1: in the Celtic culture, so the harvest festivals, including the 71 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,600 Speaker 1: gifts of food and the costumes, continued. The Church tried 72 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: to replace the pagan festival by dedicating November one as 73 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,359 Speaker 1: All Saints Day or All Hallows, and the night before 74 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: it was called All Hallows Eve or Halloween, but the 75 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: church was never able to get rid of the celebrations 76 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: surrounding sooen it was too ingrained in the culture, so 77 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: the two holidays managed to coexist now. When the Irish 78 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: arrived in America, they hung on to tradition and continued 79 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: to celebrate and give small gifts of food. During their 80 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,799 Speaker 1: harvest festivals. Children would dressing costumes and jack o' lanterns 81 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: were placed outside of homes to represent the souls of 82 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: the departed, and because pumpkins were plentiful in America, they 83 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: became the jack lanterns. We still carve and light our 84 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 1: jack lanterns, but as one Irish anthropologist says, the minute 85 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: the lights came on, a lot of the stories lost 86 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: their potency and people's imaginations weren't running quite as wild. 87 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: By the nineteen thirties, children began trick or treating, but 88 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: they were given cookies, fruit, nuts, and toys. It wasn't 89 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: untill all the way into the nineteen fifties that big 90 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: business saw big business in Halloween and promoted the idea 91 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: of handing out candy. Hershey's, Reese's, Mars, and Nesley were 92 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: just a few of the companies that began making affordable 93 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: candy on a huge scale in the twentieth century. They 94 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 1: packaged them to make them inexpensive and easy to hand out. 95 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: So Halloween in its present form is really a recent evolution, 96 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: but with its roots in prehistoric tradition going back thousands 97 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 1: of years. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory is a production 98 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: of iHeartMedia and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. 99 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: Our executive producer is Steve Goldstein of Amplify Media. We're 100 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: out with new episodes twice a week. Thanks for listening 101 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: to the Backstory, the pieces of history you didn't know 102 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: you needed to know.