History of Halloween

The date was chosen on purpose to rival Samhain and involved similar traditions, including dressing up as a saint, an angel or a devil and joining a parade, with the aim of weaning people off of the pagan festival. By the 9th century, Samhain traditions were still going strong, so the church tried to take-over the evening of the 31st of October itself by making it another feast day, "All Hallows Even" (evening) and this and Samhain (remember, it's pronounced something like "sow-een") merged to become "Halloween". Because of it's Celtic history it is only popular in the UK, and the USA and Canada, taken there by the Irish who emigrated to America in their tens of thousands after the 1845 potato famine.


richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

history of Halloween

As Christians were killed for preaching about Jesus and standing up for their beliefs, those surviving chose to commemorate the death of these martyrs or saints by celebrating "martyrs days" or "saints days". These were usually local festivals, though the martyrdom of some of the apostles were more widely celebrated. Pope Gregory III (731-741AD) decided to have one day a year in the church calendar to celebrate all the martyrs or saints, instead of lots of different regional saint's days, and this was set as the 1st of November, and known as the "Feast of All Saints" or "All Saint's Day" or "All Hallows Day" ("hallow" is an old English word for saint or holy person).



richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

history of Halloween

They also left out treats, like cakes, as a peace offering. When the Romans came to Britain (successfully in 43AD after failed attempts in 55BC and 54BC) they added the traditions of their own harvest festival, "Pomona", to Samhain, such as bobbing for apples in water barrels and putting nuts in the fire to watch where they jump to.

Meanwhile, after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus in 30AD, the "new" controversial religion, Christianity, spread to Asia Minor, Greece and to Rome, and so through the Roman Empire, largely as a result of persecuted Christians having to flee Jerusalem.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

History of Halloween

The Druids (Celtic priests) also believed that on this day (exactly between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice) the barriers between the human and supernatural worlds were broken, allowing demons, witches and lost souls to harass the living and play tricks on them. People tried to protect themselves from attack by disguising themselves as witches, devils and ghosts, and carved grotesque faces in things like pumpkins, which they kept illuminated by candlelight, to ward off evil spirits.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

History of Halloween

Halloween was originally called "Samhain" -a Gaelic word pronounced "sow-in" (in Ireland), or "sow-een" (in Wales), or "sav-en" (in Scotland) - meaning "summer's end." The Celtic culture had established itself throughout the British Isles from approx. 600 BC to 50 AD, and Samhain was an ancient Celtic type of harvest festival, marking the beginning of winter and the first day of the Celtic new year, celebrated on the evening of the 31st of October.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Nehmiah Rebuilds Jerusalem's Wall (drama sketch)

And on top of all that, Nehemiah kept receiving letters from Tobiah saying:

You’re rebuilding project is a stupid plan! It doesn’t have my approval and I’m a very important person round here! Woe to you if you don’t stop such foolishness!

But Nehemiah replied: I’m going to get the wall rebuilt!

And after 52 days of hard work the entire wall was finished! Nehemiah said:

I got the wall rebuilt! I got the wall rebuilt! I got the wall rebuilt! Praise the Lord!

A big celebration party was planned to dedicate the wall and give thanks to God that, against all the odds, the wall got rebuilt! All the people joined in and the joyful noise of songs of thanksgiving could be heard far and wide!


richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Nehmiah Rebuilds Jeusalem's Wall (drama sketch)

And he prayed to God for the strength and courage to carry on. Then Shemaiah told Nehemiah that God had said to tell him:

Those officials are going to kill you! Quick! Let’s hide!

But Nehemiah replied: That’s not what God says to do! I’m going to get the wall rebuilt!

And he was right! God hadn’t told Shemaiah to say that at all; the nasty officials had! And some other so-called prophets also tried to frighten Nehemiah into stopping the work, saying:

Doom and gloom! It’s all going to end badly, very badly, for you if you don’t stop building the wall!

But Nehemiah replied: I’m going to get the wall rebuilt!



richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.