Real story of Halloween, and why Ukraine might be part of it - Interview with folklorist

Key questions:

• The history of the holiday: Where Halloween actually came from and what its original meanings were?
• From a Celtic pagan festival to a Christian one: How the church turned Samhain into Halloween?
• The pumpkin is not an ancient symbol: What fruits were used in the past to carve Jack's lantern?
• Fortune-telling, pranks, and "soulful" carolers: What Halloween celebrations were really like?
• Black Halloween: How the United States created the global cult of the holiday?
• Holiday of "Autumn ancestors" instead of Halloween? Did Ukrainians have a similar holiday to honor the dead?

On the eve of November 1, Western countries celebrate Halloween, or All Saints' Eve. The holiday has become very popular in Ukraine, although it is not originally part of our traditions. By this day, shops and restaurants are widely decorated with pumpkins, skeletons, and evil spirits; children dress up as supernatural creatures and go trick-or-treating, and adults throw costume parties.

"It's sad that Halloween is now reduced to costumes and pumpkins. In fact, it's a holiday with deep meaning and rich traditions, but since the 1930s, it has been largely erased. In Western cultures, the Christmas cycle actually began with Halloween," says folklorist and anthropologist Daria Antsybor.

We talked to Daria about the origins of Halloween, its archaic meanings, and the role of the US in popularizing the holiday

History and attributes of Halloween

– Where did Halloween come from, and what were its original meanings?

– It all began with the Celtic festival of Savin, which was later transformed into what we now know as Halloween. Though the two are quite different today, the original meanings have been largely erased.

Many people think we had nothing in common with the Celts, but it's important to understand that they did reach the territory of what is now Ukraine. Celtic settlements are known in Transcarpathia and along the lower Dniester, and isolated burials have even been found in the Sumy region. Chronologically, that’s roughly the 3rd-1st centuries BC.

The word "Savin" first appears in written sources in the 9th century, and already in reference to the British Isles, so the gap is too large both geographically and chronologically. By the way, the holiday is often called "Samhain" due to a misreading of the original Celtic word Samain. In fact, it should be pronounced "Savin."

For the Celts, Savin was one of the main calendar festivals. It marked the end of the harvest season and the return of livestock from the high pastures. It symbolized the end of summer and the transition to winter. It marks the beginning of a dark period dominated by a "non-human realm."

The Celts believed that during this time, the boundary between worlds thinned, allowing the souls of the dead to appear among the living. This echoes our own Christmas beliefs, when it's thought that ancestors visit us and we prepare a special meal for them.

Folklorist and anthropologist Daria Antsybor (photo: Vitalii Nosach/RBC-Ukraine)

– What were the main attributes of the Celtic festival?

– Ritual bonfires and disguises helped the Celts protect themselves from supernatural forces during this period. They lit bonfires, threw animal bones into the flames to appease the spirits of their dead ancestors, and also used this as a form of divination.

On one hand, the bonfires were meant to scare away alien entities from the otherworld, and on the other, to guide the souls of their ancestors home. Such contradictions are normal in traditional culture.

Masks allowed people to resemble supernatural beings and symbolically deceive them, so that evil spirits might mistake someone for one of their own and pass by. Disguises also symbolically let a person cross the boundary and do things that were normally forbidden.

This element of carnival behavior has survived through the centuries, even in our own rituals. For example, when Ukrainians dress up for Christmas or Malanka. During the holiday, a person behind a mask is allowed a certain ritual misbehavior, as these ritual antics help create a new world from the carnival chaos of this special time.

– Today, one of Halloween's main symbols is the pumpkin. Was it an ancient attribute dating back to Celtic times?

– Pumpkins were not carved during Savin because they didn't grow in Europe back then. Traditionally, people carved turnips and later apples. They placed a coal ember or candle inside to scare away spirits.

There's a story about a miser, Jack, who tricked the devil. The devil was so angry that when Jack died, he gave him a coal from hell to light his "lantern" and told him to wander the world as a restless spirit. This story overlaps with what we know about carved pumpkins.

People started using this fruit for jack-o'-lanterns in America when large numbers of Irish immigrants began moving there and bringing their traditions with them. One of the main reasons for emigration was the Great Potato Famine (the famine in Ireland from 1845 to 1849).

In America, stories about lost souls found fertile ground after the Civil War (1861-1865), when hundreds of thousands of people were missing or killed, and their burial places were unknown.

In many states, early ideas about Halloween celebrations involved telling ghost stories around the fire about spirits who couldn't find their way home and needed a light to guide them. So the tradition was reinterpreted in a specific way through the experience of war.

So the tradition of carved pumpkins has evolved as a unique way of commemorating the dead.

The tradition of carving lanterns from pumpkins appeared in the United States in the 19th century; earlier, people used turnips for this (photo: Getty Images)

– How the Church turned the pagan festival of Samhain into the Christian Halloween?

– In the Middle Ages, the church came to Celtic lands to spread Christianity and saw that Savin was celebrated on a massive scale. It realized something had to be done about it. Gradually, it introduced the idea of November 1 as All Saints' Day, and later November 2 as All Souls' Day. October 31 became All Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Saints' Day. These three days formed an entire cycle of rituals known as All Hallows' Tide.

All Souls' Day was introduced later in the Middle Ages, alongside the concept of purgatory. People were encouraged to pray for the souls of the dead during these days so that they could move from purgatory to heaven rather than hell.

Beggars and children were the first to take on the role of those praying for the souls of the deceased. So the tradition of going door to door asking for treats actually has roots in the church, not in Savin. Over time, the word "Savin" faded away and was replaced with the Christian name "Halloween," which gained new rituals and interpretations.

Beggars and children dressed up and went door to door asking for soul cakes, sweet ritual pastries made with raisins, ginger, and dried currants. They were given to "soulers," or "soul singers," who prayed for the souls of the departed to find peace. Sting even has a song called "Soul Cake," which is actually a reinterpretation of an old soulers' carol.

In Wales, there was a tradition where people dressed as death would go house to house saying, "Death, death is knocking at your door." They could even threaten, saying something like, "I'll smash your wife's head if you don't give me a treat or pay me."

This ritualized misbehavior created space for playful acts of chaos by those in disguise. Sometimes people even threw things onto rooftops. In other words, all the same things we know from St. Andrew's Eve celebrations were also done at Halloween. Young people also gathered for fortune-telling.

In fact, Halloween concentrates all those traditions that, in our culture, are spread out from St. Catherine's and St. Andrew's celebrations all the way to Christmas and Malanka.

In ancient times, people baked sweet ritual cookies with raisins, ginger, and dried currants on Halloween and shared them with the soulers (photo: Getty Images)

Fortune-telling and pranks on Halloween

– How did people practice fortune-telling on Halloween in ancient times?

– On Halloween, they held play parties, which were similar to our Andriivski vechornytsi (St. Andrew's Eve gatherings). Young people would gather at these parties to tell fortunes, have fun, meet new people, and so on.

Many rituals revolved around apples, which were a central attribute at the parties. Apples are a symbol associated with love in many cultures. In some regions of Scotland and England, even the holiday was called Apple Bobbing Night.

At these parties, young people would peel apples and use the peels for fortune-telling, tossing them and seeing what shapes or shadows they formed. A popular game involved dropping apples into a basin of water, then trying to retrieve them with their teeth without using their hands. If successful, it meant the person would marry that year.

In Ireland, people made a cross-shaped structure with an apple on one side and a lit candle on the other. The structure would spin, and the goal was to bite the apple while it was in motion, usually playing with a partner. There are many parallels here with the Ukrainian ritual of biting the kalita (a ritual bread).

Another common fortune-telling method involved chestnuts. One would think of the name of a loved one, throw a pair of chestnuts into the fire, and watch how they behaved: whether they stayed together or rolled apart, burned quietly or with sparks, or didn't burn at all. This was used to predict the couple's future.

Fortune-telling on Halloween night, painting by Daniel Maclise, 1833 (photo: Wikipedia)

In some regions, the night was called "nut crack night," when people cracked nuts. Chestnuts and hazelnuts were most commonly used for fortune-telling. Another popular method involved using an eggshell as a small boat for a candle, similar to how Ukrainians used walnut shells. Pouring melted wax or oil into water was also a widespread practice in both cultures.

Boys also attended the gatherings and especially enjoyed fortune-telling with chestnuts, throwing them into the fire. After the parties, they would go on to play pranks.

During the Victorian period in Britain, these play parties were very popular, and themed costumes began to appear. They were essentially for fun, socializing, and fortune-telling. In the United States, however, these traditions evolved differently.

Influence of the United States on Halloween's popularity

– How exactly did the United States transform Halloween, and why did it become so popular worldwide?

– By the late 19th century, Halloween pranks were already a major problem, but with the onset of the Great Depression, vandalism became uncontrollable. Every November 1, newspapers reported another episode of chaos in some state.

In 1879, about 200 boys in Kentucky stopped a train by placing a dummy on the tracks, which the engineer mistook for a person. In 1900, medical students at the University of Michigan stole a decapitated cadaver from the anatomy lab and attached it to the entrance of a building.

Each year, the situation worsened, fueled by social instability: the more dissatisfaction among the population, the more extreme the Halloween pranks became.

In 1933, parents were outraged when hundreds of teenagers overturned cars, cut telephone poles, and committed other acts of vandalism nationwide. That year, people called the holiday "Black Halloween," like the stock market crash four years earlier was called "Black Tuesday."

The government eventually intervened and provided a framework for how teenagers should celebrate Halloween. For example, "Haunted Houses" were created so that all activities could take place in one controlled location.

Schools were given guidance on organizing events. All children were involved in preparing costumes. To make the holiday accessible to everyone, paper costumes that cost just a few cents were sold. Parents also actively participated in preparations.

Halloween celebration in Ohio, USA, 1929 (photo: Getty Images)

From the 1920s, the United States began issuing brochures with rules and ideas for celebrating Halloween. After 1933, these became more structured, almost like a manual. Animated films were created, such as "The Skeleton Dance" and Halloween-themed episodes of Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop. The government systematically guided the population toward "proper" celebration and funded it.

The "trick or treat" tradition evolved in the United States since the late 19th century. Treats were given to these "gangs" to prevent them from damaging homes, rather than to "soulers" to pray for the souls of ancestors, as in the original practice. Interestingly, in Ukraine, there are records that on St. Andrew's Eve and Malanka, boys were given bags of vodka, lard, or sausage to prevent them from causing trouble.

Thus, while the focus in the 1930s and 1940s was on children and teenagers, over time, as they grew older, it became clear that adult content was also needed. This period saw the rise of mass horror films and the beginning of the Halloween horror movie tradition.

Halloween ball at the Art Institute of Chicago, USA, 1949 (photo: Getty Images)

Halloween in Ukraine

– Are there any records of when this holiday arrived in Ukraine?

– The thing is, a significant portion of Ukrainians long observed Roman Catholic rituals and celebrated November 1. It simply was not celebrated as a mass event. On the eve of All Saints' Day, it was customary to visit cemeteries and light a candle. Even today, mainly in Western Ukraine, cemeteries clearly show that November 1 is a special day for commemorating ancestors.

In the Orthodox tradition, particular importance is given to Dmytrivska Saturday, a memorial Saturday that falls before the day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki, which this year is October 25.

In some regions of Ukraine, the practice of not only visiting cemeteries but also holding memorial dinners at home, inviting the souls of deceased ancestors, is still widespread. In Polissia, this time is called "autumn ancestors."

In fact, on Autumn Ancestors, meaning memorials dedicated to Dmytrivska Saturday, the emphasis is not as strong as it is at Christmas, the period after Easter, or the Green Holidays. Still, the custom of preparing a meal and calling the dead is present.

Indeed, Pumpkin carving existed in Ukraine, but in the context of pranks, for example, on Michael's Miracle (celebrated in Ukraine on September 6 by the new style). Pumpkins were carved and placed on the road to scare someone. The same was done on St. Andrew's Eve. In other words, it was for fun, laughter, and frightening people, not for lighting a candle to guide a soul. It was also a children's autumn pastime.

Everything we have that is authentic regarding the autumn context with pumpkins is pranks, which were not necessarily tied to a specific date. Moreover, pumpkins themselves appeared in Ukraine around the 18th century.

Also, in the Kyiv region, in the Fastiv and Bila Tserkva districts, pumpkin carving is associated with the Makoviia holiday. On this day, a decorated effigy with a "pumpkin head" is displayed. Such effigies are called makoviichky. This is a very well-preserved tradition, with photographs dating back to the 1950s and even earlier written references.

Folklorist Olena Chebaniuk connects this to the fact that, in local churches, during the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, an ancient Byzantine ritual of carrying the Holy Cross of the Lord was performed - a ritual that became part of Orthodox Church practices in the 12th to 13th centuries.

So, what we now perceive as a pumpkin-headed effigy most likely was originally a cross decorated for the holiday. Interestingly, the context of Makoviia, which is harvest time, resonates with Samhain.

Ethnographer Mykola Sumtsov attempted to analyze the celebration of Semyon on September 1, which was also accompanied by references to pumpkins. There are accounts that, in the mid-19th century in Kyiv, merchants at the Zhytnii Market would set up a Christmas tree on this day, September 1, which was once considered New Year's. and decorate it with carved watermelons and pumpkins. Even here, it was decoration, not a lantern to call the dead.

Daria Antsybor: "Everything we have that is authentic regarding the autumn context with pumpkins is pranks, which were not necessarily tied to a specific date" (photo: Vitalii Nosach/RBC-Ukraine)

– Is the modern celebration of Halloween in Ukraine a genuine holiday or a commercial show?

– In recent years, children actively celebrate it; in cities, many dress up, ring doorbells, and ask for candy. Overall, children really enjoy this holiday. It helps, through transformation, to confront death, overcome fear, and turn it into something to laugh at. Young people also celebrate, organizing costume parties and watching horror movies.

– How do you feel about Halloween rolling into Ukraine?

– I don't see it as competition for our holidays. We don't live on a deserted island; we are constantly in contact with other cultures. This holiday has been with us for a long time, and we have to accept it. We just need to know what it actually was and understand that it's not just about dressing up and pumpkins.

– Is there a threat that Halloween will displace our holidays?

– No. Halloween is a great example of how to promote and spread your own holidays so that people around the world want to celebrate them. Ukrainians could borrow this approach for St. Andrew's Eve. Commercialize the holiday on one hand, popularize it at all levels, and even export it abroad. We have all the potential for that.

The example of America shows that you can take a holiday under control, but at the same time, authorities have completely removed it from its folk roots. The average American now doesn't know what a play party was, how fortunes were told, or what soul cakes are.

However, this structured approach led to Halloween spreading worldwide and becoming the third most commercially popular holiday after Christmas and Easter.

In fact, a closer look at Halloween allows us to view our winter holiday cycle from a different perspective, reconsider traditions, and perhaps strengthen them. Therefore, it's worth moving away from the idea of Halloween as a "Satanic holiday" and exploring its true origins, noticing how much of it resonates with our own culture, and considering how we might similarly popularize knowledge of our own traditions, as has happened with Halloween