Roman Traditions in Halloween History

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Ginny on behalf of Expert Village and I'd like to tell you a story. Come, travel back in time with me as we explore the brief history of Halloween. In A.D. 43, the Romans conquered the Celtic Empire and established their own beliefs and traditions. They did incorporate many of the Celtic traditions as their own. The Romans had two festivals in particular that were similar to Celtic ceremonies. The first was the feast of Feralia and it was intended to give rest and peace to the dead. The Roman people made sacrifices in honor of the dead; offered up prayers for them and made offerings to them. The feast of Pomona was the second ceremony that was similar to Celtic. It was celebrated in late October. Pomona was the goddess of fertility and the goddess of orchards; particularly apple orchards. You know that today we have Pomona apples. The Romans exchanged nuts and fruit, especially apples during this feast. This was a particularly appealing tradition to the conquered Celts because they already believed that the pentagram was a symbol of fertility. When an apple is sliced in half, the seeds form a pentagram. Because the seed of an apple sliced in half formed a pentagram, an apple was used by the ancient Celts to determine marriages during the celebration of Salween. Young, unmarried people tried to bite into an apple floating in water or hanging from a string. The first to bite into an apple, was the next to marry. Our current game of "bobbing for apples" surely came from this long ago custom. And stay tuned for "The History of Halloween, Chapter 6." "