How Has Farming Influenced Halloween

Currently, Halloween is a big deal, especially in the United States.  Did you know the hoiday got it start in ancient Celtic cultures and has an agricultural origin?  For the Council of the British Isles, October 31st was the last day of the year.

"It's the beginning of the preparation for winter and the end of the growing season,” said Agriculture Department historical expert Anne Effland.  She noted it was time to bring livestock in for the winter, which may have led later day historians to connect Halloween with some sort of mysterious druid ritual of sacrificing animals.

"It may have developed from the practice of killing animals at the end of the harvest period, to reduce the number of animals you're going to feed, and you can prepare your meat to be available throughout the winter,” Effland added.

But even so, the ancient celts seemed to believe that on October 31st, the unsettled spirits of recently-deceased folks could roam the countryside playing tricks on people.

"And there's some research that suggests that the dressing up was a way to scare them off.”

And from those ancient traditions, we still have our harvest festival, dressing up, and trick-or-treat.

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