<h2>From Samhain to All Hallows: Rome, the Church, and the Shaping of Halloween</h2>

From Samhain to All Hallows: Rome, the Church, and the Shaping of Halloween

Every October I feel the air buzzing with a strange blend of memory — Samhain’s wild firelight on one side, All Hallows’ solemn bells on the other. The Halloween we know today is born from this meeting place. In this post, I want to show you how Rome’s festivals, the medieval Church, and curious folk customs wove together. Along the way, I’ll share some lesser-known tales — from soul cakes to horse skulls — and even a personal note about my own family’s ties to the House of Lancaster, where many of these customs thrived.

1. When Rome Met the Celts: Feralia, Pomona, and Apples

The Romans loved their festivals, and two cast long shadows over Celtic lands:

• Feralia: a Roman festival for the dead, when offerings were made to ancestors. Though held in February, its spirit echoed in other observances and found resonance with Celtic practices.¹
• Pomona’s Feast: honoring the goddess of fruit and orchards. Her symbol, the apple, likely slid into Celtic autumnal celebrations and eventually into Halloween games like apple-bobbing.²

So whenever an apple floats in a tub on Halloween night, remember: there’s a trace of Rome in that water.

2. The Christian Turn: All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days

By the 7th century, the Church had begun creating feasts for martyrs and saints. Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon to all martyrs, and later Pope Gregory III fixed November 1 as the Feast of All Saints. Gregory IV extended it across Christendom. Suddenly Samhain’s night became All Hallows’ Eve, and November 2 was dedicated to All Souls’ Day — a time to pray for the departed.³

But old habits die hard. Bonfires, masks, and divinations crept beneath the new Christian framework, refusing to be extinguished.

3. Souling, Soul Cakes, and Doorsteps

One of the most enchanting survivals is souling. On All Hallows, the poor and children went door to door, offering prayers for the dead in exchange for small round breads called soul cakes. Each cake eaten was said to release a soul from purgatory.⁴

These customs linger across Europe. In Portugal, children still keep Pão-por-Deus (“bread for God”) on All Saints’ Day.⁵ In Wales, they once begged for “food for the messenger of the dead.” Trick-or-treating, I think, is not far from these echoes — sweet traded for blessing.

4. The Ringing of Soul Bells

As fire once purified, now sound took on the task. Across medieval parishes, bells rang through Allhallowtide. “Soul bells” were tolled to ease souls in purgatory and ward off spirits.⁶ Some communities even combined old and new: ashes from bonfires were traced on foreheads in the sign of the cross — fire-magic and Christian blessing layered into one act.

5. Cheshire’s Souling Plays

In Cheshire, souling went beyond cakes into drama. Troupes of “soulers” performed folk plays around All Hallows, carrying with them a strange, powerful prop: a horse skull. Without it, the play was invalid.⁷

These plays often featured combat: one character slain and revived by a “quack doctor.” Figures like Beelzebub, the Black Prince, or even King George appeared in the mix.⁸ It was more than entertainment — it was ritual theater, dramatizing death, intercession, and resurrection.

As someone reportedly tied by blood to John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, I find this especially haunting. Gaunt ruled lands in Cheshire, and it was here, under his House’s shadow, that these soul plays flourished. The customs of my distant kin’s subjects still echo every Halloween.

6. Lancashire’s Lating Candles

Meanwhile in Lancashire, All Hallows’ Eve brought a different rite. Villagers climbed hills with lit candles between 11pm and midnight. If the flame survived until midnight, the bearer was safe from witches’ power that year. If it guttered out, they were thought vulnerable.⁹

Imagine it: a line of flickering lights along Pendle Hill, where witch-trials centuries later would etch the land with infamy. These candles, called lating or leeting lights, carried both fear and hope. The ritual has the same bones as Samhain’s bonfire — fragile light against the endless dark.

7. A Personal Reflection

When I walk out on Halloween night, I imagine Cheshire lanes lit by turnip lanterns, Lancashire hills glowing with fragile candle flames, and bells ringing into the frosty dark. These people lived with death as a constant companion — and so their festivals were filled with prayers, games, fire, and song. For me, All Hallows is not just Christian solemnity or pagan survival; it’s both. It’s a braid of fire and bells, sweetness and prayers, fear and laughter. That, to me, is the true heart of Halloween.

Closing: Toward the Middle Ages

We have walked from Samhain to Rome, from Rome to saints, and from saints into folk plays and hilltop candles. But there is more. In our next post, we will step fully into the medieval imagination — into relics, pilgrimages, and prayers for souls. There we will find Halloween’s bones laid bare, waiting for us to listen.

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Footnotes & Sources

1. “Halloween: Origins, Meaning & Traditions.” History.com. Link
2. “Halloween and the Romans – Feralia & Pomona.” ARLT Weblog. Link
3. “Allhallowtide.” Wikipedia. Link
4. “Soul cake.” Wikipedia. Link
5. “Pão por Deus.” Wikipedia. Link
6. “Allhallowtide traditions.” Medieval.eu. Link
7. “Souling Plays.” Wikipedia. Link
8. Winsford History Society, “Soul Caking Traditions.” Link
9. “All Hallows in Old Lancashire.” Feminism and Religion Blog. Link