Why are certain animals associated with this holiday, and how did they come to be so in the first place? Which animals come to mind when you think of Halloween? Some common contenders are bats, cats, rats, spiders, owls, and ravens, but why? When did this practice begin to start? We must take a rudimentary dive into the holiday of Halloween as a whole.
Halloween has its roots in the Celtic Festival of Samhain, which is still celebrated today. Originally, this was held on October 31st as a means to welcome in the New Year beginning on November 1st. It's a time of transition when crops wither, and humans must face the cold winter when many could perish. For this reason, this time is considered a moment when the living and dead are closest. Ancient Samhain rituals consisted of lighting large bonfires to warm the home, and some scholars believe these folks dawned costumes made from sacrificed animals. Whether the costumes were a part of the celebration or not, animal sacrifice is still largely believed to have occurred during these celebrations. As time went on, different cultures impacted the evolution of the holiday. The Christian popes assimilated some of the Pagan practices to make the religion more enticing to individuals outside of the fold. The day became known as All Hollows Eve, the night before All Saints Day, and eventually transformed into Halloween. Many of the original practices withstood the test of time, such as the tricks played by spirits, treats left out for the spirits to eat, and maybe even the dawning of costumes. Although, I'm personally glad the animal sacrifice stopped somewhere along the way.
Unfortunately, the Kelts didn't have written records, so a lot of what is known comes from secondhand descriptions and folklore. Much of this is left up to interpretation. However, it's clear animals have been part of the celebration from the start. In all likelihood, the original animals that took part in Samhain were livestock animals, as this was celebrated about 2,000 years ago, mostly in Ireland. The livestock at the time were cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, and geese. So it's quite possible that the earliest Halloween animals and animal costumes were actually some of the most populous domestic animals alive today.
Over time, we've come to associate other animals with this mob festival. In general, these animals are nocturnal, giving them an air of mystery, especially during a time when humans only had oil lamps and candlelight to see at night. Cats, specifically all black cats, are shrouded in superstition. Felines featured as part of the original Samhain festivals. The cave of cats was believed to house trickster fairies who would emerge and cause havoc on October 31st. Later, popes declared black cats an incarnation of Satan, and people certainly didn't want to cross paths with the devil. Beliefs arose that witches who didn't practice the faith but instead lived in appreciation of nature could turn into black cats to make their way stealthily across the land. Over time, this was viewed with suspicion that turned into fear and anger that led to witch hunts. These ideas and superstitions eventually became tied in with the imagery of All Hollow's Eve when evil entities could most easily walk among mortals. Cats were even believed to cause the Bubonic plague and were killed in droves. Of course, that plan backfired because cats are some of the main predators to the animals that may have helped spread the plague.
Most people have heard the idea that rats were the main reason behind the spread of the Bubonic plague. There are newer studies that contest this, but the idea still remains. It was really bacteria that caused the plague. Fleas harbored the bacteria in their body and then passed the infection on to other animals they bit, rats being one of those animals. Because of this, rats became known as a harbinger of death. If rats showed up, people died shortly after. Originally, people thought the little rodents were actually predicting when a person would die. Remember, back then, they didn't know the plague was caused by bacteria passed by fleas. What's more, the weather was turning colder around October 31st, so it wasn't uncommon for rats to come in closer contact with humans as they tried to find lodging in the people's warm homes. Pair their appearance around the holiday and the superstition that they knew when death was coming, and they're a perfect animal to fall into the Halloween iconography.
Another mysterious creature of the night is the bat. Remember how fairies emerged from the cat cave? Well, the original practitioners of Samhain believed that bats were also spirits. Insects are drawn to night at light, such as burning bonfires or lit candles, and bats are drawn to the insects. Of course, that concept wasn't exactly understood back then, so people saw black swooping creatures which they believed to be spirits driven away by divine fire. To further solidify them in the Halloween mythos, we can look to the lore of vampires. Dracula, perhaps the most well-known vampire, could turn into a bat, so all bats became associated with the blood-sucking demon. Of course, regulars of AF will know that of the more than 1,000 bat species alive today, fewer than five actually consume blood, and they would rather dine on livestock than humans anyway. I think it's worth mentioning that bats are some of the best hunters of actual human blood-sucking animals: mosquitoes.
Bats aren't the only winged creatures of the night that go along with this holiday. Owls are often associated with this time of year, but their origins and superstition may go back even further. Art from 4,000 years ago depicts a half-human woman, half-owl goddess of the underworld. Her form and connection to the afterlife may have led to the depiction of a harpie, which was likely modeled after the Egyptian concept of a soul half-bird and half-human, moving from the physical to the spiritual world. The idea that witches turned into owls could have sprung from the concept of the harpy. The word "strix," which is the genus name for a group of owls in Latin, means both owl and witch. In the form of an owl, plus the name "strix," was used to describe a bird-like creature of ill omen. Some cultures believed the call of an owl signaled death, and people went so far as to nail the poor birds to their doors at night to ward off this curse. Other cultures viewed owls as a symbol of insight and wisdom, so these conflicting beliefs helped to shroud these animals as enigmatic creatures who flitted between life and death, much like the spirits of the Samhain celebration.
Ravens and their crow relatives may not be nighttime birds like owls, but they're still intertwined with images of death. These birds scavenge at corpses, and this would have been especially prevalent during the plagues when human death counts were high, and bodies couldn't be attended to fast enough. People would see crows and ravens picking at the bodies of the deceased, clearly tying the birds to the concept of death and decay.
