What is the origin of Halloween? Taking place this week on Thursday, Oct. 31, Halloween is an important day not only for ghosts, ghouls and spirits but also for anyone interested in our planet’s incredible annual journey around the sun.
The holiday is also, perhaps surprisingly, connected to a question commonly asked at this time of year: when do the clocks go back? It’s no coincidence that the end of daylight savings in North America — which will happen this Sunday, Nov. 3 — occurs just a few days after Halloween.
Halloween, you see, isn’t just a traditional holiday with curious origins. Oct. 31 also happens to be what astronomers call a cross-quarter day.
Here’s everything you need to know about the astronomical reasons for Halloween — and why the clocks go back shortly after it.
What Is Halloween And Why Is It Celebrated?
The holiday of Halloween, or All Hallow’s Eve, has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, according to the Library of Congress, when the harvest would be welcomed, and bonfires were lit to ward off ghosts.
But there’s something special about the date.
Why Is Halloween On Oct. 31 Every Year?
Why is Halloween always at the end of October? It’s no coincedence. Oct. 31 is precisely halfway between September’s equinox and December’s solstice. That makes it a cross-quarter day, an important waymarker to ancient cultures that helped track the changing of the seasons in Earth’s yearly orbit around the sun.
Halloween marks the halfway point of fall.
Groundhog Day each Feb. 2 is also a cross-quarter day. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
What Are Cross-Quarter Days?
Cross-quarter days are important waymarkers in our planet’s annual trip around the sun, but the familiarity of some of them will likely surprise you. Here they are for the coming year, 2024, alongside the dates for the equinoxes and solstices:
- October 31, 2024: Halloween and All Soul’s Day (midpoint between the equinox and solstice).
- December 21, 2024: December solstice
- February 2, 2025: Groundhog Day and Candlemas, a holy day in the Christian calendar (midpoint between the solstice and equinox).
- March 20, 2025: March equinox (northward)
- May 1, 2025: May Day, a traditional spring holiday in the northern hemisphere (midpoint between the equinox and solstice).
- June 20, 2025: June solstice
- August 1, 2025: Lammas, a traditional pagan celebration of the first harvest of the season (midpoint between the solstice and equinox).
- September 22, 2025: September equinox (southward)
Halloween And Daylight Savings
Daylight saving time (DST) starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November in the U.S. According to Timeanddate.com, in 2024, the clocks were turned forward one hour to 03:00 a.m. at 02:00 a.m. on Sunday, Mar. 10, and will be turned backward one hour to 01:00 a.m. at 02:00 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3.
Why? Earth’s 23.5-degree axial tilt causes seasons, leading to varying day lengths. Unlike the equator, where daylight remains roughly 12 hours year-round, northern and southern regions experience significant differences between summer and winter. Hence the need for a time-shift halfway through fall — Halloween.
Daylight Savings And Arizona
The exception is Arizona, which does not observe daylight saving time. The Grand Canyon State remains on Mountain Standard Time the entire year, with the exception of the Navajo Nation, which does adhere to daylight savings times.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
This post was originally published on here
