1. 1 year ago 

   The origins of Halloween

   Halloween is linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain; the name is derived from Old Irish and means roughly “summer’s end”. In the Celtic calendar, it was one of the most important days of the year, the festival of Samhain celebrated the end of the “lighter half” of the year and beginning of the “darker half”.

   The Celts believed that, on October 31, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, allowing a special window where the spirit world could intermingle with the living.

   It was a night when the dead spirits (both harmless and harmful) could cross over and return to the land of the living to celebrate with their family. The family’s ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. The purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm.

   In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints’ Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was called All-Hallows (Middle English meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-Hallows Eve, Hallow E’en (evening) and, eventually, Halloween.

   Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. The three celebrations, the eve of All Saints’, All Saints’, and All Souls’, were together called Hallowmas.

   The origins of Jack-O’-Lanterns and Trick or Treat

   In traditional Celtic Halloween festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces, and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins were both readily available and much larger - making them easier to carve than turnips.

   The American tradition of carving pumpkins was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a comical or frightening face and place it near their doorstep after dark.

   The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2).

   In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.

   By the early 1930s, Halloween became a community centered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in the United States. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats.

   Although obviously a treat for children, commercial enterprises have taken advantage of the ancient festival of Halloween for their own devices. Americans today spend an estimated $7 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday.

   In ancient times, this day was a special and honored day of the year. As you light your candles this year, take time to remember those who have passed before us. A time to send our love and gratitude to them to light their way back home.

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