Hallowed History
On the last night of October, the boundary between the worlds of
the living and the dead becomes blurred. Ghosts return to roam the
earth, bringing all sorts of trouble and a dark, long, cold winter....
This was the belief of the ancient Celts, a group of peoples who
lived 2,000 years ago in what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and
northern France. For them, the night of October 31 marked the
end of the summer harvest, and the beginning of a time of year
associated with low food supply and human death. They
commemorated the day with
an annual festival called Samhain, a celebration that has evolved into
one of the world's oldest holidays: Halloween.
ANCIENT CUSTOMS
During the Samhain celebration, the Druids (Celtic priests) built huge
bonfires and the people gathered to burn crops and animals as
sacrifices to the deities. The people also wore costumes, usually
animal heads and skins, and told each other's fortunes. It was
believed that the presence of spirits made it easier to make
predictions and prophecies.
Over time, the Celt's Samhain festival was combined with newer
traditions brought by the conquering Romans and the influence of
Christianity. It is believed a Roman holiday that honored Pomona (the
orchard goddess symbolized by the apple) created the custom of
bobbing for apples that is still practiced on Halloween today.
And later, around 1000 A.D., the church made November 2 All Souls' Day
to honor the dead. It was celebrated with bonfires, parades and people
dressing up as saints, angels and devils.
This ancient Samhain tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween
continued through the ages. Winter remained an uncertain and
frightening time for Europeans, and to avoid being recognized by
spirits, they often wore masks when leaving their homes after
dark.
TRICK OR TREAT
The tradition of trick-or-treating likely evolved from early All Souls'
Day celebrations in England when it was common for poor people to beg
for food. During the festivities, families would give beggars square
pieces of currant bread called "soul cakes" in return for their
promises to pray for the families' dead relatives. At that time,
it was believed that the dead remained in limbo after death, and that
prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.
The practice, referred to as "going-a-souling," was eventually taken up
by neighborhood children who went house to house seeking ale, food and
money.
AN ALL-AMERICAN HOLIDAY
As
Europeans came to America, the customs of many different ethnic groups
meshed to create a distinctly American version of Halloween. In
colonial times, neighbors would gather at "play parties" to sing,
dance, tell each other's fortunes and share ghost stories.
Later,
in the second half of the nineteenth century, a flood of European
immigrants
helped turn Halloween into a national celebration. Taking on traditions
from the English and the Irish, Americans began dressing up in costumes
and going from house to house to ask for food and money.
Eventually,
parties became the most
popular way to celebrate the day. Today, Halloween is America's
second largest commercial holiday, with both kids and adults enjoying
frightfully festive
foods, decorations, costumes and games.