The History of Halloween
Trick or Treating
As part of the Samhain and Feralia celebrations, wine and food were left out for the souls of the dead (sort of like cookies for Santa Claus). The Christians encouraged a little twist in this practice. During the time of the early All Souls Day celebrations, the poor would beg for food. Families would bake “soul cakes” for the beggars and in return, the poor would pray for the souls of the family’s dead relatives. This “begging” eventually transitioned from the poor to all children who began calling the practice “going-a-souling”. Through the years, cakes were no longer baked and children would receive ale, food, candy and money. Tricksters believed that they would get better “treats” if they threatened the household with practical jokes and a promise to not play tricks if goodies were gotten… This now brings us to the modern tradition of “trick or treating”.
Ghosts and Goblins and Princesses?
During Samhain, people believed the souls of the dead walked the earth. Some of these souls were good, and some were evil. At night, people would dress in costume to disguise themselves from the evil spirits. Eventually this tradition merged with that of “trick or treating”.
Jack O’Lanterns
During Samhain, families would leave food and wine for the spirits of their dead relatives. As the Christian traditions began to take hold, this was discouraged and the fear of evil spirits became more pervasive. The pumpkin, a commonly harvested fall vegetable, was carved in the shape of a fearful creature and left on the threshold to ward away these evil spirits. In some parts of the world other fall vegetables are also carved in the shape of Jack O’lanterns including beets, gourds, potatoes and turnips.
An old Irish-Catholic legend tells of a man named Jack who died and was not allowed into heaven because of his miserly ways and was not wanted in hell because he played tricks on the devil. He was cursed to walk the earth at night until judgment day with his lantern lighting the way. Perhaps Jack O’lanterns were placed outside of homes to chase this spirit away….
Bobbing for Apples
According to Celtic lore, there is an apple tree that grows in the “other world” (Avalon, Nirvana, Heaven) and the fruit has magical properties. Stories from these times tell of great heroes that crossed the sea in the attempt to find this tree. During Samhain, the apples are picked and children began a game called “dookin’ for apples” or “apple dookin’” to symbolize this journey over the sea to pick the magical apples.
In another early version of this game, apples were cut and fortunes, written on sheets of paper, were inserted into the apple. The apples were then thrown into a tub of water and the player would pick an apple to find out his/her fortune.
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