A Look At The History Of Halloween
Halloween has become the second most anticipated holiday for children after
Christmas and Chanukah. Although we celebrate it with candy and Halloween
parties, it wasn’t always that way. In fact, Halloween has its roots in pagan
traditions dating all the way back to nearly the dawn of civilization. Is
Halloween about God and the Saints, or Satan and his demons? How are witches
involved, and what’s up with that carved pumpkin. Join me in look back to the
beginning of Halloween.
"Halloween" is a relatively new word to describe our favorite holiday. It is a
contracted form of the phrase “All Hallows Eve”, also known as “All Saints Day”,
which is a Catholic religious holiday honoring all Saints. But historians
believe that the Catholics concocted that Holiday in an effort to draw attention
away from the pagan holiday which Ireland’s Celtic people called Samhain
(sow-en).
Back in the 5th Century BC, Samhain fell on October 31 which was the last day of
summer on the Celtic calendar. The people celebrated that day as we do New
Year’s Day. The Catholics had a problem with the Celtic version of the holiday
which taught that the spirits of the dead would return to possess the bodies of
the living for just that one night.
Not wanting to be possessed by spirits, people in the Celtic villages would
dress up as ghouls and demons to keep the returning spirits at bay.
Around that time, the Romans came on to the scene and adopted the holiday of
Samhain for themselves. They soon grew tired of celebrating a holiday that their
own Gods had not invented, so Samhain celebrations were blended into the holiday
celebrating the Goddess Pomona who had dominion over the fruits and treats. Her
symbol was the apple, and it was considered good fortune if one were able to
pluck an apple from a barrel of water using only their teeth on that special
day.
As the centuries passed, Halloween began evolving towards what we know it to be
today. In the 9th century AD, European Christians would go door-to-door on
November 2nd, All Souls Day, asking for tasty morsels known as "soul cakes". The
deal was, the “the more soul cakes you give me, the more prayers I’ll say for
your dead relatives.” This was a fair trade because the belief then was that
souls remained in Limbo until they atoned for their sins, but they could earn an
“early release” if God received enough prayers from the living.
Gradual changes in the way the holiday was celebrated continued to occur over
the centuries and now we find ourselves in 1840’s America. Irish immigrants are
fleeing the potato famine by the boatload and they’re bringing their holidays
and traditions with them. One of their most cherished traditions was sneaking
out on October 31 to unlock their neighbors’ gates and tip over outhouses. One
could avoid falling victim to these tricks if they left some treats outside for
the pranksters to devourer.
In addition to introducing that little twist to the holiday, they are also
credited with introducing the Jack-o-lantern. According to Irish folklore, a
drunkard named “Jack” was able to trick Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then
quickly carved a cross in the tree trunk and Satan was trapped. Jack cut a deal
to free Satan in return for Satan’s promise never to tempt Jack again.
Things went fine for Jack until he died. St. Peter denied him entrance to
Heaven, and Satan denied him entrance to hell. Satan was kind enough to give
Jack one burning ember to light his way through the eternal darkness. Jack
placed the ember inside of a hollowed-out turnip to protect it from the wind.
The Irish celebrated Jack’s heroic deeds by placing candles inside of turnips.
Once the Irish arrived in America, they found turnips to be in short supply, but
there were plenty of pumpkins!
And as far as the witches go, you can thank the people in Salem, Massachusetts
for adding that footnote to a long line of tradition that ends with what we know
today as Halloween.
Article From:
Halloween-Blog.com
Webmasters - Republishing Our Halloween Articles