How Halloween Came to Be
**For a great listing of local Halloween festivities, click here or here.
Halloween-time is my favorite time of the year. Admittedly, I’m more in love with the harvest look that shakes the trees, the colder weather, and the infamous PSL, but I also relish the spooky-murky-creepiness of the only holiday that fits my love of X-Files, Harry Potter, and Tim Burton all into one day.
But besides making the mortuary a “cool” place to work for a month, this holiday is also the only one that actively recognized the dead in its celebration.
Do you know anything about the origins of Halloween?
Well, let me take you on a brief journey through this history of how Halloween came to be.
This “hallowed” or “holy” evening is owed to the Celts, the specifics of which are due in some parts it seems to the pagans and others to their Christian roots – it all seems debatable but, it did start over 500 years ago.
The Pagans: Originally referred to as “Samhain,” this holiday marked the end of harvest season and the beginning of the “dark half” of the year – a time when people believed that spirits or fairies could more easily come into our world. Desiring the fairy blessing on crops, people would leave out food and drink for them (sound a bit like Santa Claus to anyone else?). They also thought that the souls of the dead would visit their former homes on this night. Families would set places for them at dinner and candles would be lit to help guide the spirits home. After the eating and drinking that people would go “guising” (wearing costumes) to either avoid the fairy spirits, or to dress like the souls of their dearly departed.
Photo Courtesy of http://vintagerosegarden.tumblr.com
The Christians: Halloween, as we know it, is the first of the three “Hallowmas” holidays with All Saints Day on November 1st, and All Souls Day on the 2nd. Halloween comes from the term “Hallow even” where “even” is short for “evening” and somewhere along the line it got shortened to just Halloween.
The tradition of Trick-or-Treating seems to come from the practice of Christians baking “soul cakes” and distributing them to the poor (usually children) that came to their doors as a means of praying for the souls in purgatory. “It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints’ Day, and All Hallows’ Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities” (Prince Sorie Conteh).
Here’s my favorite Halloween tale, it’s about Jack and his lantern:
“On route home after a night’s drinking, Jack encounters the Devil who tricks him into climbing a tree.
Halloween pumpkin grimming face in the dark close up
A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul. After a life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest.”
UGH – Creepy right??
Ok, so there you have it, the super-short history of how Halloween came to be.
If you keep reading the Wikipedia page (where I got much of this), you’ll see that in Ireland they carved turnips until they discovered the pumpkin in North America. Turnips!
The True Meaning of Christma . . . I mean, Halloween:
– Make things right. While we wear costumes for fun today instead of to ward off vengeful spirits, it’s still a good reminder to be at peace with your friends and family. To say what you’ve been meaning to, to hug the ones who matter, and to hand a snickers bar to that special someone.
– Remember the dead. Whether that is carving a pumpkin in honor of them, lighting a candle, or even dressing like one of your loved one’s heroes. There are a lot of ways to remember them and in the midst of the hype to host parties and hand out good candy, it can be helpful to relax and just remember the origins and purpose of this day: to remember the souls we’ve lost.
So light a candle in memory of the person or pet you’ve lost and give candy to others with sweet word and good wishes on your lips.
Do so, and have a . . .
You can answer these questions or share your thoughts on the blog:
Will you remember someone this Halloween? Light a candle or carve a pumpkin?
What are your favorite Halloween traditions?
43 Comments
I didn’t think it would! Your comment is still one of my favorites, “Halloween gives weird people an excuse to be weirder” – can’t argue with that! Thanks for reading & Happy Halloween ANYWAY!
Very interesting post! My favorite memory of Halloween was going to the fabric store with my mom and picking out the pattern and fabric for my costume that year. I was always amazed when we would do a “fit session” and see the transformation of fabric into an outfit. I haven’t thought about that for a long time, thanks so much for writing this!!
What a sweet memory Lauren! It’s so fun to look back on our childhoods at this time and see the fun and care our parents infused into our lives. I’m so glad you have that memory and that it came to you like a little surprise just in time for today. Happy Halloween!
Hi Molly,
Thank you for sharing this. I believe that many of us have fond memories of prior Halloween holidays. As I think of this “holiday”, “event”, “party” or whatever one may wish to call it, I think back to previous ones that I have experienced.
Doesn’t this one holiday remind us once again of time passing? Maybe we have a memory of a costume we wore as a kid, maybe we remember hanging with friends, or, how shall I say it? getting into “trouble” in the neighborhood as a teen on the loose.
Maybe we remember a wild college party with friends or frat brothers/sorority sisters with incredibly inventive costumes made out of all sorts of cheap stuff. Maybe we remember growing up and transitioning from a “costume” to spending a few bucks and becoming a real live character, someone we have romanced in our minds of being in another time and place. Maybe we remember the hollowness of being married and not yet having our own child to take trick or treating on a magic cold night…loving protecting them from all kinds of harmful spooks.
…and then, full circle, there we are, taking our own kids around joyfully, laughingly entranced by their friends we see on the street or who come by at all sorts of hours to hang out…and then run out for more…chili and warmth in the kitchen and at our front porch. And then our kids, like us, spend the evening out of the house, away from us, their friends and parents no longer coming by…but dutifully and faithfully..because others have done it for us and ours…we decorate and open our doors to welcome those whom we will only know for a magic moment…but between doorbells we notice that there is an eerily quiet sense about the house.
But…maybe…just maybe…someday there might be GRANDKIDS! Maybe on another magic Halloween…we will get the opportunity to enjoy it all over again…
Thanks for sharing this history and thanks for helping us tug at these memorable moments.
Greg
Greg, your posts almost always give me goosebumps! So beautifully written and so descriptive that I can just see the streets you describe and the precious little children that flit in and out of our lives for precious, sweet little moments where we get to love them with candy and a warm greeting.
Thank you so much for writing & making my day lovelier with your post.
Happy Halloween, Greg!
Molly –
Wow, I never knew my Halloween history lesson!
I really thought it was a conspiracy of dental lobbyist in DC, trying to decay our teeth.
Who knew? I love the history lesson.We are headed to the craziest/busiest street in San Clemente tomorrow, four or five homes are a Disney like experience. These homeowners are all general contractors who spend about 1-2 months dialing in their homes. The kids go nuts and the parents have a good time too! Lots of candy and adult beverages. Happy Halloween!!!
So fun, Neil! I’m excited to hear about your evening & little Jesse.
Glad you enjoyed the blog & learned a thing or two about this crazy day.
Have fun tonight, Happy Halloween!
Hi Molly
Another interesting blog from you Molly. I didn’t really know much about how this holiday got started! I just know that I loved it as a child for all the candy I was able to get in one night!!! I was a candy-holic (probably still am!) I didn’t really care too much about what costume I had on – it was all about the candy I was going to get!
Yes, I will definitely light a few candles tomorrow night in honor of all of my co-workers who have suffered loss this past year within their family and I will also remember my own loved ones who have passed on. I like that spin on this holiday!
Thanks for the background and fun way to continue to help us get to know you better…..who would have know that Halloween time is your favorite time of year!
Sharon
Sharon you are so sweet! It’s so nice to find time to remember others and those we’ve lost in the middle of the fun & chaos. I think the balance of that is a good thing.
Thank you so much for reading this & for sharing your kind thoughts on the blog, I’m so glad you enjoyed it : ) Happy Halloween Sharon!