All Hallow's Eve
Oct. 22nd, 2022 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impala_chickA little Halloween history/meta written for the Spooky Season and ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lands_of_magic.
Halloween comes from the Celtic New Year's Festival,Samhain (pronounced `Soo-when', `So-ween' or `Saw-wen'). The name itself is from the All Saints celebration - which the Catholic Church celebrated on May 13 originally. In the 8th century, the date was moved to 1 November by Pope Gregory III, most likely as an attempt to Christianize the Celtic holiday. The night before, Christians would pray and fast in preparation for All Saints Day, and that time became known as All Hallow's Eve.
Trick or treating is a revived tradition, probably derived from the practice of "souling." Because the Christians believed that souls lingered in purgatory before being elevated to heaven by prayer, during the festivities people would ask for "soul cakes" or "soul-mass-cakes." I found a few different accounts of how this was done. Some sources say people would go door-to-door asking for soul cakes, and those receiving the gifts would pray for the dead family members of the gifters in return. Other sources say this took place during a parade or community gathering. The secular version became known as "guising" - people would offer songs, jokes, or other "tricks" in exchange for the treats. There's another theory that suggests the practice of Trick or treating comes from German "belsnicking" which involved children dressing up in costume and then people guessing who they are. If you guessed right, you got candy. Apparently this was something people would do around Christmas time.
Puritans who came to America didn't celebrate Pagan holidays, but they did celebrate Guy Fawkes day on November 5. Trick or treating became popular in America in the 1860s when Irish immigrants traveled here during the potato famine. Some of the traditions of Guy Fawkes day bled into Halloween, mostly vandalism. There was also the tradition of "mischief night" which became part of Halloween. By the 1920s, apparently trouble-makers were a big problem in some communities on Halloween night. Mrs. Krebs of Hiawatha, Kansas is credited with coming up with the idea of a huge Halloween party to distract the neighborhood kids and stop them from vandalizing her garden. Her parties seemed to be successful after the first year and were copied by many other communities.
As far as Pumpkins go, the Irish had been carving turnips and putting candles into them in order to walk from house to house on All Hallow's Eve. Pumpkins were easier to carve, and so that practice morphed into Jack o' Lantern carving. Samhain used to involve huge fires of animal bones, sacrifices, and wood called "bone fires" AKA bonfires. The townsfolk would build huge fires to light the way for all of the lost souls. This may be another reason that turnips and then pumpkins were lit later on. There's also an Irish folk tale about "stingy jack" who tricked the devil and got banned from hell. After his death, he couldn't go to heaven so he roamed the Earth with a turnip lit by an ember from hell.
Even the colors of Halloween have meaning. Black symbolizes the "death" of summer, and orange represents the fall harvest.
Halloween is a time to recognize transformation, as the seasons change and days grow darker. It's also a time to face our fears, because the veil is thinnest and we must triumph over whatever evil spirits are out and about. Halloween is a blend of many different traditions. And my favorite holiday!
Sources:
Live Science History of Halloween
History.com History of Halloween
World History.org History of Halloween
Library of Congress Origins of Halloween Traditions
lands_of_magic.Halloween comes from the Celtic New Year's Festival,Samhain (pronounced `Soo-when', `So-ween' or `Saw-wen'). The name itself is from the All Saints celebration - which the Catholic Church celebrated on May 13 originally. In the 8th century, the date was moved to 1 November by Pope Gregory III, most likely as an attempt to Christianize the Celtic holiday. The night before, Christians would pray and fast in preparation for All Saints Day, and that time became known as All Hallow's Eve.
Trick or treating is a revived tradition, probably derived from the practice of "souling." Because the Christians believed that souls lingered in purgatory before being elevated to heaven by prayer, during the festivities people would ask for "soul cakes" or "soul-mass-cakes." I found a few different accounts of how this was done. Some sources say people would go door-to-door asking for soul cakes, and those receiving the gifts would pray for the dead family members of the gifters in return. Other sources say this took place during a parade or community gathering. The secular version became known as "guising" - people would offer songs, jokes, or other "tricks" in exchange for the treats. There's another theory that suggests the practice of Trick or treating comes from German "belsnicking" which involved children dressing up in costume and then people guessing who they are. If you guessed right, you got candy. Apparently this was something people would do around Christmas time.
Puritans who came to America didn't celebrate Pagan holidays, but they did celebrate Guy Fawkes day on November 5. Trick or treating became popular in America in the 1860s when Irish immigrants traveled here during the potato famine. Some of the traditions of Guy Fawkes day bled into Halloween, mostly vandalism. There was also the tradition of "mischief night" which became part of Halloween. By the 1920s, apparently trouble-makers were a big problem in some communities on Halloween night. Mrs. Krebs of Hiawatha, Kansas is credited with coming up with the idea of a huge Halloween party to distract the neighborhood kids and stop them from vandalizing her garden. Her parties seemed to be successful after the first year and were copied by many other communities.
As far as Pumpkins go, the Irish had been carving turnips and putting candles into them in order to walk from house to house on All Hallow's Eve. Pumpkins were easier to carve, and so that practice morphed into Jack o' Lantern carving. Samhain used to involve huge fires of animal bones, sacrifices, and wood called "bone fires" AKA bonfires. The townsfolk would build huge fires to light the way for all of the lost souls. This may be another reason that turnips and then pumpkins were lit later on. There's also an Irish folk tale about "stingy jack" who tricked the devil and got banned from hell. After his death, he couldn't go to heaven so he roamed the Earth with a turnip lit by an ember from hell.
Even the colors of Halloween have meaning. Black symbolizes the "death" of summer, and orange represents the fall harvest.
Halloween is a time to recognize transformation, as the seasons change and days grow darker. It's also a time to face our fears, because the veil is thinnest and we must triumph over whatever evil spirits are out and about. Halloween is a blend of many different traditions. And my favorite holiday!
Sources:
Live Science History of Halloween
History.com History of Halloween
World History.org History of Halloween
Library of Congress Origins of Halloween Traditions