We blindly celebrate this holiday with out taking the time to think about where the origins came from.
Every holiday has specific traditions that go with it. Acts that we do as a culture either in preparation or as the actual celebration. Halloween or All Hollow’s eve is a perfect example of one of those holidays that have many traditions. So many of us go about blindly celebrating these traditions and do not even know what they signify. Halloween itself is a very old holiday. Many of the customs that we have come from the Celts in Ireland with the holiday call Samhain (pronounced sow-hen). This holiday celebrated the last of the harvest and their ancestors. When Christianity became the dominant religion they created the holiday All Saints Day, they believed that the night before all sorts of freakish ghouls came out to play but had to return to where they came by morning light. This evening before All Saints Day came to be known as All Hollow’s Eve. These two ancient holidays along with some Roman customs are what have created the holiday that we know today.
One cannot think of Halloween with out the infamous Jack-O-Lantern. The tradition of this carved gourd is at least two thousand years old. The tradition originated in Ireland where turnips were used in place of the pumpkin we know today. The turnips had faces carved into them and were carried by travelers at night who believed that the carved vegetables would protect them from evil ghosts. When many Irish immigrated to the United States they adopted the pumpkin, which was readily available.
Apples are a fruit that have been synonymous with fall and Halloween. Apples were one of the few fruits that were available during the fall. Likewise the Romans had a holiday to celebrate the goddess Pomona whose sacred fruit was apple. As part of the traditions to celebrate her holiday the Romans bobbed for apples, if a person was to catch one of these apples they were blessed with prosperity. The celebration of Pomona coincided with Samhain. During the time that the two cultures were intermingling the Celts adopted the customs associated with the Pomona holiday and visa versa.
The other very interesting tradition that we have is Trick-Or-Treating. Though many may feel this was a holiday that was started by the candy companies in actuality it was an early Christian custom circa the 9th century. Originally known as souling people would go from home to home begging for what was called Soul Cakes. These square cakes were pieces of sweet bread with currents (raisons). The more soul cakes the beggars would receive the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dread relatives of the donors.
Halloween’s origins are complex and ancient. Our traditions come from a long and rich history that should never be forgotten.
