Halloween History & Origin
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007Hey ! It’s Halloween—time of the year that’s absolutely freakish and screamin fun. A time when the line between the world of the living and the world of the dead is the thinnest and you’re sure to feel the freak and scare with ghosts, goblins, witches and warewolves prowling all around—both in their selves and in costumes. Halloween is an occasion to let loose the naughtier sides in you—playing pranks, sprucing up in freaky costumes and scaring the wits out of your frenz & folks. The chill of rib-tickling thrill, a nip of spine-chilling jitters and a good fare of full-blooded scare (ooh, i like that) is at the heart of Halloween celebrations.
Now today’s Halloween isn’t the same as it was 2000 years ago. The history and origin of Halloween lie way back in centuries in the ancient Celtic New Year’s festival, Samhain. So much so that the customs of today’s Halloween are also rooted in the ancient customs of the Celts during Samhain, which was said to mark the end of Summer. Samhain, the Celtic New Year was celebrated every year on October 31—the day, which the Celts believed, was a day of the rise of the dead, when the deceased would wander the land to possess earthly souls. To keep these spirits at bay, the Celts dressed up as ghouls and monsters and put out all lights in their homes. With that, they ventured out as mischievous and wayward undoers willfully wantoning peace and property. The Celtic priests or Druids also built bonfires on this day and offered sacrifices. The idea behind all these was, of course, to scare away the spirits of the dead and avoid being “possessed” ! Now if you’re brainy enough, it won’t be hard for you to guess that the modern tradition of wearing costumes on Halloween traces back to this ancient Celtic practice !
The sinister attitudes of the Celts on Samhain toned down over the ages to give way to the less menacing attributes of today’s Halloween. The playfulness and fun side of Halloween was first brought to America by the Irish immigrants around 1840. Like for instance, the popular tradition of trick-or-treating on Halloween came from the Irish. This had been ‘gifted’ to the United States by the Irish immigrants who fled their country during the potato famine. The Irish celebration of Halloween or the Hallow E’en (evening of the Hallow), as it’s called in Ireland, means All Hallows Eve, or the night before the ‘All Hallows’. All Hallows Day is on November 1, and is also known as All Saint’s Day (a day to honor all the Catholic saints). ‘Hallow’ is an Old English word, meaning ‘saint’. November 2 is the All Soul’s Day—a day which honors all Christians who no longer live and were not saints. And the period of October 31 to November 2 is known as the Hallow Tide. Now, on All Hallows Eve or Halloween, the Irish beggars went asking for food or money from the rich. If refused, they were threatened to be destroyed by the evil spirits. And, of course, nobody wants to take a chance on Halloween. So soul-cakes or currant buns and candy bags chockablock with goodies were kept ready for the HalloweenDay.
Some even say that trick-or-treating sprang up in the Middle Ages and was called ‘souling’. On All Soul’s Day (November 2), Christians used to go begging from door to door for soul-cakes or the currant buns. In return, they prayed for the souls of the dead ancestors of the family who obliged. However, the term trick-or-treat gained popularity only as late as the late 1930s in the context of Halloween.
The very popular Jack O’ Lantern of today’s Halloween also has their origins in Ireland. As the legend goes, a notorious con-man named Jack once fooled Satan on climbing a tree and consequently trapped him by carving a cross in that tree trunk. He then extorted the Devil into agreeing never to tempt him again as a deal for getting him down. But, later when Jack died, not only were the doors of heaven closed to him because of his wrongdoings, Satan also denied him entry at hell due to the trickery Jack inflicted on him. However, Satan gave him a glowing ember or coal to light his way through earth. Jack put the glowing ember into a hollowed-out turnip and walked the land endlessly. This came to be known as the ‘Jack of the lantern’ or Jack O’ Lantern. Later, when this concept reached America, the turnip was replaced by pumpkins. Today, both on Samhain and Halloween, Jack O’ Lanterns are placed on the front steps of houses to scare away the ghosts. Quite a blazing thrill, isn’t it ?
Well when Halloween is in, black cats *thank God i have white lil’ Snowy* will often cross your way or jump right before you from nowhere or give out a spine-chilling whine rending the silence of the night. Now Halloween may be a feline favorite, given the number of black cats you’ll spot during the Halloween days; but this association of black cats with the Halloween festival has its origin in the ancient Celtic beliefs. The Celts believed that the spirits of the dead shacked in animals (which were mostly black cats) during Samhain and Halloween. And therefore, people avoided meeting black cats on the way as it was believed to bring tough luck.* So be sure not to bump into one tonight frenz* Some even held the view that witches disguised as black cats and went about casting spells on Halloween night. However, black cats were convincingly considered faithful followers of witches at all times and have thus assumed an ominous role over the ages till date.
So far for the tidbits of Halloween history and origin, but there’s more to this fun day than just plain facts and beliefs. Halloween is an occasion to go wild and whacky, fun and freaky, to do crazy things, play pranks and get away with it. It’s an excuse to behave like a kid without having raised a brow ! Halloween is thus as much an adult’s favorite as it’s in rage with the kids. Nevertheless, there had been forces in history, and there still are, which try to abate the crazier and unrestrained aspects of Halloween. Not quite untrue that Halloween celebrations go over the top at times and fail to be in good taste and sense. Therefore, in some way, it calls forth the need to hold back the reins and keep it within limits. The fun and frenzy is acceptable as long as it stays within sensible bounds and does not cause hurt to anyone or anything. In this regard, it is convenient to note that Halloween is celebrated on October 30 instead of the usual October 31 if the latter falls on a Sunday. This is done to keep off all conflicts arising between the Church services and Halloween observances whatsoever.
I personaly think it’s like the English version of the Chinese Lunar month, xcept that it’s more fun den Freaky…So, ppl, im heading to Mojo tonight…wat ru all waiting for? Put on ur party "claws, paws"….vampire fangs and devil horns and Join me tonight there~
HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL! *Shrieks like a witch*…*cough cough*
