Samhain, All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, Hallow E’en, Feast of the Dead, Hallowtide are just a few of the names that have been used for All Saints or All Souls Day. The American Halloween is likely an abbreviation of the Irish Hallow E’een, or Hallowed evening, though note that any real symbolism that the holiday usually held seems to have vanished. Few people know that regardless of which faith you were, Pagan or Christian, it was a solemn day marked by solemn rites and real practices.
The festival of the dead was eventually incorporated into Christian ritual and church services were long, the celebration itself was long and serious, and there were those in every family who believed they could communicate with the dead relatives or all the dead dears, while at the same time knowing that it was vitally important to be protected against any evil spirits that may exist or be around. Dressing up served a real purpose, which was to ward off these spirits, like the collecting of soul cakes, which likewise warded off any evil spirits or hungry ghosts who did not wish us well.
With this thinning of the space between the living and the dead, witches and fairies were believed to have been seen flying in the sky and bonfires were lit to ward off any evil spirits. Superstition was high on All Saints Day and many souls were meant to help you determine your future; to this end, apple peelings were tossed over the shoulder or nuts thrown into the fire, both methods of divining the future, and especially for young people to divine when and to whom they would be married.
Those of Celtic origin, both Irish and Scottish, while not generally celebrated in the rest of Britain, brought the holiday, to America. Over time, the customs changed and the holiday became somewhat devoid of any religious or mystical significance, and became simply a time to dress up and go about collecting candy.
The tradition of being a prankster on Halloween or Mischief Night as it is called in the States became common in the late 19th-early twentieth century when young boys would play minor tricks on absent households who did not have any candy to give them, though note this was not part of the original holiday.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
thanks Sadi, and interesting and informative roundup of the odd collection of traditions and rituals that has come to be Halloween
2 - sadi
thanks, Eric - just a quick round up of halloween history; it needed to be done, though perhaps others have done so as well. collectively, i think we've got all soul's day covered... i hope!
spooookkkkyyyyy....
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sade
3 - chunyang
ilikeit soooooooo much
4 - yoyo
this is wierd. i havent read it yet. but it's wierd.
5 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
heya,
the whole concept of Halloween, or All Souls Day is pretty weird. But that's the history, babe... pretty strange, i agree. In the UK, i never did Halloween when i was growing up. Maybe other places in the UK do... but not in Tottenham or Finsbury Park... at least, not in my family, and not in my family in Glasgow either... so I never saw it until I came to the states.
My favorite was always the night before, which my brother told me was "mischief night" which i always thought more fun than Halloween.
We once stole a sign that said "Beyond" from a "No parking beyond this point" thing and Beyond was on a separate piece of wood. We put it on my creepy (older teenagers) front lawn and then in shaving cream wrote beneath it "Help" such that it read, "Beyond Help" - we were about sixteen, he was about 19.
He caught us (i'll never forget this - because this kid had a major crush on me... his name was Kirk McDouglas and he was friggin' creepy). He came out with a BB gun, threatened my kid brother, then forced me to sing for him (yes, really) in his garage. I'll never forget, i sang "Angel of the Morning" (which you prob. don't know... or maybe you do... i'm not sure if it's a popular song or not, only that i know/knew the words).
So his 'punishment' was that i had to sit there and sing for him. THAT was the creepiest part of all.
I'm almost certain he's a serial killer now... or maybe he just lives with his mother still and plays with his BB gun and spends too much time in the shower, if you catch my drift.
In any event, Kirk, if you're out there, you're a damn freak and you freaked me right out, you friggin' weirdo. If i saw you today, i'd kick your ass. So would my brothers (yes, plural now, and all of them huge).
Talk about weird - there you go... THAT IS WEIRD.
thanks for the read.
s.r.p.
6 - the preacher
well that was very nice information...,and from now on i will never believe that kind of rituals!!!thanks and Godbless u