By Patricia Jones,
Alliance Community Task Force: Creating Opportunity
Why in the world do we have this weird holiday at the end of October where people, mostly children, dress up in costumes and go door-to-door begging for candy? Turns out it's based on an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. Samhain (pronounced “SOW-in”) was one of the four main festivals of the Gaelic calendar, marking the end of harvest and beginning of winter. The festival was brought to America by Irish and Scottish immigrants.
Samhain is halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. Samhain was a fire festival that marked the end of the light and the beginning of the dark half of the year. It is celebrated on November 1, but in Celtic tradition, the day begins at sundown, so the night of October 31 is when the celebration began. On the sacred night, people gathered to light bonfires, offer sacrifices, and pay homage to the dead.
Wikipedia says that Samhain was a threshold festival, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned. Doorways were opened, allowing supernatural beings and the souls of the dead to come into our world. We'd call these ghosts and fairies. At Samhain, these spirits were appeased with offerings of food and drink, to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. The souls of dead family members were thought to revisit their homes seeking hospitality, and a place was set at the table for them during a meal.
Historians have learned that, since at least the 1600's, people went from house to house in costume or disguise, usually reciting songs or verses in exchange for food. They think that the tradition came from people impersonating souls of the dead to get offerings on their behalf. By dressing up as these ghosts or spirits, they were protected from being harmed.
In Scotland, young men went from house to house wearing masks or faces blackened by the ashes from the town's bonfire. They threatened to do mischief if they weren't welcomed and fed cake. (Trick or Treat!)
In parts of Ireland, a man covered in a white sheet and carrying a decorated horse skull would lead a group of youths, blowing on cow horns, from farm to farm. At each they recited verses, and the farmer was expected to donate food. The food was used for the Samhain feast or saved for the winter.
Samhain was a time to take stock of the herds and food supplies. Harvest was completed. Cattle and sheep were brought down to the winter pastures after six months in the higher summer pastures. Some animals were slaughtered, both for the feast and for food during the winter.
Eventually the traditions from Samhain found their way into "All Hallow's Eve," the day before All Saints Day and All Soul's Day. Children and poor people would go door to door and sing songs or recite poetry. People gave them "soul cakes" in exchange for a promise to sing and pray
for the souls of the homeowners’ dead relatives, allowing the soul to escape from purgatory into heaven.
In the early 20th century, Irish and Scottish communities practiced "souling" and "guising." Following World War II, Halloween became a holiday celebrated by all children. After sugar was rationed during the war, people were hungry for sweet treats. People handed out things like cookies or popcorn balls. Soon candy companies picked up on the idea and launched advertising campaigns to sell candy.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend over $3 billion on candy for Halloween this year. Over twenty groups will be set up on Box Butte Avenue for Alliance's Trunk or Treat. We'll have dozens of kids ringing our doorbell - shouting Trick or Treat!