Halloween is celebrated in the United States and in most parts of Western Europe on October 31, and often associated with death and the supernatural. It falls on the eve of All Saint’s Day (sometimes called AllHallows or Hallowmas) on November 1, which is a holy day set aside by the Roman Catholic Church as a day to honor Christian saints in the 9th century. Originally, it was a pagan holiday, but in the 10th century, the Catholic Church set aside All Souls Day on November 2 as a day to purify spirits of the dead; this day is closely linked to Halloween.
Other countries historically link Halloween with their customs to Halloween. In Mexico, “Day of the Dead” is a day to remember the souls of the dead by combining Roman Catholic tradition with Native American customs. Mexicans decorate their homes with human skulls and leave food offerings and even walk the graves of departed loved ones. In England, the children light bonfires and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes, a conspirator who tried to blow up the English Parliament building in 1605. November 5 is set aside for Guy Fawkes’ Day.
Many customs associate Halloween festivities with folklore beliefs like the supernatural and spirits of the dead. Decorations can include supernatural beings like witches, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. Halloween often has superstitions and bad omens that are associated with black cats, bats and spiders.
Perhaps the most celebrated decoration is the jack o’lantern, a pumpkin with an eerie face carved in it and a candle inside to light it. It comes from a British folklore about a deceased person named Jack O’Lantern who was barred from Heaven and Hell and left to wander the earth with a lighted jack o’lantern.
Orange and black, colors which associate Halloween with pumpkins and darkness are used in many Halloween decorations. Especially popular with children is the tradition of dressing in costumes such as witches, ghosts and other supernatural beings. Nowadays, political and movie characters have become popular in children’s costumes. If adults dress in costumes, it is usually in satirical or humorous costumes.
Children usually go door-to-door in a ritual known as “trick-or-treating.” They dress in costumes and solicit candy from neighbors using the phrase, “trick-or-treat.” If no treat is given, then a prank such as vandalizing their house is pulled signaling the disapproval of no treat. Tricks have been ceremonial since the 20th century.
After the 1970’s, trick-or-treating has significantly dropped due to because o rumors o neighbors poisoning treats, not to mention worried parents o children out after dark. Now days, parents usually accompany their children while trick-or-treating.
Since the last ten years or so, it is more common to host Halloween parties where such activities as bobbing or apples—an activity where a participant attempts to catch an apple in a bucket o water with just their mouth.
ORIGINS
In Europe, Halloween marks the end o winter or the harvest. Samhain, or the ancient Celts who inhabited Western or Central Europe in the first millenium B.C., it usually marked the end o the year to the next year. It is one o the major holidays that marks the cycle o seasons. It usually begins at sundown on October the next day.
The Celtic pagan religion, Druidism, believes that spirits o the dead rise and roam the earth on Samhain evening. To ward o these spirits, Celts o er food or drink o erings. Bonfires at sacred sites are used to perform rituals o animal or human sacrifices which honor Druid deities.
The Romans conquered most o the Celtic lands by the end o the first century and adopted some o their rituals into their Roman Catholic rituals. or example, in Britain, they adopted the Samhain custom o with the pagan festival Pomona, or goddess o fruit trees. Bobbing or apples is said to come rom this tradition. Pure Celtic traditions are said to still linger in areas o Ireland, Scotland, the Brittany region o northwestern rance.
Samhain was abandoned when people started converting to Christianity around the Middle Ages (5th – 15th centuries). In order to win converts, the Roman Catholic Church modified earlier tradition. Pope Gregory IV replaced Samhain with All Saint’s Day about 835.
All Soul’s Day, which is more closely linked to Samhain and modern Halloween tradition, was first introduced by the rench monastery around 998 and quickly spread throughout Europe. Soon, Halloween traditions became incompatible with Christian belie s, due to becoming associated with evil supernatural beings. In British folklore, magical fairies became synomonous with Halloween mischief. The Jack O’Lantern, which was originally carved rom a turnip and eventually a pumpkin, was a Scottish tradition. Predicting the future—usually romance and marriage—soon became a popular in the British Isles.
During the 15th to 17th centuries, Europe was seized with a hysterical ear o witches resulting in the persecution o thousands o innocent women to their deaths. It is said that witches riding brooms and turning into black cats are common superstitions o European and Halloween symbols.
THE UNITED STATES
Many o the attitudes o Halloween came rom Europeans who settled in America. In New England, a group o strict Protestants, the English Puritans, rejected Halloween as a Catholic/pagan holiday. In Virginia and Maryland, British colonists simply changed Halloween traditions.
About the mid 19th centuries, Irish immigrants popularized Halloween traditions throughout the United States. When superstitious belie s began to slowly die out around late 19th century, Halloween was generally a children’s holiday. During the 19th/mid 20th centuries, young people began committing minor acts o vandalism like overturning sheds and breaking the windows o many homes. But during the 1930’s, Halloween mischief o trick-or-treating, treats soon became plentiful with tricks becoming rare.
Despite tricks becoming rare, Halloween tricks still survive. One such instance, on October 30—Mischief Night-- vandalism reaches dangerous levels. In Detroit, Michigan during the 70’s and 80’s, waves o arson by pranksters destroyed several city blocks.
Halloween traditions have become popular among adults since the 1970’s. In act, in the Greenwich Village o New York City, there is a Halloween parade which results in elaborate satirical costumes and drunken revelry. Even the gay population o Greenwich Village manages to model adult costumes. Areas such as San Francisco, New Orleans, Louisiana and Key West, Florida have been known to have public boisterous Halloween festivals.
Source
Brent Lanford. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard Edition 2004. Halloween. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
