The History of Halloween Part 2

There were a number of traditions in the Celtic world which were used around the time of the Halloween festivities.

Salt might be sprinkled on the visiting children to ward off evil spirits. Others might be given a lump of coal and a bit of bread, with the wish that they might never be hungry or cold. This is actually now part of the Manx New Year’s celebration in the Isle of Man.

Carving turnips as ghoulish faces to hold candles became a popular part of the festival, which has been adapted to carving pumpkins in America. Or you can even paint a pumpkin now, so that it does not spoil so quickly as a carved pumpkin.

To learn how to paint your pumpkin, you can visit:
Learn How Here: Pumpkin Painting

The trick aspect to trick or treating as it emerged in North America seems to have more obscure origins. It may be a merging of the collection of treats with another separate old tradition, especially in Ireland, where children would sometimes engage in secretive mischief at Halloween.

The original intention was for the activities of mischievous Halloween spirits to be blamed. Usually the mischief consisted of playing some minor or witty tricks on – often the less popular ones. Pranks like moving things or hiding everyday items during Halloween night were set to give merriment to everyone in on the joke.

In times past, a refusal to give something when requested during trick or treating may have resulted in the prank, which was not always carried out in a spirit of good fun. Tossing eggs or flour at the house, or hiding someone’s livestock, were common pranks. In most places today, the trick aspect of trick or treating now survives more as a ritual than any real threat.

In Scotland and England, the tradition of singing or other entertainment in return for the gifts collected was more common than the threat of a trick if nothing was given. That later seemed to have given rise to Christmas carols.

In Ireland, an apple tart is often baked containing little gifts like a ring, rather like the king cakes at Mardi Gras in Louisiana. The person who finds the ring or crown, or other special token, gets to be queen and king for the day.

Associations with the harvest festival are also obvious in terms of sharing food and bestowing bounty. Traditionally, nuts, and apples and other seasonal fruits would be shared. Now you can hardly escape from candy (also at Christmas and Easter!)

Telling scary stories around the fire, decorating pumpkins, making your own scarecrow, and dressing up are inexpensive traditions you can do with family and friends to make yourHalloween memorable without buying a ton of things.

One thing is for sure, Halloween has been celebrated for many centuries, and it is actually gaining in popularity as a secular holiday which the whole community can participate in. And it is a great excuse to dress up!

For quick and easy dress up ideas, like a 1920s flapper dress you can make in an hour, and more.
Great costume ideas

A horror story to creep you out for Halloween!

Click to read more: Phobia by Shanna Murchison.

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Halloween is a traditional celebration held on October 31st. Today, Halloween is an excuse for Halloween theme costume parties, and entertainment with horror films, haunted houses and other activities around the popular spooky themes of ghosts, witches, Dracula, werewolves and other aspects of the supernatural.

Children love to dress up in Halloween costumes and go from door-to-door in their neighborhood following the old tradition of trick-or-treating, collecting sweets and gifts, sometimes money, as a way of warding off bad luck for the people giving, and the people receiving.

Halloween began as an ancient Celtic festival in Great Britain and Ireland, the festival of Samhain (pronounced SOW-ann), which was the druids’ New Year’s festival.

In addition to being the Celtic new year, it also marked the time when it was believed that people could commune with the souls of the dead, hence its later association with All Saint’s and All Soul’s Days on November 1st and 2nd in the Gregorian calendar.

A vigil for the festival of All Saints was held on All Hallows Evening on October 31. In the vernacular of the times, All Hallows Evening became Hallowe’en and later the Halloween we know today.

The observation of Halloween has survived most strongly among the Celtic descendants, the Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Manx communities, and through the Irish in particular, Halloween traditions were brought to America.

Halloween has gained in popularity in the past few decades, and has now become the second biggest shopping holiday in the USA.

In turn, as part of American pop culture, Halloween has spread in popularity to most corners of the English speaking western world, and increasingly into Western Europe in recent times

The celebration of Halloween survived most strongly in Ireland. It marked an end of harvest festival, and was often celebrated in each community with a bonfire to ward off the evil spirits.

Children would go from door to door in disguise as creatures from the underworld to collect treats, mainly fruit, nuts and the like for the festivities.

These were used for playing traditional games like eating an apple on a string or bobbing for apples and other gifts in a basin of water, without using your hands.