Happy Halloween
Here the trick or treaters on Halloween. My kids are the ones with the white scary masks on (the two matching ones).
Halloween is a really fun holiday to celebrate, especially for children. For them it's about dressing up and getting lots of sweets but there is quite a rich history of Halloween.
The origin of this festival can be traced back to Celtic times. The Celts believed that the evening of October 31st was their New Years's Eve, based on the life cycles of their crops. They also believed that on this night the veil between our world and the spirit world was at it's weakest, so the spirits of all those who died in the previous year would rise up and roam the earth on this night.
The pagans (as they were known), had a festival on this night of the year called 'Samhain' (pronounced 'sow-in', it is also the name of 'the lord of darkness' or 'lord of the night'). This festival was the feast of the dead, marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. People believed that spirits on this night could inhabit their bodies. So they took to lighting bonfires, and decorating themselves and their houses in a 'spooky' manner to ward off any nasty spirits. This is probably the closest in origin to Halloween as I know it.
In later times, the church tried to stamp out 'pagan' practices and named a new holiday on the same date - 'All Hollows' Eve'. However, the pagan ideas still remained and carried down through the years to become the Halloween that we celebrate today.
In Mexico they celebrate the 'Dia de los Muertos' - The day of the dead. At this time of the year Monarch butterflies return to Mexico after having spent the summer months in the US and Canada. These butterflies are thought to be the spirits of departed loved ones and so are welcomed back to Mexico warmly.
The origin or trick or treating is also quite interesting. On 'Samhain', people believed that not all the dead were friendly, so food and sweet treats were left out to keep the rowdy spirits happy and stop them from causing trouble.
In later years in the UK, the evening was known as 'mischief night' and bonfires were lit to scare off any spooky creatures who might cause trouble. In Ireland on All Hallows' Eve, townspeople would go from neighbour to neighbour asking for food and contributions to the town's feast.
Nowadays, the children go from neighbour to neighbour and ring the doorbell singing (or screaming) 'Trick or treat, trick or treat, give me something good to eat'. There are, of course, other variations which are not so polite......
The Irish used to create lights in their windows to ward off evil spirits on All Hallows' Eve by carving a hole out of turnips and placing small candles inside. They sometimes used potatoes too. When large numbers of Irish immigrants went to the US in the 1800's they took their tradition with them, but switched to larger pumpkins because they were easier to carve. Hence, the tradition of the Jack-o-lanterns. I still could not find out why they are called Jack, however!
As you can see, the Jack-o-lanterns I carved with my children glow beautifully on Halloween night!
Happy Halloween
