Difference between revisions of "Halloween"

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'''Hallowed Eve''', is a tradition originating in [[Ireland]] and celebrated on the evening of October 31, before All Hallows Day (or [[All Saints Day]]). Hallowed Eve continues to be related to the harvest and represents a participative ritualization not only of the timeless fears of uncertainty and death but also of the modern fears of transition from rural to urban life. [[Liberal]] [[pagan]] refer to Hallowed Eve as 'Halloween.'
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[[Image:Halloween.gif|right|thumb]]'''Halloween''' is a holiday associated with candy, ghosts, trick or treating, and the supernatural observed on October 31. The name is shortened from All Hallows' Eve. "Hallow" means saint. As this explanation suggests, Halloween is observed on the day before [[All Saints Day]].
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[[Image:Halloween.gif|right|300px]]
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 +
Connecting Halloween to [[Samhain]], Ireland's All Saints Day, and portraying this holiday as pagan was once a way to discredit Catholic practice. In modern times, the same theories serve a [[neo-pagan]] agenda. Both groups end up portraying the devoutly Catholic Ireland of the 18th and 19th centuries as a land of paganism.
 +
 
 +
The earliest descriptions of Halloween as a festival refer, not to Ireland at all, but to late 18th century Scotland. The festival combines elements of several holidays that were suppressed in the 16th century as a result of the [[Reformation]]. The spread of the holiday owes much to a poem written by [[Robert Burns]] in 1785. With the Industrial Revolution crushing long-established traditions, the Victorians turned to revivalism to retain connection with the past. The modern child-oriented version of the holiday was established by the early 1900s.
 +
 
 +
==Etymology==
 +
"Hallow" means saint. All Saints' Day, November 1, was formally called "Hallowmas" or "All Hallows." "Eve" means the day before. "Hallows' Eve," which became "Hallowe'en" in Scottish usage, is therefore the day before All Saints' Day, i.e. October 31.
 +
 
 +
The earliest mention of Halloween in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' is a 1556 entry in ''Chronicle of Greyfriars''. This entry spells the word as "Halhalon evyn." <ref>''[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol53/pp15-21 Chronicle of Greyfriars]'' (1556) 17 “Thys yere the towne of Depe was tane [taken] by the Armenobis [Armeniacs] on Halhalon evyn.”</ref> In ''Measure for Measure'' (1603) by [[William Shakespeare]], Pompey asks Froth if another character died on "Hallowmas." Froth responds "All-hallond eve," meaning that the character died on the day before All Saints' Day.<ref>Shakespeare, William, ''[http://shakespeare.mit.edu/measure/full.html Measure for Measure]'' (1603), ii. i. 130.</ref>
 +
 
 +
As the word is used to indicate a date rather than a festival in both of these examples, it is likely that the festival was not known in England at this time.
 +
 
 
==Customs==
 
==Customs==
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[[File:Pumpkin carved.jpg|thumb|250px|Carved pumpkin.]]
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[[File:Pumpkin carved.jpg|thumb|Carved pumpkin.]]In the [[United States]], Halloween is known for trick-or-treating, which traditionally involves children dressing in costumes and going to various locations, generally houses, requesting candy at each.  Contrary to numerous urban legends about children receiving poisoned candy, only one case of such has ever been reported, and it involved a Texas father poisoning his own son for insurance money.
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In the [[United States]], Hallowed Eve is marked by the activity of trick-or-treating. Trick-or-treat traditionally involves the children dressing in costumes, and going to various locations, generally houses, requesting candy at each.
 
  
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Colors orange and black are traditionally associated with Hallowed Eve as well as costumes of witches, ghosts, famous monsters, skeletons, and devils; also seasonal foods like caramel apples, pumpkins, pumpkin pie, caramel corn, and candies. Black when used as a color commonly represents death, and orange is used to represent the harvest.
+
Church views on this holiday are varied: some consider it pagan and refuse to have any association with it, while others see it as an opportunity for outreach to children and their parents.  Among the latter, some churches encourage members to pass out tracts along with candy, others offer "trunk-or-treat" (or "fall festival") events to provide a safe environment for children).
  
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==Origins==
+
The colors orange and black are associated with Halloween, as well as costumes of witches, ghosts, famous monsters, skeletons, and devils. Seasonal foods include caramel apples, pumpkins, pumpkin pie, caramel corn, and candies.
−
Its origins are traced to the ancient Celts who celebrated the harvest and the passing of the old year and the beginning of the new; the day itself was the first of the Celtic calendar. The Celts believed that it was a time when the spirits of the dead roamed; gifts of food were required to protect the living. Christianity incorporated the Celtic tradition and renamed it 'All Saints' Day,' a day of respect for the dead. Hence the name "all-hallow's-eve" became "Hallowed Eve", over time.
 
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
−
[[File:Halloween.jpg|200px|left]]
+
In medieval times, it was thought that the living could help the souls of the dead escape purgatory on All Souls' Day on November 2 by lighting bonfires and by other activities. When the Reformation swept Scotland in May 1559, All Souls' Day was suppressed along with other Catholic holidays. "Halloween" was understood simply as the day before All Saints Day thus avoided suppression.
−
From a pagan holiday traceable to the ancient Celts, the event became known as All Saints Day during the 8th century. Waning belief in ghosts, goblins, and witches toward the end of the 18th century further transformed All Saints' Day into a ripsnorting holiday in Ireland and especially in Scotland. [[Irish Catholics]] in America in the late 19th century introduced the event as a copy of Irish traditional folklore. They substituted pumpkins for turnips and secular costumes for those of saints by the mid-19th century. By the 1920s community efforts tried to sanitize the carnival spirit and reduce vandalism. Trick-or-treating became common around 1940, further transformed Hallowed Eve into a rite of consumerism and moving the age profile to younger children.  
+
 
 +
===Bonfires===
 +
Bonfires are one of the oldest and most persistent Halloween observances. They were not only a holiday observance, but also a way to dispose of brush in the autumn. The practice could have transferred from All Souls Day to Halloween at the time of the Reformation.
 +
 
 +
Worried that a Halloween bonfire might get out of hand, the Cupar Presbytery in Fife issued this order in 1649:{{cquote|It is recommended to severall brethren to be carefull to intimat in their several kirkis, wpon the Sabaths immediatly before Midsommer and hallowewen, that no fyres  be set on, wpon these nightis.<ref>''[https://special-collections.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2019/10/31/alhallow-evin-in-scotland/ Cupar Presbytery Minutes]'', 8 March 1649, CH2/82/1.</ref>}}Englishman Thomas Pennant gave an account of the Halloween bonfires that he witnessed on a visit to Scotland in 1772. Such bonfires were used to remove refuse after the harvest:{{cquote|Hallow eve is also kept sacred: as soon as it is dark, a person sets fire to a bush of broom fastened round a pole; and, attended with a crowd, runs round the village. He then flings it down, keeps great quantity of combustible matters in it, and makes a great bonfire. A whole tract is thus illuminated at the same time, and makes a fine appearance.<ref>Pennant, Thomas, ''[https://archive.org/details/tourinscotlandvo01penn/page/46/mode/2up A Tour in Scotland],'' Part II (London, 1772), p. 47.</ref>}}
 +
 
 +
===The Enlightenment===
 +
With the Enlightenment, belief in ghosts, goblins, and witches waned. Scotland's last execution for witchcraft was in 1706 and the last trial was in 1727. In the late 18th century, the supernatural beings that had terrified previous generations were gradually reduced to folklore. The Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759 marked the end of the Jacobite wars and the beginning of a period of Anglo-Scottish reconciliation.
 +
 
 +
====Tamlane====
 +
[[File:Halloween skull.jpg|right|thumb]]The Scottish ballad "The Young Tamlane" tells the story of Janet, who is made pregnant by Tamlane. Tamlane is then stolen by the fairies. "The night it is good Hallowe'en, When fairy folk will ride," Tamlane tells Janet.<ref>For a brief version of the story, see "[https://tam-lin.org/library/wonder_tales_from_many_lands.html Tamlane: A Story from an Old Scotch Ballad]" (1920) by Katharine Pyle.</ref>
 +
 
 +
The ballad is mentioned by Robert Wedderburn in 1549.<ref>Wedderburn, Robert, ''[https://archive.org/details/complayntofscotl01henruoft The Complaynt of Scotlande]'' (1549). Wedderburn lists “The tayl of the yong Tamlene” among various songs and ballads.</ref> The lyrics were collected and published by David Herd in 1769.<ref>Herd, David, ''Ancient and Modern Scots Songs, Heroic Ballads, &c.,'' 1769, “Kertonha, or, The Fairy Court.”</ref> Sir Walter Scott published the classic version in 1803.<ref name="Scott">Walter, Scott, Sir, ''The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'', "[https://archive.org/details/minstrelsyofscot02scot/page/336/mode/2up The Young Tamlane]", p. 337.</ref>
 +
 
 +
====John Mayne and Robert Burns====
 +
A poem written in 1780 by John Mayne of Dumfries describes a Scottish Halloween festival. The poem mentions both pranks and trick or treating. “There’s few [festivals] in Scotland held mair dear,” it says.<ref>Mayne, John, "[https://www.poetryexplorer.net/poem.php?id=10105857 Halloween]" (1780).</ref> Mayne gave an explanation of the holiday in a footnote:{{cquote|Hallow-E'en, or Holy Eve, is the evening previous to the celebration of All Saints. That it is propitious to the rites of divination, is an opinion still common in many parts of Scotland.}}Mayne's poem inspired [[Robert Burns]] to write "Hallowe’en" in 1785. Burns is sometimes described as, "Scotland's favorite son." He gave an extended description of the celebration. "Upon that night, when fairies light," according to the poem. It mentions fairies and mischief making, but also cutting apples and winnowing corn. So it seems that the Scottish holiday had retained features of a harvest festival. As poetry, it is overly long and not among Burns's best. But the poem is carefully studied by those interested in Scottish folklore and festivals.<ref>[https://interestingliterature.com/2018/10/a-short-analysis-of-robert-burns-halloween/ A Short Analysis of Robert Burns’s ‘Halloween’]", ''Interesting Literature''</ref>
 +
 
 +
===Victorian revivalism===
 +
If the holiday itself originated in Scotland, the eerie rituals of the modern Halloween celebration are the child of Victorian England. The Victorians were fond of reviving quaint customs that never were, and Halloween costume parties became popular in the late 19th century. An illustrated guide published in 1887 provided costume ideas.<ref name="Holt">"[https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52990/26-halloween-costume-ideas-1887-guide-fancy-dress 26 Halloween Costume Ideas from an 1887 Guide to Fancy Dress]."</ref>[[File:De Ricci Coligny 1926 detail month14.jpeg|left|130px|thumb|The Coligny calendar is a Celtic calendar discovered in the French town of Coligny in 1897]]
 +
 
 +
=== Samhain ===
 +
That Halloween originated as the day before All Saints' Day might seem a straightforward explanation. But popular history points to another source: The pagan festival of [[Samhain]], observed by the ancient Celts on November 1.<ref>For a "popular history" account, see "[https://www.irishpost.com/news/samhain-seven-facts-about-the-spooky-irish-festival-which-became-halloween-105009 Samhain: Seven facts about the spooky Irish festival which became Halloween]", ''Irish Post''.</ref>
 +
 
 +
The earliest mention of Samhain in surviving literature is found in "The Sick-Bed of Cuchulain," which dates from the tenth or eleventh centuries. It portrays Samhain as a harvest festival held at "summer's end:"<ref>"Summer's end" is a mistranslation of Irish ''Samhain.'' The word is actually from Proto-Celtic ''*samani'' meaning "assembly." See Matasović, Ranko, ''Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic'' (2009).</ref>
 +
{{cquote|[The young men of Ulster] used to keep that festival every year; nor was there anything in the world that they would do at that time except sports, and marketings, and splendours, and pomps, and feasting and eating; and it is from that custom of theirs that the Festival of the Samhain has descended, that is now held throughout the whole of Ireland.<ref>Maelmuiri mac Ceileachair, "[http://www.luminarium.org/mythology/ireland/cuchulainnsick.htm The Sick-Bed of Cuchulain]." The translation is from ''Heroic Romances of Ireland.'' Vol I. A. H. Leahy, ed.
 +
London: David Nutt, 1905. pp. 57-85.</ref>}}
 +
While others partied, Ulster hero Cuchulain was recovering from injuries and receiving an extended vision of ''Mag Mell'', the Plain of Delight, a Celtic version of the [[Elysian Fields|Elysian fields]].
 +
 
 +
===American Halloween===
 +
[[File:Halloween.jpg|thumb|right]]Although Halloween is often connected to Irish immigration, the holiday entered mainstream American culture in the late 19th century and in Protestant settings, as Karen Sue Hybertsen shows in her thesis.<ref>Hybertsen (1993), p. 10.</ref> This suggests that Victorian revivalism is a more likely source of the holiday than Irish immigration.
 +
 
 +
By the middle of the 19th century, Americans substituted pumpkins for turnips and secular costumes for those of saints. By the 1920s, there were community efforts to sanitize the carnival spirit and reduce vandalism. Trick-or-treating became common around 1940. It further transformed Halloween into a rite of consumerism and moving the age profile to younger children.
 +
 
 
===World War II===
 
===World War II===
−
Halloween flourished as an inexpensive fall festival that did not involve travel. Cities made it into "Conservation Day" and Hallowed Eve parties were enlisted in the war effort. Civic parties were held with patriotic admission prices, such as 150 pounds of salvaged paper. Towns turned Hallowed Eve parades into celebrations of civic volunteering, featuring Red Cross Units, Air Raid Wardens, and Auxiliary Police Units, all in costume. The climax of the parade was typically a War Bond Auction with prizes donated by local merchants and sold for war bond pledges.<ref>Hybertsen (1993), p. 152 </ref>  
+
Halloween flourished as an inexpensive fall festival that did not involve travel. Cities made it into "Conservation Day" and Halloween parties were enlisted in the war effort. Civic parties were held with patriotic admission prices, such as 150 pounds of salvaged paper. Towns turned Halloween parades into celebrations of civic volunteering, featuring Red Cross Units, Air Raid Wardens, and Auxiliary Police Units, all in costume. The climax of the parade was typically a War Bond Auction with prizes donated by local merchants and sold for war bond pledges.<ref>Hybertsen (1993), p. 152</ref>  
 +
 
 
===Recent===
 
===Recent===
−
Starting in the 1960s trick-or-treating declined in some places and was closely monitored elsewhere because of (false) rumors of poisoned treats; "The Razor Blade in the Apple" was a made-up urban legend that truly frightened parents.<ref>Joel Best and Gerald T. Horiuchi, "The Razor Blade in the Apple: the Social Construction of Urban Legends," ''Social Problems'' 1985 32(5): 488-499</ref>, and in the 1990s the holiday has increasingly drawn upon the cult-horror genre for its inspiration. Hallowed Eve in America by the late 20th century was a big moneymaker for candy makers and costumers.
+
Starting in the 1960s trick-or-treating declined in some places. It was closely monitored because of (false) rumors of poisoned treats.;<ref>There was only one confirmed case of Halloween candy being poisoned resulting in a child's death; the culprit was the child's father seeking to collect on an insurance policy, who was arrested and ultimately executed for his actions.</ref> "The Razor Blade in the Apple" was a made-up urban legend that truly frightened parents,<ref>Joel Best and Gerald T. Horiuchi, "The Razor Blade in the Apple: the Social Construction of Urban Legends," ''Social Problems'' 1985 32(5): 488-499</ref> and in the 1990s the holiday has increasingly drawn upon the cult-horror genre for its inspiration. Halloween in America by the late 20th century was a big moneymaker for candy makers and costumers.
−
 
 
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==Hell houses==
 
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Pellegrini (2007) and Fletcher (2007) examine the rising phenomenon of hell houses, evangelical alternatives to haunted houses, in reaction to the perceived occult and pagan nature of Hallowed Eve. Religious feelings are communicated by the medium of theater presented in these hell houses. Evangelicals such as Rev. [[Pat Robertson]] have decried the celebration of Hallowed Eve as 'performing Satanic rituals' since the 1970s, but they decided to present alternative educational devices for children. Beginning with [[Jerry Falwell]]'s ScareMare in 1972, an increasing number of evangelical churches have turned to performances in order to missionize younger generations. In the 2001 documentary 'Hell House' that such evangelical tools became well known. The theater of the houses also offers an opportunity for the church members to face their fears rather than avoid them, and it offers participants the 'fun' of being evil without engaging in pagan rituals.<ref>Ann Pellegrini, "'Signaling Through the Flames': Hell House Performance and Structures of Religious Feeling,"  ''American Quarterly'' 2007 59(3): 911-935; John Fletcher, "Tasteless as Hell: Community Performance, Distinction, and Countertaste in Hell House, ''Theatre Survey'' 2007 48(2): 313-330. </ref>
 
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==Mexico==
 
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[[File:Posada Lagartijo.jpeg|thumb|100px|Lagartijo (Dandy) by José Guadalupe Posada.]]
 
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Although Hallowed Eve symbols have long been a part of the Mexican culture, particularly in the northern states of Mexico, since the 1990s these symbols have been denounced by intellectuals and religious leaders as elements of Yankee imperialism. Mexico's counterpart to Hallowed Eve, the Day of the Dead, has its roots in the Spanish colonial period, when Spain brought the [[Catholic]] holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day to the New World. Nevertheless, the celebration of the Day of the Dead from 31 October to 2 November has come to symbolize national unity to many Mexicans. Even though the Day of the Dead has always had materialistic elements such as the sugar paste '(afteniqué)' figures, traditionally given to children, cultural nationalists have upheld the Mexican Day of the Dead religious rituals as a contrast to the economic and materialist motives behind American Hallowed Eve traditions. These cultural nationalists insist that Hallowed Eve activities, which have entered across Mexico's northern border, profane the sacredness of the Day of the Dead.<ref> Stanley  Brandes, "The Day of the Dead, Hallowed Eve, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity," ''Journal of American Folklore'' 1998 111(442): 359-380, [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=96430235 in QUESTIA]</ref>
 
  
 
==Further reading==
 
==Further reading==
−
 
+
* Hybertsen, Karen Sue. "[https://search.proquest.com/openview/65e4e37ad752d21fcfb0cf697d9f5db8/ 'The Return of Chaos': The Uses and Interpretations of Halloween in the United States from the Victorian era to the Present]", Drew University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1993. 9331586.
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* Hybertsen, Karen Sue. "'The Return of Chaos': The Uses and Interpretations of Halloween in the United States from the Victorian Era to the Present", ''Dissertation Abstracts International'' PhD dissertation Drew University 1993 54(6): 2185-A. DA9331586, 286p.  
+
* Rogers, Nicholas. ''Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night'' (2003) [https://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Pagan-Ritual-Party-Night/dp/0195168968/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257043763&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]
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* Rogers, Nicholas. ''Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night'' (2003) [http://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Pagan-Ritual-Party-Night/dp/0195168968/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257043763&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]
 
 
* Santino, Jack.  "Halloween in America: Contemporary Customs and Peformances," ''Western Folklore'' 1983 42(1): 1-20, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1499461  in JSTOR]
 
* Santino, Jack.  "Halloween in America: Contemporary Customs and Peformances," ''Western Folklore'' 1983 42(1): 1-20, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1499461  in JSTOR]
 
* Santino, Jack, ed. ''Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life,'' (U. of Tennessee Press, 1993). 280 pp. academic study
 
* Santino, Jack, ed. ''Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life,'' (U. of Tennessee Press, 1993). 280 pp. academic study
 +
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>
 +
 +
==See also==
 +
*[[Day of the Dead]]
 +
*[[Samhain]]
 +
*[[All Saints Day]]
 +
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
 
* [http://www.godestiny.org/hell_house/HH_kit.cfm The Hell House Outreach Kit], from an [[Assemblies of God]] church near Denver
 
* [http://www.godestiny.org/hell_house/HH_kit.cfm The Hell House Outreach Kit], from an [[Assemblies of God]] church near Denver
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====References====
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<references/>
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[[category:Holidays]]
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[[Category:Holidays]]

Latest revision as of 17:48, July 29, 2024

Halloween.gif

Halloween is a holiday associated with candy, ghosts, trick or treating, and the supernatural observed on October 31. The name is shortened from All Hallows' Eve. "Hallow" means saint. As this explanation suggests, Halloween is observed on the day before All Saints Day.

Connecting Halloween to Samhain, Ireland's All Saints Day, and portraying this holiday as pagan was once a way to discredit Catholic practice. In modern times, the same theories serve a neo-pagan agenda. Both groups end up portraying the devoutly Catholic Ireland of the 18th and 19th centuries as a land of paganism.

The earliest descriptions of Halloween as a festival refer, not to Ireland at all, but to late 18th century Scotland. The festival combines elements of several holidays that were suppressed in the 16th century as a result of the Reformation. The spread of the holiday owes much to a poem written by Robert Burns in 1785. With the Industrial Revolution crushing long-established traditions, the Victorians turned to revivalism to retain connection with the past. The modern child-oriented version of the holiday was established by the early 1900s.

Etymology

"Hallow" means saint. All Saints' Day, November 1, was formally called "Hallowmas" or "All Hallows." "Eve" means the day before. "Hallows' Eve," which became "Hallowe'en" in Scottish usage, is therefore the day before All Saints' Day, i.e. October 31.

The earliest mention of Halloween in the Oxford English Dictionary is a 1556 entry in Chronicle of Greyfriars. This entry spells the word as "Halhalon evyn." [1] In Measure for Measure (1603) by William Shakespeare, Pompey asks Froth if another character died on "Hallowmas." Froth responds "All-hallond eve," meaning that the character died on the day before All Saints' Day.[2]

As the word is used to indicate a date rather than a festival in both of these examples, it is likely that the festival was not known in England at this time.

Customs

Carved pumpkin.

In the United States, Halloween is known for trick-or-treating, which traditionally involves children dressing in costumes and going to various locations, generally houses, requesting candy at each. Contrary to numerous urban legends about children receiving poisoned candy, only one case of such has ever been reported, and it involved a Texas father poisoning his own son for insurance money.

Church views on this holiday are varied: some consider it pagan and refuse to have any association with it, while others see it as an opportunity for outreach to children and their parents. Among the latter, some churches encourage members to pass out tracts along with candy, others offer "trunk-or-treat" (or "fall festival") events to provide a safe environment for children).

The colors orange and black are associated with Halloween, as well as costumes of witches, ghosts, famous monsters, skeletons, and devils. Seasonal foods include caramel apples, pumpkins, pumpkin pie, caramel corn, and candies.

History

In medieval times, it was thought that the living could help the souls of the dead escape purgatory on All Souls' Day on November 2 by lighting bonfires and by other activities. When the Reformation swept Scotland in May 1559, All Souls' Day was suppressed along with other Catholic holidays. "Halloween" was understood simply as the day before All Saints Day thus avoided suppression.

Bonfires

Bonfires are one of the oldest and most persistent Halloween observances. They were not only a holiday observance, but also a way to dispose of brush in the autumn. The practice could have transferred from All Souls Day to Halloween at the time of the Reformation.

Worried that a Halloween bonfire might get out of hand, the Cupar Presbytery in Fife issued this order in 1649:

“ It is recommended to severall brethren to be carefull to intimat in their several kirkis, wpon the Sabaths immediatly before Midsommer and hallowewen, that no fyres be set on, wpon these nightis.[3] ”

Englishman Thomas Pennant gave an account of the Halloween bonfires that he witnessed on a visit to Scotland in 1772. Such bonfires were used to remove refuse after the harvest:

“ Hallow eve is also kept sacred: as soon as it is dark, a person sets fire to a bush of broom fastened round a pole; and, attended with a crowd, runs round the village. He then flings it down, keeps great quantity of combustible matters in it, and makes a great bonfire. A whole tract is thus illuminated at the same time, and makes a fine appearance.[4] ”

The Enlightenment

With the Enlightenment, belief in ghosts, goblins, and witches waned. Scotland's last execution for witchcraft was in 1706 and the last trial was in 1727. In the late 18th century, the supernatural beings that had terrified previous generations were gradually reduced to folklore. The Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759 marked the end of the Jacobite wars and the beginning of a period of Anglo-Scottish reconciliation.

Tamlane

Halloween skull.jpg

The Scottish ballad "The Young Tamlane" tells the story of Janet, who is made pregnant by Tamlane. Tamlane is then stolen by the fairies. "The night it is good Hallowe'en, When fairy folk will ride," Tamlane tells Janet.[5]

The ballad is mentioned by Robert Wedderburn in 1549.[6] The lyrics were collected and published by David Herd in 1769.[7] Sir Walter Scott published the classic version in 1803.[8]

John Mayne and Robert Burns

A poem written in 1780 by John Mayne of Dumfries describes a Scottish Halloween festival. The poem mentions both pranks and trick or treating. “There’s few [festivals] in Scotland held mair dear,” it says.[9] Mayne gave an explanation of the holiday in a footnote:

“ Hallow-E'en, or Holy Eve, is the evening previous to the celebration of All Saints. That it is propitious to the rites of divination, is an opinion still common in many parts of Scotland. ”

Mayne's poem inspired Robert Burns to write "Hallowe’en" in 1785. Burns is sometimes described as, "Scotland's favorite son." He gave an extended description of the celebration. "Upon that night, when fairies light," according to the poem. It mentions fairies and mischief making, but also cutting apples and winnowing corn. So it seems that the Scottish holiday had retained features of a harvest festival. As poetry, it is overly long and not among Burns's best. But the poem is carefully studied by those interested in Scottish folklore and festivals.[10]

Victorian revivalism

If the holiday itself originated in Scotland, the eerie rituals of the modern Halloween celebration are the child of Victorian England. The Victorians were fond of reviving quaint customs that never were, and Halloween costume parties became popular in the late 19th century. An illustrated guide published in 1887 provided costume ideas.[11]

The Coligny calendar is a Celtic calendar discovered in the French town of Coligny in 1897

Samhain

That Halloween originated as the day before All Saints' Day might seem a straightforward explanation. But popular history points to another source: The pagan festival of Samhain, observed by the ancient Celts on November 1.[12]

The earliest mention of Samhain in surviving literature is found in "The Sick-Bed of Cuchulain," which dates from the tenth or eleventh centuries. It portrays Samhain as a harvest festival held at "summer's end:"[13]

“ [The young men of Ulster] used to keep that festival every year; nor was there anything in the world that they would do at that time except sports, and marketings, and splendours, and pomps, and feasting and eating; and it is from that custom of theirs that the Festival of the Samhain has descended, that is now held throughout the whole of Ireland.[14] ”

While others partied, Ulster hero Cuchulain was recovering from injuries and receiving an extended vision of Mag Mell, the Plain of Delight, a Celtic version of the Elysian fields.

American Halloween

Halloween.jpg

Although Halloween is often connected to Irish immigration, the holiday entered mainstream American culture in the late 19th century and in Protestant settings, as Karen Sue Hybertsen shows in her thesis.[15] This suggests that Victorian revivalism is a more likely source of the holiday than Irish immigration.

By the middle of the 19th century, Americans substituted pumpkins for turnips and secular costumes for those of saints. By the 1920s, there were community efforts to sanitize the carnival spirit and reduce vandalism. Trick-or-treating became common around 1940. It further transformed Halloween into a rite of consumerism and moving the age profile to younger children.

World War II

Halloween flourished as an inexpensive fall festival that did not involve travel. Cities made it into "Conservation Day" and Halloween parties were enlisted in the war effort. Civic parties were held with patriotic admission prices, such as 150 pounds of salvaged paper. Towns turned Halloween parades into celebrations of civic volunteering, featuring Red Cross Units, Air Raid Wardens, and Auxiliary Police Units, all in costume. The climax of the parade was typically a War Bond Auction with prizes donated by local merchants and sold for war bond pledges.[16]

Recent

Starting in the 1960s trick-or-treating declined in some places. It was closely monitored because of (false) rumors of poisoned treats.;[17] "The Razor Blade in the Apple" was a made-up urban legend that truly frightened parents,[18] and in the 1990s the holiday has increasingly drawn upon the cult-horror genre for its inspiration. Halloween in America by the late 20th century was a big moneymaker for candy makers and costumers.

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Chronicle of Greyfriars (1556) 17 “Thys yere the towne of Depe was tane [taken] by the Armenobis [Armeniacs] on Halhalon evyn.”
  2. ↑ Shakespeare, William, Measure for Measure (1603), ii. i. 130.
  3. ↑ Cupar Presbytery Minutes, 8 March 1649, CH2/82/1.
  4. ↑ Pennant, Thomas, A Tour in Scotland, Part II (London, 1772), p. 47.
  5. ↑ For a brief version of the story, see "Tamlane: A Story from an Old Scotch Ballad" (1920) by Katharine Pyle.
  6. ↑ Wedderburn, Robert, The Complaynt of Scotlande (1549). Wedderburn lists “The tayl of the yong Tamlene” among various songs and ballads.
  7. ↑ Herd, David, Ancient and Modern Scots Songs, Heroic Ballads, &c., 1769, “Kertonha, or, The Fairy Court.”
  8. ↑ Walter, Scott, Sir, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, "The Young Tamlane", p. 337.
  9. ↑ Mayne, John, "Halloween" (1780).
  10. ↑ A Short Analysis of Robert Burns’s ‘Halloween’", Interesting Literature
  11. ↑ "26 Halloween Costume Ideas from an 1887 Guide to Fancy Dress."
  12. ↑ For a "popular history" account, see "Samhain: Seven facts about the spooky Irish festival which became Halloween", Irish Post.
  13. ↑ "Summer's end" is a mistranslation of Irish Samhain. The word is actually from Proto-Celtic *samani meaning "assembly." See Matasović, Ranko, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (2009).
  14. ↑ Maelmuiri mac Ceileachair, "The Sick-Bed of Cuchulain." The translation is from Heroic Romances of Ireland. Vol I. A. H. Leahy, ed. London: David Nutt, 1905. pp. 57-85.
  15. ↑ Hybertsen (1993), p. 10.
  16. ↑ Hybertsen (1993), p. 152
  17. ↑ There was only one confirmed case of Halloween candy being poisoned resulting in a child's death; the culprit was the child's father seeking to collect on an insurance policy, who was arrested and ultimately executed for his actions.
  18. ↑ Joel Best and Gerald T. Horiuchi, "The Razor Blade in the Apple: the Social Construction of Urban Legends," Social Problems 1985 32(5): 488-499

See also

External links

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