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Trick-or-Treat Traditions and Trivia | |
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Issue date: Saturday, October 21, 2006
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P A R A N O R M A L I N S I D E R
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Trick-or-Treat Traditions and Trivia
by Zsuzsana Summer
Hello, dear readers. Hallowe'en is just around the corner
so while we get ready to carve out pumpkins and select our
scariest costumes for parties and trick-or-treating, let's
look at the origins of this spooky and very 'spirited'
holiday.
The word Hallowe'en is derived from the fact that in the
Christian calendar it occurs the day before All Saints' or
All Hallows' Day. It was the ancient Celts, however, who
first began celebrating November 1st as a harvest feast,
the final harvest of the year, and this day was considered
the end of one year and the beginning of the new. It was
in 835 that Pope Gregory IV decided to move the Christian
feast of All Saints' Day to November 1. This was likely
done in keeping with a common church practice designed to
eradicate pagan customs not by abolishing them, which would
require a great deal of effort, but instead by remaking
them into Christian holidays by association.
Pagans, Wiccans and Druids to this day celebrate this
ancient festival called Samhain (pronounced 'sow'-en, with
the 'sow' rhyming with 'cow') as a major sabbat. The word
'Samhain' comes from the Gaelic words for 'the end of
summer' and it was the time of a solar festival saying
goodbye to the sun and praying for its return after the
winter. According to the Celts, all turning points and
transitions, such as the time between one day and the next,
the meeting of sea and shore at the tides, or the turning
of one year into the next were inherently magickal. The
turning of the year was the most mysterious and magickal
of all. At this time, the veil between the worlds was at
its thinnest, and the living could communicate with their
ancestors and all the souls of the dead who resided in the
land of "Tir nan Og". Time and space were suspended at
Samhain and on this night, as it was believed that the
boundary between this life and the afterlife was extremely
thin, the souls of the recently departed could walk the
earth freely once again, along with the faeries and witches
and hobgoblins and evil spirits too.
Some sources say that the Celts believed the souls of the
dead came out at Samhain to ask their living relatives for
warmth and food, as the coming of winter portended an even
more cold and dismal environment for their souls than the
warmer months preceding. Other sources say that recently
crossed spirits came back looking for living human bodies
to possess at this in-between time.
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Many of our modern Hallowe'en traditions are rooted in the
customs these ancient people devised to honour their dead
and protect themselves from the evil spirits at the same
time. In Celtic traditions, people would leave food offer-
ings on altars and doorsteps for the "wandering dead" on
this feast day. The Celts would parade to the outskirts of
their villages with offerings of sweets and baked goods for
the souls of the dead. It was hoped that the spirits would
follow these parades and thereby keep the villagers safe
from any mischief and evil. Apples were buried along road-
sides for spirits who were lost or had no-one to provide
for them. To disguise themselves and confuse evil spirits
on this night, the Celts would paint their faces with soot
and wear costumes made of straw or animal pelts. These
traditions, among with many others (please keep reading)
later evolved into our modern day custom of trick-or-
treating.
Offerings of food or milk were often left on doorsteps for
the fairies who were abroad on the night before Samhain,
ensuring the homeowner the blessings of the mischievous
'wee folk' throughout the coming year. Many families would
also leave out a "dumb supper" for the spirits of the
departed, and extra chairs and place settings were set at
the table and around the hearth for unseen guests. A "dumb
supper" is a meal eaten in total silence, in honour of
ancestors and souls of the dead. The departed are invited
to this meal and are present as invisible entities. Doors
and windows are often left unlocked to let these souls
into the house and take their places at the table. Some
traditions call for the meal to be eaten backwards, and
various rituals accompany this unusual but enduring rite
depending on where it is practised.
People who went abroad on this night would carry hollowed
out turnips which they carved to look like faces as
protection from any wicked spirits. They often dressed in
white to appear like ghosts or dressed as the opposite
gender to fool the spirits. Hollowed out turnips were also
used as torches by placing a lit candle inside to protect
the flames from the wind. They were also placed in window-
sills as lanterns to guide the dead back to their families,
these being the forerunners of our modern Jack-o-lanterns.
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Trick-or-Treating
Our modern day trick or treating, which in America can be
traced back to the 1930's, probably has its roots in a
number of different customs.
Among the Celts, faeries, hobgoblins, trolls, brownies and
elves were believed to roam the lands and abounded in full
force on a magickal night such as the eve of Samhain. While
some of these wee folk were friendly and helpful, many were
known to be very dangerous, from the mere mischief-makers
to the downright nasty. Being resentful of humankind for
taking over their lands, it was believed that on the eve
of Samhain, faeries would sometimes trick humans into
becoming lost and trapped forever in the 'sidhe'
(pronounced 'shee'), which were the fairy mounds that
dotted the rolling landscape. Wee folk were blamed for all
manner of awful tricks upon humans, from blighting the
fields to stealing children, so tasty offerings were left
out for the little creatures to placate them and keep them
from wreaking any mischief upon the homes and households.
Some sources say that in order to avoid being possessed by
the souls of the dead at Samhain, Celtic villagers would
extinguish the fires in their homes to make them cold and
dark. They would then dress up in ghoulish costumes and
handmade masks and parade noisily around the neighborhood,
creating as much ruckus as they could in order to frighten
away strange spirits looking for bodies to possess and to
fool the spirits with their disguises.
From my research, it appears that in the British Isles, in
the early years of Christianity (and comprising a blending
of Celtic, Roman and Christian tradition) witches and
demons too were thought to wander the streets on Hallowe'en
night alongside the souls of the dead. Offerings of food
and drink ensured protection against these entities enter-
ing the houses to help themselves to sustenance. In later
years, people began dressing up as these very horrific
creatures and going door to door, sometimes performing
antics in exchange for offerings of food and drink.
During early celebrations of All Soul's Day in Britain,
the poor would go begging and housewives would give them
special treats called "soulcakes", square pieces of bread
with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would
receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on
behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. It was believed
that the souls of the dead remained in limbo for some time
after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could
assist a soul on its passage to heaven. This custom was
called "going a-souling", and the "soulers" would promise
to say a prayer for the dead. Over the years the custom
changed and the children of the towns and villages would
act as beggars, going from door to door and being given
treats and even money.
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Hallowe'en Superstitions
To release a person from ghost possession, throw dust from
your footprint at them.
If a candles flame suddenly turns blue, there's a ghost
nearby.
A spider appearing on Hallowe'en is probably the spirit of
a deceased loved one who has come to visit.
Burying animal bones or a picture of a loved animal near
the doorway prevents ghosts from entering your home on
Hallowe'en.
Owls were thought to swoop down from the skies to eat the
souls of the dying. A common remedy against this was to
turn your pockets inside out.
If you go to a crossroads at Hallowe'en and listen to the
wind, you will learn all the most important things that
will befall you during the next twelve months.
To meet a witch, put your clothes on inside out and walk
backwards on Hallowe'en night. At midnight a witch is
supposed to appear.
If you ring a bell on Hallowe'en, it will scare evil
spirits away.
Walking around your house three times backwards and
counterclockwise before sunset on Hallowe'en will ward
off evil.
Oatmeal and salt placed on children's heads to protects
them from evil.
Placing a Jack-o-lantern on your porch or in your window
will frighten evil spirits away but will also welcome
deceased loved ones on Hallowe'en.
Hallowe'en is an ideal time for divination of all kinds
as the veils are so thin at this between-time. The Celts
believed all normal order in the universe and the laws of
space and time were suspended during this time, allowing
the spirit world to intermingle with the living.
Just remember, if you hear footsteps behind you on
Hallowe'en, don't turn around! It might be a lost soul
looking for a host and if he happens to like the wiggle
in your walk, well, don't say you haven't been warned.
**********************************************
Thanks to everyone who has been writing to me with personal
experiences and responses to the column. I hope to include
a selection of your letters in next week's column. If you
have any thrilling or chilling Hallowe'en experiences to
share, please send them in.
If you wish to send me a story for publication, please
email to: paranormal@zsuzsana.com. Please post responses
to today's column or readers' letters to: Paranormal
Insider Forum
Take care and see you next week!
Zsuzsana Summer
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