Double,
double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn,
and cauldron bubble.
Eye of
newt, toe of frog,
Wool of bat
and tongue of dog,
Adder’s
fork and blind worm’s sting,
Lizard’s
leg and howlet’s wing.
(Macbeth by
William Shakespeare).
The time has come again, perhaps children’s second favorite
holiday of the year. (I think Christmas beats out Halloween by just a bit.)
Today Halloween is a holiday for costumes, parties, things that go bump in the
night and a new Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercial. It is the one time of
year where it is acceptable for all ages to dress up in costume and
intentionally scare everyone within sight.
Unlike a popular belief, Halloween was not created by the
candy companies. Like most holidays, Halloween started long ago to honor
spirits and to appease the gods. The name Halloween has descended from All
Hallows’ Eve. All Hallows’ Eve was a celebration on the eve of the Celtic New
Year, on which the Samhain festival was celebrated. In Celtic tradition this was the perfect time
to start the New Year, the time of the switching of the seasons, from Summer to
Winter, and the last harvest of the year.
The festival of Samhain is the end of the last harvest
season. This is the time when farmers and herders collect their goods and prepare
for Winter months. Food is stocked and inventories are taken. Stock is also
slaughtered to prepare the meat for the winter, during which months large herds
could not be cared for due to the lack of availability of their food.
It was believed that during this time the souls of the
deceased would return to the world of the living and visit their living
relatives. While family could return and visit, so could the mischievous and
malicious souls as well. Souls were thought to return to their family homes to
visit their living relatives. Places at the table or seats by the fire were
often set for these visiting spirits. Malicious spirits were thought to cause
havoc or seek revenge during this time and they were often feared. It was for
these spirits that the costumes were adorned to appease and mimic them
(http://www.halloweenhistory.org).
Trick or treating is not a modern concept. Even during the
Samhain festival, children would go door to door requesting treats. If treats
were not given, the residents would have a trick played on them. Today these
pranksters are watched for rigorously. Around Halloween the sales of seemingly
harmless items like toilet paper, eggs and shaving cream are monitored. Some
places even go to the lengths as not to sell these items to minors in the week
or so leading up to Halloween. In some countries parents of these pranksters
can legally be prosecuted for the offenses for their children.
Beware the ghouls and goblins that roam free this All
Hallows’ Eve!