WHY DO WE…
CELEBRATE HALLOWE’EN
The ghosts and trick or treat games of Hallowe’en originate in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the dying of the year and the return of the dead to this world.
Samhain was held on November 1, which was also a convenient date to slaughter1 the farm animals which could not be fed over winter. The Christian Church turned the pagan celebrations into All Saints Day, preceded on October 31 by the Eve of All Hallows. Hallow was the old English word for saint.
Hallowe’en retains Samhain’s superstitions about witches and the ghosts of the dead returning from their graves. The trick or treat ritual preserves the memory of the mischievous2 spirits that were supposed to be abroad3that night. Games involving fruit, nuts, pumpkins4 or fortune telling descend directly from the ancient divinatory and harvest5rituals.
The hill top Samhain bonfires6 to protect the land and fuel7the sun through winter were transferred in England to Guy Fawkes Night on November 5 when King James I declared it a holiday to mark the failure of Fawkes’ plot to blow up the Parliament in 1605. The bonfires are still lit today with fireworks8 displays and sacrificial rag9 effigy, or Guy, thrown into the flames.
In Catholic countries, the important day is All Souls Day, on November 2, when the dead are remembered and graves often decorated.
(From: Maris Ross, Why do we do that?, Harmsworth Publications Ltd.)
Notes (notes are mine).
1. Slaughter: kill.
2. Mischievous: evil.
3. Abroad: out.
4. Pumpkin: a large, round vegetable with hard, yellow or orange flesh.
5. Harvest: the time of the year when crops are cut and collected from the fields.
6. Bonfire: a large fire that is made outside to burn unwanted things, or for pleasure.
7. Fuel: provide heat or power.
8. Firework: a small container filled with explosive chemicals that produce bright coloured patterns and loud noises when they explode.
9. Rag: clothes that are old and torn.
