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Today, Halloween is a secular holiday that largely exists so that kids can have a good time roaming their neighborhoods in search of candy. That hasn’t always been the case, though. In fact, many of today’s Halloween traditions have roots in religious beliefs that are related to protecting humans from unfriendly spirits.
Celtic Traditions
If you like to carve jack-o’-lanterns and dress up for Halloween, then you can thank the ancient Celts. This group had a holiday called Samhain that looks much like today’s version of Halloween. Samhain was a day when the dead could return to walk among the living. The Celts wanted to scare off these spirits, so they dressed up in fearsome costumes and lit bonfires.
Catholic Halloween Traditions
Halloween acquired its Catholic traditions when the Roman Empire conquered the Celts. The Roman Catholics emphasized the remaining bounty of the season by making table pieces of apples, nuts and other foods. They also introduced drinking cider and bobbing for apples to the holiday. For the Catholics, this was a day to remember the dead. They did not worry about the dead walking the earth, but they wanted to honor those who came before them.
Trick-or-Treating
No one knows for certain when trick-or-treating began. It resembles the English custom of poor people wandering door-to-door on Hallowmas (November 1st), when they would promise to pray for souls in exchange for food.
Going door-to-door for treats on Halloween also has roots in Scotland and Ireland. In these areas, groups would dress in costume and walk through the streets holding jack-o’-lanterns made of turnips. When they came to a house, they stopped to ask for food or some coins.
Today’s version of Halloween blends diverse traditions into a fun escapade for all ages. What’s your favorite Halloween tradition?
