[Northkeep] Halloween

[Kathryn Helstrom]

I have researched this off and on over the years and found many
interpretations.  The best, however, was the story that Sister
Venancia told me in sixth grade:

Halloween is slang for "All Hallowed Eve", the evening before All
Saints' Day, one of the High Holy Days in the Church Calendar.  In
England, the Celtic religion was still practiced in secret, and
Samhain (sp?) fell on All Hallowed Eve.  The druids would recruit from
the homeless and disaffected, particularly the youth.  Their
recruitment was strongest during Samhain where "all kinds of decadent
rituals" were performed.  In order to bring the young in off the
streets and out of the reach of the druids during this time, religious
houses and pious citizens would offer gifts of food to anyone who came
to their door on All Hallowed Eve.  The smart ones would go from door
to door and collect enough food to see them through the winter.

As the tradition grew, folks would ask the callers to perform a trick:
a somersault, juggling, sing a song, and so forth.  The best performer
would get the best or most food.  Thus began the saying "a trick for a
treat."  City dwellers began to compete with each other to show their
generosity by giving out exotic foods such as pastries and candies.
The youth would compete with their tricks and costumes.

There were still many superstitions taken very seriously, even by the
clergy, in these days.  One was that if you carved a scary face into
the gourd you used as a door lamp, it would frighten off the wicked
spirits of the night, preventing them from coming into your house when
you opened the door.  This  was especially true on very evil nights,
such as Samhain.  The druid witches and their cat familiars were
particularly feared.

The facts, as with all long-held traditions and myths, are blurred.
How people in York practiced All Hallows Eve probably differed greatly
from how people in London did.  Of course, it became another excuse
for adults to have a party and dress up and act silly before the
somber and holy day following.

So says Sister Venancia.

Franziska





On 10/7/11, Rene Shepard <reneshepard at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> What part are you looking for? Customs? By country? By culture? Religious?
>
> Helps to narrow it down.
> Rene
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-- 
Remember this: that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be
observed in the performance of every act of life.  --Marcus Aurelius