Photo by Brittany Smith
By Kamryn Keith
Scary, funny, attractive costumes, handing out handfuls of candy, putting up spooky decorations, and carving pumpkins are some of the Halloween traditions that families do to celebrate such a cultural day.
So how did it come to people celebrating it? Why do we give out candy to kids who walk around saying “Trick or Treat”? Why do we carve pumpkins and sit them outside our house with candles?
It all started in the eighth century in Britain and Ireland. Its origin started at the festival of Samhain among the Celts. It was a religious celebration for the pagans. It was what they did to welcome the end of the summer harvest. November 1st was a day to celebrate the saints, called All Saints Day. The day before started to become the Eve of All Saints Day, called All Hallows Eve, and, over time, began to be called Halloween.
People started to dress up because they believed that the dead, supernaturals, and ghosts roamed the earth during this time. People would dress up as scary things to avoid being scared and haunted by the evil spirits roaming. They thought they would be left alone if they looked like one or seemed to belong. Over time, the costumes became less scary and more modern with what the culture was into. Although many still choose to dress up as scary characters, they do it for fun now.
Along with dressing up, the people wear costumes to trick or treat. There are a couple of theories on why this happened. The first theory is that the Celtic people left food overnight for the dead who walked at night. It then turned into the people dressing up as the evil to get free food and drink in exchange.
The second theory evolved from the Scottish. The Scotts would go around and collect food offerings for the dead, and they would drop the food off in a non-religious ritual by singing songs, joking, and having other tricks.
The last theory was a German-American tradition where kids would dress up as the supernatural. They would go to their neighbors and see if they could guess who it was. If they could not end up thinking who it was, then they would reward the children with candy or other treats they had.
Carving pumpkins for this holiday is very popular. The story behind it is chilling. Jack would trap the devil and only let him go when the devil promised not to put him in hell. Jack could not go to Heaven when he died, but the devil took pity and gave him some coal to light up his turnip lantern. He used the lantern to stroll in between both places. That gave the name Jack-O-Lantern. People would then carve faces into their turnips to scare away the evil spirits.
Halloween came to America in the late 1800s. The traditions are all different from when the holiday first came about. Instead of scaring off evil spirits, many people do not even know that is what the people started Halloween for. It has evolved, and people use it to spend time with their families. They use it to let their kids have a fun night and get tons of candy. It is a holiday that started during the eighth century in a different country but has changed to today’s modern culture. It has now evolved into the holiday many love to celebrate today.
