From a cultural celebration with religious overtones to secular marketing tool, Halloween has evolved from an ancient tradition and grown to be one of the most profitable holidays for retailers in the U.S.
By Sylvie Belmond/Staff Writer
and Laura Tate/Editor
Devils, witches, skulls, apples, fruits, saints, souls, and martyrs, ahhh yes, it’s Halloween.
The change of seasons is upon us and the time to celebrate an ancient custom from the time of the Celts, almost 2,000 years ago, is here.
Marking the end of summer and the beginning of a dark, cold winter, autumn was also associated with human death in the ancient Celtic culture.
The Celts, who were mostly from Ireland, Great Britain and some parts of France, believed the worlds of the living and the dead became indistinguishable in this seasonal transition. They celebrated Samhain (pronounced sow-en), marking the change of seasons and honoring the dead.
During the celebrations, the Celts wore costumes consisting of animal heads and skins and built a huge bonfire where crops and animals were thrown in as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
Families later re-lit their own hearths from this sacred bonfire.
Later the Roman festivals, Feralia and Pomona, eventually blended with Samhain to form one. Feralia commemorated the passing of the dead and Pomona honored the Roman goddess of fruit and trees.
The symbol of Pomona was an apple and the celebration may explain today’s apple bobbing game played on Halloween.
The Christian holiday, All Saints’ Day, celebrated on Nov. 1, a time to honor saints and martyrs, adding further influence to the holiday that is now known as Halloween.
The new celebration was also called All Hallows, derived from the middle-English word Alholowmesse, meaning All Saints’ Day.
The tradition of dressing in costumes on Halloween has both Celtic and European roots-the Celts with their animal skins, and the European superstition of ghosts led people to wearing masks when they left their homes after dark so they would be mistaken as fellow spirits.
The Celts also believed that fairies roamed the earth on the night of Samhain causing mischief, which may be an early evolution of the modern trick-or-treating.
Also, on All Souls’ Day parades in England poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them sweet cakes called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives, which may be another twist to the tradition.
As Halloween became a more secular community-centered holiday, Halloween celebrations were increasingly directed toward the young.
Trick-or-treating became a way for communities to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks from being played on them by providing the trick-or-treater with a small treat.
Today, Americans spend more than $2 billion annually on this holiday, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday.