Begging is usually frowned upon, but there’s one day when most people accept it: Halloween, also spelled Hallowe’en. On this day, 31st October, it’s perfectly normal for kids of all ages (and sometimes adults, too) to go around asking for treats, usually sweets, money or small fruit. Modern-day Halloween sees people dressed up as all sorts of ghouls, from witches to devils and zombies to ghosts. Even the odd pumpkin. And if you’re my sister, she wanted to be a pizza.

Halloween has roots in many cultures and religions. Although it is mostly a secular state celebration, it has many religious overtones. Some people emphasise on the Christian traditions of All Saints’ Day, and some celebrate in it remembrance of the Protestant Reformation. It has its origins in the “Festival of the Dead”, held in many ways by different cultures of the world to celebrate and honour deceased loved ones and relatives. It also has many connections to the Celtic festival of Samhain/Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in, roughly meaning “Summer’s End”). Some folklorists say it also has roots in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess or fruits and seeds. Ancient Britons held a similar feast, called Calan Gaeaf (pronounced kalan geyf).

The Celts thought that the world of the living and the world of the dead was separated by a barrier, and that this barrier became weak on Samhain, allowing spirits to pass through, both harmful and harmless. The harmless spirits, especially those of friends and family members who had died, were welcomed and celebrated, while measures were taken to ward off the harmful spirits. People would disguise themselves as harmful spirits and therefore avoid the real ones, traditionally by dressing in white with a dark mask or a dark-painted face. This is also thought to be the origin of the dressing-up part of Halloween.

Symbols of Halloween include generic witches/ghosts/spooks etc., and pumpkins which are carved into lanterns. This is derived from the British tradition of carving lanterns from turnips and rutabagas. Pumpkins were adopted because they were more readily available and larger, making them easier to carve. Modern Halloween imagery also includes evil, the occult, magic and mythical monsters. More traditional symbols include the Devil, witches, vampires (cover yourself in glitter and go as a random Cullen, you know you want to), werewolves, black cats, bats and more. Classic horror films and books are also incorporated, such as Frankenstein’s Monster. Elements of the autumn season are also seen.

Trick-or-treating now plays a large part in the celebration, and for some people, it is often the only reason they go to the trouble of buying/making a costume! Children in costume go from house to house, asking the question “Trick or treat?” Generally, sweets or money is given. In some parts of Scotland and Ireland, children go guising, which is where they sing, play an instrument or tell a ghost story in order to earn their treats. The “trick” part refers to the many pranks played on people during Halloween, including throwing eggs or tomatoes at houses, knocking on doors and running away, throwing toilet paper at houses, and scaring people by jumping out and screaming at ‘em. Other activities include bobbing for apples, where some apples are placed in a basin of water, and one must try to lift the apple from the water using only their teeth, no hands allowed. A traditional version of this is where you have an equal amount of men and women in a room, each woman marks a mark on an apple and puts it in the water. The men bob for apples and it is said that they will marry the owner of that apple. Another activity is where a scone or other small cake is covered in syrup or honey and hung from a string. The cake* must be eaten without using the hands, which obviously leads to a very messy, sticky, syrup-covered face.

Some games played at Halloween are forms of divination. It is said that if you peel and apple, keeping the peel in one long spiral, and toss the peel over your shoulder, the peel will land in the shape of the first initial of your future lover or spouse. Unmarried women used to be told that if they sat in a darkened room combing their hair whilst looking into a mirror, they would see the face of their future husband watching over their shoulder.

Halloween foods often include apples and pumpkins, because it is in the harvest season (and because pumpkins are also symbols of Halloween). Other traditional foods are:
Bonfire toffee
Toffee/candy apples
Candy corn
Barmbracks – fruited yeast bread; small silver charms or small items like coins, peas, etc. The items would give a meaning to the person who had it in their slice. A ring would mean marriage, a coin would mean wealth, and a pea would mean they would not marry that year.
Pumpkin bread/pumpkin pie
Sweets shaped like bats, ghosts, etc.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my article, and if you were considering doing something… DO IT! Do it for the candy, if nothing else. I do it for the lulz and laughs. I don’t even eat most of the sweets. And I really want to blast Thriller out on my phone and have everyone dance, but someone would call the fuzz on us for making too much noise, I bet. ¬_¬

THIS IS SO AWESOME.

On an unrelated note: NANOWRomo NANOWRIMO STARTS TOMORROW BOOYAH

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