-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
Halloween traditions are evolving
Archive
Comments
Story
Ghouls, goblins, Mr. Ts and Napoleon Dynamites might flood the streets of Boise tonight, but not in reference to the historical traditions of Halloween, rather the evolved version. Costume shops all over town have been set up since the beginning of October in light of this holiday. In all actuality, this annual tradition is not all about the consumption of candy and/or alcohol, rather it is a night where the dead are respected and the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead are blurred.
Two thousand years ago in what is now known as Ireland, the Celts celebrated Oct. 31 as the Celtic Festival of Samhain. According to History.com, this day is traditionally referred to as All-hallows Eve. “This day marked the end of summer and the harvest, and the beginning of the dark, cold, winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.”
All-hallows Eve was the night designated to celebrate Samhain and it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth to wreak havoc on crops and allow for Druids (Celtic Priests) to make predictions about the future. They would build big bonfires and burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities while dancing and singing in full costumes.
The costumes weren’t parodies of political figures back in those days, rather of animal heads and skins. According to History.com, the Celtic tradition evolved into collaboration of Roman and Celtic celebrations. “By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.”
Feralia (a Roman tradition commemorating the passing of the dead) and Pomona (a day of honor for the goddess of fruit and trees) were the two Roman celebrations combined with the celebrations of Samhain. An interesting fact about Pomona is that her symbol is the apple. The incorporation of these different festivals into one celebration has evolved into symbols and traditions of the present day celebration of Halloween, like bobbing for apples.
“By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints’ Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-Hallowmas – and the night before it, the night of the Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween,” according to History.com.
It wasn’t until the second half of the 19th century that the tradition of Halloween took hold in America. As immigrants poured into America, the Irish, who faced severe oppression and many of whom fled Ireland’s potato famine of 1846 (according to History.com) heightened the national popularity of Halloween. As Irish and English traditions merged, Americans dressed up and went from door to door, begging for food and/or money. This is where the present concept of “trick-or-treat” came to be. Women began to use the notion of trick-or-treat to impress their prospective husbands by “doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors,” according to History.com.
As the 20th century approached the American culture, Halloween had evolved into a community party where adults and children played games, indulged in seasonal food and paraded around in festive costumes. However, the element of fear was to be kept out of the party planning. With this development, according to History.com, “Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.”
As superstition was toned down and religious meaning left out, the next step in the evolution of Halloween somehow started to become slightly reminiscent of the Celtic celebration of Samhain. According to History.com, “By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday – vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time – Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration.”
In 2005, according to History.com, “Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday.”
So when y’all are out their paying tribute to All-hallows Eve, don’t forget about those blurred boundaries between the living and the dead, dew-dew-dew-dew-dew-dew-dew-dew-dew-dew.
Amber Fuger / Asst. Culture Editor