Musicmystery
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Joined: 3/14/2005
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Hi Lisa,
The major eight pagan holidays (at equinoxes, solstices, and the midpoints) were co-opted by the Roman Christian Church when it was competing with established religions for converts---hence, Christmas at the Winter Solstice, Easter and the Spring Equinox, and so forth. Halloween, as we know it now, is the Church's invention, the eve of All Saint's Day, meant to overshadow a corresponding pagan holiday (Samhain, of Celtic origin).
As Halloween in the U.S. had become a day for destructive pranks, FDR, during the Depression, launched one of the most successful public service campaign messages ever---he asked that instead of pranks in those troubled times, children go door to door, asking for candy treats instead of playing pranks: trick or treat.
It worked, and stuck.
Best,
Tim
P.S. A quick note on related customs from Answers.com (flawed but close enough):
The customs that are the modern face of Halloween are deeply rooted in the mists of history as well:
Jack-o'-lantern. Originally a turnip, this carved vegetable with a candle inside was used by a poor Irish soul named Jack to light his way as he wandered for eternity, denied entrance to both Heaven and Hell — Heaven because of his habitual stinginess and Hell because he had, while still alive, forced the devil into a pact that would spare Jack from ever going to Hell. Boy, did he live (or rather die) to regret it! The Irish brought this custom to the US in the 1840s but found it more convenient to use pumpkins than their traditional turnip, rutabaga or gourd.
Bobbing for apples. Bobbing for apples on Halloween (the time of the apple harvest) may have been inspired by the Celtic fables about heroes who journeyed across water seeking the magical apple tree on the mythical isle of Avalon. There is a more accepted theory: that the Celts (taking a leaf from the Romans who worshipped Pomona, the goddess of fruit and abundance) played a parlor game on Samhain in which unmarried people would try to bite into an apple in water or on a string; the first to succeed was thought to be the first to marry.
Costumes. The Celts wore disguises, usually made of animal skins, during their Samhain celebrations, possibly to conceal themselves from the spirits who were afoot at the time. So those Catwoman and Spider-man outfits may be most true to the ancient roots of the practice.
Ghost stories. The Celts believed that during Samhain, the boundaries between this world and the otherworld became blurred and the spirits of those who had departed walked the earth. Those beliefs survive to this day in the form of ghost stories and divinations: asking for helpful hints or guides to the future from those who have second sight.
< Message edited by Musicmystery -- 10/31/2008 7:52:57 AM >
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