HALLOWEEN
TRADITIONS & CUSTOMS
-
HALLOWEEN
FANCY
DRESS
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HALLOWEEN
TRADITION
-
FOLKLORE
Autumn sees the celebration of 2 festivals - Harvest and Halloween, one Christian
and one Pagan. Hundreds of years before Christ was born, Samhain was a Celtic
celebration, marking the end of summer and the beginning of the new year, on
1 November. During Samhain, the Irish Celts believed that the spirits of those
who had died the previous year came back on that night to look for living bodies
to possess. Villagers dressed up in ghoulish costumes and paraded around villages
in order to scare away the spirits. Belief
in spirits began to wane, but many children continued to play-act the part
of evil spirits to be appeased, asking for treats from house to house. About
700 A.D. the Church decided to combat this festival by replacing it with a
celebration of eternal life and honouring saints who had modelled the Christian
life. 1 November was called All Saints Day, All Souls Day or All Hallowed Day.
The evening before was called "All Hallows Eve," and soon shortened
to Halloween.
Things that go bump in the night… The 31 October is also known as Halloween
- that day of the year when we think of ghosts, ghouls, pumpkins and 'trick
or treating'. But where do all these customs come from? In Great Britain in
particular, the pagan Celts celebrated the Day of the Dead on Halloween. The
spirits supposedly rose from the dead and, in order to attract them, food was
left on the doors. To scare off the evil spirits, the Celts wore masks. When
the Romans invaded the Britain, they embellished the tradition with their own,
which is the celebration of the harvest and honouring the dead. These traditions
were then passed on to the United States.
Halloween was originally called All Hallows’ Eve which means the evening
before All Saints’ Day. "Hallow" is an Old English word for "saint".This
was shortened to Halloween and finally to Halloween.
Halloween
stems
from
the
ancient
celebrations
of
the
Celtic
New
Year.
The
end
of
summer
and
beginning
of
winter
was
known
in
Gaelic
as
Samhain
(pronounced
'sow'inn'),
and it
marks
the
beginning
of
the
year
for
most
Pagans.
This
was
thought
of
as
the
turn
of
the
year,
when
the
last
harvest
took
place,
and
fires
were extinguished
and
relit.
People
thought
of
this
as
a
magical
time,
when
the
boundaries
between
this
world
and
the
next
were
dissolved,
allowing
the
dead
to
return
to earth,
and
for
people
to
foresee
their
futures.
It
was
also
regarded
as
a
time
of
mischief
and
trickery
when
pranks
would
be
played
and
roles
reversed.
The
tradition
of
Halloween
began
way
back
in
the
fifth
century
BC
by
the
Irish
Celts,
who
organised
their
year
according
to
the
agricultural
calendar
and
marked
the
transition
from
one
year
to
the
next
on
October
31.
The
story
goes
that
during
the
transition
spirits
would
return
to
earth,
looking
for
living
bodies
to
possess
for the
following
year.
The
Celts
would
then
dress
up
in
ghoulish
costumes
and
parade
around
the
community
to
frighten
them
away.
Years later, the tradition of trick-or-treating is thought to have grown from
a ninth century European custom, souling, when early Christians would make
house calls begging for soul cakes. It was thought that even strangers could
help a soul's passage to heaven by saying prayers, so, in exchange for a cake
they promised to pray for the donors' deceased relatives.
In
the past, hundreds of years ago, people thought
that the night of Halloween (All Hallows Eve,
as it was called long ago) was a very dangerous
time. During this festival, they believed, witches'
magical powers were at their strongest, and the
dead could enter our world and, if they wanted
to, attack people and their animals.
The Austrian town of
Retz, not far from Vienna, holds an annual Halloween festival, complete
with pumpkins and a Halloween-Umzug (?Halloween pageant?), and the region
around Retz has become known for its annual pumpkin harvest.
As people have become less superstitious, Halloween is now a time for parties,
halloween dressing up, halloween fancy dress costumes and halloween games .Nowadays,
most people still enjoy the traditions of Halloween, especially for children's
parties.
Halloween
Pooky
Night
Halloween is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named
after the pookah, a mischievous spirit.
Halloween
Combing the Hair
It is said that another
halloween custom is for a girl to comb her hair in front of a mirror
in the name of the devil and to see her future husband. This was a slightly
sinister element in a lot of the older and more traditional games.
Halloween
- Black Cats - Unlucky or Lucky?
If a black cat crosses your path it is a sign of good luck. The idea that anything
that is a little bit unusual like a completely all black cats tended to attract
beliefs such as good luck or bad luck to itself. Very often depending on the
part of the country you were in or depending on the individual you happened
to be talking to the belief might be good luck or bad luck.
Halloween
Ghosts & Haunted
Houses
There
was
a
very
strong
belief
that
the
dead
came
back
from
abroad
on
Halloween
night
so
for
that
reason
a
lot
of
stories
were
made
up about
ghosts
and
ghouls
returning.
Haunted
houses
come
from
the
thought
that
since
it
was
the
beginning
of
darkness
and
winter
there
were
more
supernatural
manifestations than
in
the
middle
of
summer
when
you
only
get
a
couple
of
hours
of
darkness
every
night.
The
feast
of
Halloween
is
very
much
a
festival of
the
dead
traditionally
in
Ireland
and
that
is
where
ghosts
and
haunted
houses
enter
into
the
halloween
stories.
Why
we celebrate Halloween
The last night of October was the eve of Samhain, when the Celts (the ancient
inhabitants of Great Britain) celebrated their New Year. It is therefore a
night when there is supposed to be a gap between our world and the world of
the supernatural and the dead.
Fire
has
always
played
an
important
part
in
Halloween.
Fire
was
very
important
to
the
Celts
as
it
was
to
all
early
people.
In
the
old
days people
lit
bonfires
to
ward
away
evil
spirits
and
in
some
places
they
used
to
jump
over
the
fire
to
bring
good
luck.
Now
we
light candles
in
pumpkin
lanterns.
Halloween - Trick - Or Treat
Trick or Treat has been
thought to have come from a ninth century European custom called "souling".
Beggars or early Christians would go from house to house begging for "soul
cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul
cakes the beggars received, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf
of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the
dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers,
could guarantee a soul's passage to heaven.It was thought that even strangers
could help a soul's passage to heaven by saying prayers, so, in exchange for
a cake they promised to pray for the donors' deceased relatives. The
traditional phrase that the children use is: "Trick or Treat!" This
means, "Give us a nice snack to eat (= a treat) or we'll do something
bad to you (= play a trick on you)!".
Halloween
-
Decorations
People cut faces in pumpkins and put candles inside them to make special lamps,
called jack-o'-lanterns, which they put in the windows or outside the front door.
Some people like to decorate their homes with images of scary supernatural animals
- black cats, bats and spiders. The traditional colours of Halloween are black
(for the night), red (for blood!), and orange (for pumpkins).
Halloween
- Fancy Dress
On
the day of Halloween, children put on scary masks
and fancy dress costumes of frightening supernatural
creatures such as ghosts, monsters, witches or skeletons.
Halloween
- Traditional Games
After
dark, children may go to a Halloween party
and play a traditional game. One game is called "ducking
for apples". In this game, people have
to try to get apples out of a bucket full of
water without using their hands (only their
teeth!).
Halloween Games - Bobbing
for apples
This started out as a bit of simple fortune-telling like catching the bride's
bouquet at a wedding. People would try to bite into apples floating in a vat
or hanging from string - the first to bite the apple would be the next to
marry.
A day to honour Pomona the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. An
apple is the symbol of Pomona, so this could explain the halloween tradition
of bobbing for apples - whoever bit into an apple first, would be married first
the next year. Halloween
parties often consisted of various games, for instance 'Dooking fur apples'
where the children had to bite apples floating in a basin of water, once they
had one by the teeth they could retrieve and obtain it. Sometimes flour would
be sprinkled on the surface of the water.
For younger children a more modern game is 'Forkin fur apples', an easier task,
where the children stood on a chair and held a fork handle in their teeth,
taking aim, they would release it into the basin of apples and water and retrieve
and keep any apple they so skewered. Another game was 'treacle scones' where
children had to eat a scone covered in treacle hanging on a piece of string.
Halloween
- Pumpkins - Jack-0-Lantern
The
Jack-o-Lantern custom is believed
to come from Irish folklore.
The turnip lantern is the festival
light for Halloween and is
the ancient symbol of a damned
soul. As the tale is told,
a man named Jack, who was notorious
as a joker and trickster, tricked
the devil into climbing a tree.
Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree’s trunk, trapping
the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he
would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the
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According
to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied
entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but
he was also denied access to Hell because he had
tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a
single ember to light his way through the frigid
darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out
turnip to keep it glowing longer.
The
Irish used turnips as their “Jack’s lanterns” originally.
But when the immigrants came to America, they found
that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips.So
the Jack-o-Lantern in America became a hollowed-out
pumpkin, lit with a candle instead of an ember.
soul.
One story says that the Irish would carve out turnips or beets as lanterns
to represent the souls of the dead hence the turnip lanterns.
Another tale tells of a scoundrel called Jack who one dark night tricked the
Devil into climbing an apple tree. Once the Devil was in the tree tops, Jack
carved a cross on the trunk of the tree so the Devil couldn't climb down. Jack
then said he would only let the Devil out of the tree if he promised not to
claim his soul when he died. Wanting to be back in his own realm the Devil
agreed to Jack's demand. Many years later when Jack died, his life of bad deeds
stopped his entry to heaven. The Devil would not give him entry to hell either,
because of the bargain made many years earlier. But the Devil took pity on
Jack and gave him a glowing coal to light his way. Jack put this in a lantern,
which he carved from a pumpkin.
Halloween
Party Ideas
Design a pumpkin - give each child
a circular/oval piece of orange paper (we usually
use sugar paper), then let each child's imagination
run wild by letting them design their own faces with
black markers or felt tips. Some of the results are
quite gruesome! Then carefully cut out the black
areas in the faces and replace this with 1 sheet
of black tissue paper (stuck to the back of the paper).
These faces can be stuck up on the window on Halloween
with a light or candle behind them - the effect is
spooky!
Halloween
lanterns - If you purchase some cheap
tea-light holders. Then using glass paints, paint
each one orange then added faces with black pen
- other patterns such a witches faces/hats, black
cats or spiders can be used too. If you don't have
glass paints try using orange tissue paper glued
to the glass with P.V.A. glue. On Halloween just
place a tea-light into the holder and it glows
all night.
Witch's
Broomsticks
The
witch is a central symbol of Halloween. The name
comes from the Saxon wica, meaning wise one. When
setting out for a Sabbath, witches rubbed a sacred
ointment onto their skin. This gave them a feeling
of flying, and if they had been fasting they felt
even giddier. Some witches rode on horseback, but
poor witches went on foot and carried a broom or
a pole to aid in vaulting over streams. In England
when new witches was initiated they were often
blindfolded, smeared with flying ointment and placed
on a broomstick. The ointment would confuse the
mind, speed up the pulse and numb the feet. When
they were told "You are flying over land and
sea," the witch took their word for it.
Halloween
Nuts
A halloween custom associated in the Western Isles is to put two large nuts
in the fire. These represent yourself and your intended spouse. If the nuts
jump together when they are warmed up, this is deemed to be a good omen, but
if they jump apart then it is time to look for someone else!
Halloween
Nut-cracking
-Place
two nuts (such as conkers) on a fire. Give the
nuts the names of two possible lovers and the one
that cracks first will be the one.
Halloween
Wet Shirts
Another
old halloween custom is to wet a shirt-sleeve,
hang it up to the fire to dry , and lie in bed
watching it till midnight, when the apparition
of the individual's future partner for life will
come in and turn the sleeve.
Halloween Fun - Halloween Party Supplies - Halloween Spells
To see your future husband - Retire
into a dark room on halloween night - with one
candle as the only light. Place the candle in front
of a mirror and peer into the glass. At the same
time, you must either be eating an apple or combing
your hair. After a few moments it is said that
the face of the man whom you will wed will appear
over your shoulder. Another superstition decrees
that if a woman should eat a salted herring just
before she goes to bed, her future husband will
appear to her in a dream, carrying a cup of water
with which to quench her thirst.
To
discover who will be the first to marry -
Halloween Night Spell - Four cups of the same size
are set upon a circular table. In one of the cups
there is placed a ring, in another a sixpenny-piece,
and in another a sprig of orange-blossom or a piece
of heather, while the last cup remains empty. Those
who wish to take part in the test are blindfolded,
and must walk slowly three times round the table
and then touch one of the cups on it. The first
person to touch the cup containing the orange-blossom
or heather will be the first to wed; anyone selecting
the cup with the coin will never know want; the
cup with the ring represents devoted love; while
the empty cup suggests a single life.
To
ascertain if your lover is true-.On Halloween
select one of the letters which you have received
from your sweetheart, especially one which contains
a particularly passionate and important declaration;
lay it wide open upon a table and then fold it
nine times. Pin the folds together, place the letter
in your left-hand glove, and slip it under your
pillow. If on that night you dream of silver, gems,
glass, castles or clear water, your lover is true
and his declarations are genuine; if you dream
of linen, storms, fire, wood, flowers, or he is
saluting you, he is false and has been deceiving
you.
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