WIBCI Post #97

WIBCI we knew the History of our Holidays?

Per Wikipedia: Halloween, aka All Hallows’ Eve, aka All Saints’ Eve, is a celebration observed in many countries on 31^st of October, the beginning of the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the Christian liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints(hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. In popular culture, Halloween has become a celebration of horror and is associated with the macabre and the supernatural.

One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals and believed to have pagan roots. Irish and Scottishimmigrants brought many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century, and through American influence, various Halloween customs spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.

The word Halloween or Hallowe’en comes from the Lowland Scots form of All Hallows’ Eve (the evening before All Hallows’ Day): even is the Scots term for ‘eve’ or ‘evening’, and is contracted to e’en or een; so (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en became Halloween.

More saints than days in the year, in 835ce November 1^st became ‘All Saints Day’. The Allhallowtide custom of baking and sharing soul cakes for all christened souls has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating.  As early as the 15^th century groups of poor people, often children, would go door to door during Allhallowtide, collecting soul cakes in exchange for praying for the dead, especially the souls of the givers’ friends and relatives. This was called “souling”. In the Middle Ages Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh linked the wearing of costumes to the belief in vengeful ghosts: “It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints’ Day, and All Hallows’ Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes.