Halloween started out as All Hollows' Eve, the day before All Saint's day (hallowed means holy). The festival originally started with people dressing up in spooky costumes to scare away all of the "evil spirits," a tradition which was in place in northern Europe long before Christianity came into play. Like many Christmas traditions, it is believed to come from the Germanic barbarians living ouside the Roman Empire. The point of this ritual was to make the next day "pure" without the influence of evil spirits. Originally, It was mainly adults that celebrated this holiday, however, over time it decended into the realm of mischievous children. The tradition of handing out candy... I'm not too sure about that one, however, I do know that it is fairly recent. Check out the Halloween celebrations in the movie "Meet Me in St. Louie" Bonfires in the streets, throwing flower into people's faces to make them become ghosts, it's no wonder the holiday is now somewhat scripted, with kids going to get candy door to door. That is, I assume a previous method of bribery. Today, when kids say "trick or treat," I believe it comes from kids threatening adults with all sorts of mischief and giving the adults a chance to buy them off, however, that's just my guess. I will be dressing up as a sousaphone player. We have marching band practice that night icon sad What is the history of Halloween, and what costume are you going to wear?

Other articles you might like;

Filed under: History of Halloween

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!