There are several Halloween traditions and customs
that have been continuing since Celtic times. The Celts used to live in
800 BC in an area that is presently occupied by Ireland, United Kingdom
and much of Western Europe. These customs have been passed from one
generation to another for thousands of years. Over the years the actual
meaning behind the customs has been forgotten and people are simply
following these customs as a ritual.
The Celts celebrated a festival called Samhain-believed to be
the forerunner of Halloween-at the end of the month of October. They
believed that the veil between this world and the next world was
thinnest at this time of year. Friends and relatives who had died would
often return, with their souls inhabiting an animal-often a black cat.
Black cats have remained a symbol of Halloween down to the present time.
Samhain was celebrated at the end of summers. In celebration of the
recently completed harvest, Celts would give offerings of food to the
Gods. They often went from door to door to collect food to donate to
their deities. Also, young Celts would ask the townspeople for kindling
and wood, and take it to top of the hill for the Samhain bonfire. These
two customs gave birth to the present day tradition of "trick or
treating".
Samhain was a fire festival. Sacred bonfires were lit on the tops of
hills in honor of the Gods. The people used to take an ember from the
bonfire to their home and re-light the fire in their family hearth. The
ember would usually be carried in a holder-often a turnip or gourd. As
the people were afraid of evil spirits and walking home in the dark they
dressed up in costumes and carved scary faces in their ember holders.
They hoped that the spirits would be frightened and not bother them.
Today children dress up in various costumes and people use Pumpkins to
carve faces.
The term "Jack-o'-lantern" came from an Irish folk tale of
the 18th century. Jack was an Irishman. He was very mean. He tricked the
Devil into climbing an apple tree and then cut a cross symbol in the
tree trunk, thus trapping the Devil in the branches. At his death, he
was unable to again access to Heaven because of his meanness and the
Devil did not allow him into Hell. So he was forced to walk the earth
endlessly. The Devil took pity on him and gave him a piece of coal to
light his path. Jack put it inside a hollowed-out turnip that he had
been eating and that became his lantern.
There are many Halloween traditions associated with apple. Unmarried
persons attempt to take a bite out of an apple bobbing in a pail of
water, or suspended on a string. The first person to do so is believed
to be the next to marry. Peeling an apple in front of a candle-lit
mirror is believed to produce the image of one's future spouse.
Attempting to produce a long unbroken apple peel is believed to give an
idea about one's long life. The longer the peel, the longer is the life
expectancy.
