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A
Halloween History
by
Ann Crabtree
This
year, on the last night of October,
millions of children, all across the U.S
will dress up as everything from Harry
Potter to the most Ghoulish Creatures
,even The Power puff Girls will join in
the fun and, chances are, the night will
spawn more than a few ghoulish look a
likes will take to the streets to beg for
treats from their friends and neighbors.
Adults, too, will join in the fun. But,
how much do you really know about this
haunted holiday?
Halloween's
origins date back to the ancient Celtic
festival of Samhain (pronounced sow in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in
the area that is now Ireland, the United
Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated
their new year on November 1. This day
marked the end of summer and the harvest
and the beginning of the dark, cold
winter, a time of year that was often
associated with human death. Celts
believed that on the night before the new
year, the boundary between the worlds of
the living and the dead became blurred. On
the night of October 31, they celebrated
Samhain, when it was believed that the
ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
In
addition to causing trouble and damaging
crops, Celts thought that the presence of
the otherworldly spirits made it easier
for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make
predictions about the future. For a people
entirely dependent on the volatile natural
world, these prophecies were an important
source of comfort and direction during the
long, dark winter. To commemorate the
event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires,
where the people gathered to burn crops
and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic
deities. During the celebration, the Celts
wore costumes, typically consisting of
animal heads and skins, and attempted to
tell each other's fortunes. When the
celebration was over, they re-lit their
hearth fires, which they had extinguished
earlier that evening, from the sacred
bonfire to help protect them during the
coming winter.
In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV
designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a
time to honor saints and martyrs. It is
widely believed today that the pope was
attempting to replace the Celtic festival
of the dead with a related, but church
sanctioned holiday. The celebration was
also called All-hallows or AII-hallowmas
(from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning
All Saints Day) and the night before it,
the night of Samhain, began to be called
All-hallows Eve and, eventually,
Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the
church would make November 2 All Souls'
Day, a day to honor the dead. It was
celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big
bonfires, parades, and dressing up in
costumes as saints, angels, and devils.
Together, the three celebrations, the eve
of All Saints', All Saints', and All
Souls', were called Hallowmas.
Modern
traditions: The American tradition of
"trick-or-treating" probably dates back to
the early All Souls' Day parades in
England. During the festivities, poor
citizens would beg for food and families
would give them pastries called "soul
cakes" in return for their promise to pray
for the family's dead relatives. The
distribution of soul cakes was encouraged
by the church as a way to replace the
ancient practice of leaving food and wine
for roaming spirits. The practice, which
was referred to as "going a-souling" was
eventually taken up by children who would
visit the houses in their neighborhood and
be given ale, food, and money. The
tradition of dressing in costume for
Halloween has both European and Celtic
roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was a
frightening time. Food supplies often ran
low and, for the many people afraid of the
dark, the short days of winter were full
of constant worry. On Halloween, when it
was believed that ghosts came back to the
earthly world, people actually thought
that they would encounter ghosts if they
left their homes. To avoid being
recognized by the ghosts, people would
wear masks when leaving their homes after
dark so, the ghosts would mistake them for
a fellow spirit. Each Halloween, to keep
ghosts away from their houses, the people
would place bowls of food outside their
homes to appease the ghosts and keep them
from attempting to enter,
As
European immigrants came to America, they
brought their various Halloween customs
with them. Because of the rigid Protestant
belief systems that characterized early
New England, celebration of Halloween in
colonial times was extremely limited
there. As the beliefs and customs of
different European ethnic groups, as well
as the American Indians, meshed, a
distinctly American version of Halloween
began to emerge. The first celebrations
included "play parties," public events
held to celebrate the harvest, where
neighbors would share stories of the dead,
tell each other's fortunes, dance, and
sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also
featured the telling of ghost stories and
mischief making of all kinds. In the
second half of the nineteenth century,
Americans began to dress up in costumes
and go house-to-house asking for food or
money, a practice that eventually became
today's "trick-or-treat" tradition.
Young
women believed that, on Halloween, they
could divine the name or appearance of
their future husband by doing tricks with
yam, apple parings, or mirrors. In the
late I 800s, America was making a move to
turn Halloween into a holiday more about
community and neighborly get-togethers,
than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft.
At the turn of the century, Halloween
parties for both children and adults
became the most common way to celebrate
the day. Parties focused on games, foods
of the season, and festive costumes.
Parents were encouraged by newspapers and
community leaders to take anything
"frightening" or "grotesque" out of
Halloween celebrations. Because of their
efforts, Halloween lost most of its
superstitious and religious overtones by
the beginning of the twentieth century. By
the 1 920s and 1 930s, Halloween had
become a secular, but community-centered
holiday, with parades and town-wide
parties as the featured entertainment.
Despite the best efforts of many schools
and communities, vandalism began to plague
Halloween celebrations in many communities
during this time. By the 1950s, town
leaders had successfully limited vandalism
and Halloween had became a holiday.
Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old
practice of trick-or-treating was also
revived. Trick-or-treating was a
relatively inexpensive way for an entire
community to share the Halloween
celebration. In theory, families could
also prevent tricks being played on them
by providing the neighborhood children
with small treats. A new American
tradition was born, and it has continued
to grow. Today it appears that Americans
spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually
on Halloween, making it the country's
second largest commercial holiday.
NOW
Halloween wouldn't be Halloween with out
some ghost stories, so here are a couple
of ghostly stories from history and no
less straight from The White
House!!!
President
John Adams and his wife, Abigail, were the
first occupants of the White House. During
Adams' presidency (1797-1801), the capital
moved from Philadelphia to Washington, a
struggling hamlet built mostly in a swamp.
Pennsylvania Avenue was unpaved, and
frequent rains turned it into a quagmire.
Although the White House itself was only
half finished, Mrs. Adams cheerfully
tolerated the noise and confusion of
workmen coming and going. She was as fond
of pomp and ceremony as Martha Washington
had been, and, in spite of the
inconveniences, held memorable receptions
and dinner parties. Indeed, her
invitations were highly coveted. But one
immediate problem presented itself-where
to hang the family wash. The White House
was inadequately heated, and a number of
rooms were cold and damp. Mrs. Adams
finally decided that the East Room was the
warmest and driest place in her august
home, and that's where the clothes line
was strung. And that first lady has never
forgotten. The ghost of Abigail Adams is
seen hurrying toward the East Room, with
arms out stretched at if carrying a load
of laundry. She can be recognized by the
cap and lace shawl she favored in life.
Although Abigail Adams is the "oldest"
ghost ever to have been encountered at the
White House, she is by no means the only
former occupant to occasionally wander its
halls and great rooms. The home of the
American chief executive has been the site
of so much intense life it seems only
appropriate that from within its walls
come stories and legends of presidents and
first ladies who linger...after
life.
Old
Hickory
The
Rose Room is believed to be one of the
most haunted spots in the White House. It
contains Andrew Jackson's bed, and is if
we are to believe testimony of those who
have felt his presence, "Old Hickory"
himself still dwells in his former
bedchamber. And well he might. In 1824
Jackson ran for president against John
Quincy Adams and two other candidates,
garnering the most popular and electoral
votes, but not a clear majority; the
election was decided by the House of
Representatives, which chose Adams. In
1828 Jackson finally won the presidency,
but he never forgot nor forgave his
enemies. Bitterly resentful over his
earlier defeat, he removed two thousand
former office-holders, replacing them with
his own appointments. Twenty years after
Jackson's death, Mary Todd Uncoln, a
devout believer in the spirit world, told
friends that she'd heard him stomping
through the White House corridors and
swearing. Still settling old
scores?
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Click on the Pumpkin
below to enlarge and print for
the kids to color!
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