by Sophia Marcel
Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. How many of us are out shopping for Halloween costumes for our kids who are anxiously awaiting for the night when they can go from house to house, asking for candy? For some of us, we carve out our pumpkins, leave our porch lights on and wait for the little one’s to come knocking at our door, and still for others wearing our costumes and attending costume parties, visiting haunted houses or attractions.
Halloween originates from the ancient Gaelic festival known as Samhain, which is derived from Old Irish and means roughly “summers end”. The festival celebrates the end of the “lighter half” of the year and the beginning of the “darker half”, and is sometimes regarded as the “Celtic New Year”. Irish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America during Ireland’s Great Famine of the 1840′s.
On Hallows’ eve, the ancient Celts would place a skeleton on their window sill to represent the departed. Originating in Europe, the first lanterns were carved from a turnip or rutabaga. Believing the head was the most powerful part of the body, the Celts used the “head” of the vegetable to frighten harmful spirits. Jack-o’-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer, who was cursed by the devil, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night.
With its roots in Celtic cultures, Halloween is not celebrated in all countries and regions of the world and among those that do the traditions and importance of the celebration vary significantly. Celebration in the United States has had a significant impact on how the holiday is observed in other nations. Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent.
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