The History of Halloween - SXM Sint Maarten

The rattle of old chains, the creaking of a door…..Who’s there? The low moan of the wind through cracks…..was it really the wind? A black cat darts out from behind a spooky looking house…It’s Halloween people! It’s the time of year that kids and grown-ups alike go out and have a good time. Everything from Trick or Treating for the kids to parties for the ‘bigger’ kids makes Halloween a great time of year. It’s also looked at as the 1^st unofficial party of high season. But what’s the history behind this spooky day? What do pumpkins, costumes and trick of treating have to do with it? What does it really celebrate?

The word itself, ‘Halloween’, actually comes from the Catholic Church. It’s a combination of the phrases ‘All Hallows Eve’, which was originally on November 1^st and ‘All Saints Day’, which is when the Catholic Church honors the saints. But the origins of Halloween go back a whole heck of a lot further than the Catholic Church! In the 5^th century BC, Celtics in Ireland celebrated the end of summer, which was marked as October 31^st. This day was called Samhain, which is pronounced Sow-en. This was seen as the Celtic New Year.  The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honored and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. No one wanted an evil spirit in their house!

Many other cultures besides the Celts and Catholics adopted the celebration of summers end. In the 1st century AD, Samhain was assimilated into celebrations of some Roman traditions that took place in October, such as their day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which may just explain the origin of the modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween.

In Greek mythology, goddesses of the underworld, Hecate and Medusa, were often used to invoke the Samhain. Popular Hecate was the most favored goddess by Zeus, and wandered the emptiness between the worlds of life and death looking for souls of the dead. Both were considered serpent goddesses, and their ancient dark legends spawned myths such as vampires, who fed off the living using venom and snake-like fangs. Today, Hecate is often referred to as the goddess of witches.

Halloween in Scotland and Ireland had a strong tradition of "guising" — Scottish and Irish children disguised in costumes going from door to door requesting food or coins.  Another 9^th Century tradition called ‘Souling’, which was done on All Souls Day, involved early Christians walking from village to village begging for ‘soul cakes’. Soul Cakes were made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. Both these traditions can be seen as the beginning of Trick or Treating! The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In some parts of Scotland children still go guising. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, like sing a song or tell a spooky ghost story, to earn their treats.

Now, what about pumpkins, or Jack-o-lanterns as they are called? The Jack-o-lantern custom comes from Irish folklore. The story makes for a great ghost story on any occasion, but especially Halloween. The story is called "Stingy Jack."

According to the story, Stingy Jack, an Irish blacksmith and notorious drunk, had the great misfortune to run into the Devil in a pub. Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a sixpence that Jack could use to buy their drinks in exchange for Jack's soul. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack and not try to claim his soul for ten years. When the ten years had passed, Jack ran into the Devil as he walked down a country road. The Devil was anxious to claim what was due but Jack stalled. Jack thought quickly and said to the devil. "I'll go, but before I go, will you get me an apple from that tree?" The Devil thinking he had nothing to lose climbed the tree as Jack pointed to the choicest apple. Perturbed, the Devil climbed high into the tree after the apple Jack selected. When he was high up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down. Jack, very proud of himself made the Devil promise to never again ask him for his soul. Seeing no other choice the Devil reluctantly agreed. Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. Being unable to go to heaven or hell Jack asked the Devil where he should go. The Devil only replied, "Back where you came from!" The way back was very dark so Jack begged the Devil to at least give him a light to find his way. The Devil tossed Jack burning coal from the fire of hell to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."^[1]  This is why the Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. When the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.

There are quite a few games that are traditional to Halloween. Apples play a large part in these games. One common game is dunking or apple bobbing, in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple. Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. A traditional Scottish form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.

Today many cultures have adopted Halloween as their favorite "holiday". The day itself did not grow out of evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new year, and out of Medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. And today, even many churches have Halloween parties or pumpkin carving events for the kids. After all, the day itself is only as evil as one cares to make it. So to all kids, big and small: Have fun, go trick or treating and be safe. Happy Halloween!

[1] – www.hauntedbay.com