Halloween History and Traditions

Why Do We Trick or Treat and Carve Pumpkins?

The celebration of Halloween is now the second largest commercial holiday in this country with 6.9 million dollars in sales last year. We love to celebrate Halloween, but why do we dress up and trick or treat? Why do we carve pumpkins and why are they called Jack o Lanterns?

One of the oldest holiday celebrations, All Hallows' Eve can be traced back to the Celtics, pagans who lived in England, Ireland and Northern France over 2,000 years ago.On the last day of their year, October 31, a festival was held to honor Samhain, Lord of the Dead. On this day it was believed the souls of the dead would return home to walk the earth.

Many of the customs and traditions we follow at Halloween can be traced back to the pagan beliefs. Because it was thought on this day that the dead roamed the earth among the living the Celtics placed skeleton heads carved from turnips, rutabagas, or potatoeswith a hot coal or candle inside to deter the spirits from entering their homes. When the Irish came to America they brought the tradition with them and before long pumpkins became the choice for carving.

The name Jack o Lantern came from the English legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, nasty man, who drank with the devil, then conned the devil not once but twice. Both times Jack tricked the devil into not claiming his soul. When Jack died, evil man that he was, could not get into heaven, and the devil could not claim his soul. Instead the devil condemned Jack to wander the earth in darkness, carrying a turnip lit with a hot coal to light the way. Stingy Jack became Jack with the Lantern or Jack o Lantern that we know today.

As the dead were thought to roam the earth on this night, people dressed in costumeswhen leaving their homes, so the spirits would not recognize or harm them.

Trick or treating can be traced back to pagan times when food and drink would be left outside the house for the roaming spirits. Through time this became the custom of the poor called "going souling". On All Souls Day (November 2) in early England, the poor would travel from house to house begging for food. They were given "soul cakes", a kind of fruit cake, and in return would pray for the departed.