Halloween is right around the corner.  Below is some interesting information about the history of Halloween.  Don’t forget to send someone special a Halloween card, letting them know that you are thinking about them.  Go to www.sendoutcards.com/54653 to send a free card or contact me for more information.

Halloween Definition:

Halloween

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Halloween
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To explore the history of Halloween merchandise, compare the classics to  contemporary offerings, or shop for costumes, decorations, movies, candy and  more, visit our  Halloween Shopping Guide.

Monsters and goblins and ghosts. Oh, my!

Are you wondering why pint-sized ghouls and goblins are wandering the streets  and ringing strangers’ doorbells; why your significant other is pestering you to  dress up as Sonny to her Cher at a masquerade ball; why  goosebumps and shivers are in the air; and why chocolates seem to come only in  miniature sizes this time of year?  Well, when digging for the roots of the  modern Halloween, there are three words to keep in mind:

Samhain. The Celts of modern-day Ireland and the UK  two and a half  millennia ago braced themselves for winter with this festival, which is  pronounced “sowen,” literally means “summer’s end” and falls on November 1. It  heralds the beginning of the dark, cold half of the year. (Its counterpart was Beltane, which kicked off the warm,  light half of the year on May 1.) The harvest was gathered in to protect against  the wintry blast of the faeries’ breath, and Samhain was an occasion for  thanksgiving, sacrifices, divination and prayers. In each home the hearth-fire  was extinguished the night before and relit on Samhain from the central bonfires  of the priestly Druids.

Pomona. She is the Roman goddess  of fruit trees and the symbol of abundance. There was a festival dedicated to  her worship at the end of autumn, around the time of the big harvest. When the  Romans arrived in Britain, in the first century, they melded their customs with  those of the Celts whom they conquered.

Feralia. This is the ancient Roman festival of the dead, which was  held on February  21 with prayers and sacrifices on behalf of the deceased. The  customs of this day were also blended by the Romans with those of Samhain.  Feralia was superseded in the Christian Church by All Saints Day, also known as All  Hallow’s Day or Hallowmas, observed on May 13. In the eighth century, Pope  Gregory III changed the date to November 1 (though it is still  marked in  springtime, on the Sunday after Pentecost, by the Eastern Orthodox  Church). All Saint’s Day was followed by All Soul’s Day, established by Saint Odilo of Cluny on November  2 to remember the souls awaiting release from Purgatory. Halloween is a contraction  for “Hallow’s even” — the evening of All Hallow’s Day, i.e., October 31.

The customs that are the modern face of Halloween are deeply rooted in the  mists of history as well:

Jack-o’-lantern. Originally  a turnip, this carved vegetable with a candle inside was used by a poor Irish  soul named Jack to light his way as he wandered for eternity, denied entrance to  both Heaven and Hell — Heaven because of his habitual stinginess and Hell  because he had, while still alive, forced the devil into a pact that would spare  Jack from ever going to Hell. Boy, did he live (or rather die) to regret it! The  Irish brought this custom to the US in the 1840s but found it more convenient to  use pumpkins than their traditional turnip, rutabaga or gourd.

Bobbing for apples. Bobbing for apples on Halloween (the time of the  apple harvest) may have been inspired by the Celtic fables about heroes who  journeyed across water seeking the magical apple tree on the mythical isle of Avalon. There is a more accepted  theory: that the Celts (taking a leaf from the Romans who worshipped Pomona, the  goddess of fruit and abundance) played a parlor game on Samhain in which  unmarried people would try to bite into an apple in water or on a string; the  first to succeed was thought to be the first to marry.

Trick or treating. This  resembles the All Soul’s Day practice called “going a-souling” in which poor  people would beg door-to-door. In exchange for a gift of soulcakes, the soulers  would promise to say a prayer for the dead. It’s possible, though, that the  practice developed independently in the US in the 20th century, especially the  part where children threaten a trick if they don’t get a treat. (This may have  been around the time manufacturers came up with fun-sized candy bars.)

Costumes. The Celts wore disguises, usually made of animal skins,  during their Samhain celebrations, possibly to conceal themselves from the  spirits who were afoot at the time. So those Catwoman and Spider-man outfits may  be most true to the ancient roots of the practice.

Ghost stories. The Celts  believed that during Samhain, the boundaries between this world and the  otherworld became blurred and the spirits of those who had departed walked the  earth. Those beliefs survive to this day in the form of ghost stories and  divinations: asking for helpful hints or guides to the future from those who  have second sight.

There are two other holidays that share thematic elements with Halloween or  have common ancestors:

Guy Fawkes Day. This day,  held in Britain on November 5, commemorates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 (an attempt by Guy Fawkes and some fellow Catholics  to blow up King James I and Parliament). However,  its focus on bonfires, as well as its calendar date, are reminiscent of Samhain.  The custom of children begging for “a penny for the guy” is similar to  trick-or-treating, as well.

The Day of the Dead (El Dia de los Muertos). Contrary to what one  might think, this 3,000-year-old Aztec holiday is actually a joyous  celebration. It is held on November 1 and 2, primarily in Mexico and other parts  of Central America, and features visits to graveyards to leave flowers and  lighted candles in honor of the dead. The souls of children are believed to  visit earth on November 1, with adults’s souls following the next day.

Facts and Figures
(courtesy of the  US Census Department press release for  Halloween; all data is for the US)

• The first city to officially celebrate Halloween was Anoka, Minnesota, in 1921.
• Illinois led the country in pumpkin production last year with 497 million  pounds. It was followed by California, Ohio and Pennsylvania, which each  produced over 100 million pounds. A total of 1.1 billion pounds was produced in  2005 for a value of over $106 million.
• There are 36.1 million potential trick-or-treaters: children aged 5-13.  There are 108 million households for them to visit.
• California is the prime location for chocolate and cocoa manufacturing  establishments, with 136 as of 2004. Pennsylvania is next with 122. The  countrywide total is 1,241, and they employ 43,322 people and ship $12.5 billion  worth of goods.
• California is also tops in non-chocolate confectionary manufacturing  establishments (76), out of a total of 515 such establishments, which have  22,234 employees who ship $7.2 billion worth of goods.
• Per capita consumption of candy was 26 pounds in 2005, much of it during  Halloween time. That must make it more challenging for Americans to fit into the  outfits provided by the 2,497 formal wear and costume rental establishents that  operated in 2004.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/halloween#ixzz1ZujSP1nrinition:

 

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