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Halloween

June 14, 2023

"All Hallows' Eve" redirects here. For other uses, see All Hallows' Eve (disambiguation) and Halloween (disambiguation).

Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween,[5] All Hallows' Eve,[6] or All Saints' Eve)[7] is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide,[8] the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.[9][10][11][12]

Halloween
Carving a jack-o'-lantern is a common Halloween tradition
Also called
  • Hallowe'en
  • All Hallowe'en
  • All Hallows' Eve
  • All Saints' Eve
Observed byWestern Christians and many non-Christians around the world[1]
TypeChristian
SignificanceFirst day of Allhallowtide
CelebrationsTrick-or-treating, costume parties, making jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, divination, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions.
ObservancesChurch services,[2] prayer,[3] fasting,[1] and vigil[4]
Date31 October
Related toSamhain, Hop-tu-Naa, Calan Gaeaf, Allantide, Day of the Dead, Reformation Day, All Saints' Day, Mischief Night (cf. vigil)

One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are believed to have pagan roots.[13][14][15][16] Some go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallow's Day, along with its eve, by the early Church.[17] Other academics believe Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All Hallow's Day.[18][19][20][21] Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants took many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century,[22][23] and then through American influence Halloween had spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.[24][25]

Popular Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins or turnips into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror or Halloween-themed films.[26] Some people practice the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead,[27][28][29] although it is a secular celebration for others.[30][31][32] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows' Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.[33][34][35][36]

Etymology

 
"Halloween" (1785) by Scottish poet Robert Burns, recounts various legends of the holiday.

The word Halloween or Hallowe'en ("Saints' evening"[37]) is of Christian origin;[38][39] a term equivalent to "All Hallows Eve" is attested in Old English.[40] The word hallowe[']en comes from the Scottish form of All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day):[41] even is the Scots term for "eve" or "evening",[42] and is contracted to e'en or een;[43] (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en became Hallowe'en.

History

Christian origins and historic customs

Halloween is thought to have influences from Christian beliefs and practices.[44][45] The English word 'Halloween' comes from "All Hallows' Eve", being the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows' Day (All Saints' Day) on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2 November.[46] Since the time of the early Church,[47] major feasts in Christianity (such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost) had vigils that began the night before, as did the feast of All Hallows'.[48][44] These three days are collectively called Allhallowtide and are a time when Western Christians honour all saints and pray for recently departed souls who have yet to reach Heaven. Commemorations of all saints and martyrs were held by several churches on various dates, mostly in springtime.[49] In 4th-century Roman Edessa it was held on 13 May, and on 13 May 609, Pope Boniface IV re-dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to "St Mary and all martyrs".[50] This was the date of Lemuria, an ancient Roman festival of the dead.[51]

In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III (731–741) founded an oratory in St Peter's for the relics "of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors".[44][52] Some sources say it was dedicated on 1 November,[53] while others say it was on Palm Sunday in April 732.[54][55] By 800, there is evidence that churches in Ireland[56] and Northumbria were holding a feast commemorating all saints on 1 November.[57] Alcuin of Northumbria, a member of Charlemagne's court, may then have introduced this 1 November date in the Frankish Empire.[58] In 835, it became the official date in the Frankish Empire.[57] Some suggest this was due to Celtic influence, while others suggest it was a Germanic idea,[57] although it is claimed that both Germanic and Celtic-speaking peoples commemorated the dead at the beginning of winter.[59] They may have seen it as the most fitting time to do so, as it is a time of 'dying' in nature.[57][59] It is also suggested the change was made on the "practical grounds that Rome in summer could not accommodate the great number of pilgrims who flocked to it", and perhaps because of public health concerns over Roman Fever, which claimed a number of lives during Rome's sultry summers.[60][44]

 
 
On All Hallows' Eve, Christians in some parts of the world visit cemeteries to pray and place flowers and candles on the graves of their loved ones.[61] Top: Christians in Bangladesh lighting candles on the headstone of a relative. Bottom: Lutheran Christians praying and lighting candles in front of the central crucifix of a graveyard.

By the end of the 12th century, the celebration had become known as the holy days of obligation in Western Christianity and involved such traditions as ringing church bells for souls in purgatory. It was also "customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets, ringing a bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember the poor souls".[62] The Allhallowtide custom of baking and sharing soul cakes for all christened souls,[63] has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating.[64] The custom dates back at least as far as the 15th century[65] and was found in parts of England, Wales, Flanders, Bavaria and Austria.[66] Groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door during Allhallowtide, collecting soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the dead, especially the souls of the givers' friends and relatives. This was called "souling".[65][67][68] Soul cakes were also offered for the souls themselves to eat,[66] or the 'soulers' would act as their representatives.[69] As with the Lenten tradition of hot cross buns, soul cakes were often marked with a cross, indicating they were baked as alms.[70] Shakespeare mentions souling in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593).[71] While souling, Christians would carry "lanterns made of hollowed-out turnips", which could have originally represented souls of the dead;[72][73] jack-o'-lanterns were used to ward off evil spirits.[74][75] On All Saints' and All Souls' Day during the 19th century, candles were lit in homes in Ireland,[76] Flanders, Bavaria, and in Tyrol, where they were called "soul lights",[77] that served "to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes".[78] In many of these places, candles were also lit at graves on All Souls' Day.[77] In Brittany, libations of milk were poured on the graves of kinfolk,[66] or food would be left overnight on the dinner table for the returning souls;[77] a custom also found in Tyrol and parts of Italy.[79][77]

Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh linked the wearing of costumes to the belief in vengeful ghosts: "It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes".[80] In the Middle Ages, churches in Europe that were too poor to display relics of martyred saints at Allhallowtide let parishioners dress up as saints instead.[81][82] Some Christians observe this custom at Halloween today.[83] Lesley Bannatyne believes this could have been a Christianization of an earlier pagan custom.[84] Many Christians in mainland Europe, especially in France, believed "that once a year, on Hallowe'en, the dead of the churchyards rose for one wild, hideous carnival" known as the danse macabre, which was often depicted in church decoration.[85] Christopher Allmand and Rosamond McKitterick write in The New Cambridge Medieval History that the danse macabre urged Christians "not to forget the end of all earthly things".[86] The danse macabre was sometimes enacted in European village pageants and court masques, with people "dressing up as corpses from various strata of society", and this may be the origin of Halloween costume parties.[87][88][89][72]

In Britain, these customs came under attack during the Reformation, as Protestants berated purgatory as a "popish" doctrine incompatible with the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. State-sanctioned ceremonies associated with the intercession of saints and prayer for souls in purgatory were abolished during the Elizabethan reform, though All Hallow's Day remained in the English liturgical calendar to "commemorate saints as godly human beings".[90] For some Nonconformist Protestants, the theology of All Hallows' Eve was redefined; "souls cannot be journeying from Purgatory on their way to Heaven, as Catholics frequently believe and assert. Instead, the so-called ghosts are thought to be in actuality evil spirits".[91] Other Protestants believed in an intermediate state known as Hades (Bosom of Abraham).[92] In some localities, Catholics and Protestants continued souling, candlelit processions, or ringing church bells for the dead;[46][93] the Anglican church eventually suppressed this bell-ringing.[94] Mark Donnelly, a professor of medieval archaeology, and historian Daniel Diehl write that "barns and homes were blessed to protect people and livestock from the effect of witches, who were believed to accompany the malignant spirits as they traveled the earth".[95] After 1605, Hallowtide was eclipsed in England by Guy Fawkes Night (5 November), which appropriated some of its customs.[96] In England, the ending of official ceremonies related to the intercession of saints led to the development of new, unofficial Hallowtide customs. In 18th–19th century rural Lancashire, Catholic families gathered on hills on the night of All Hallows' Eve. One held a bunch of burning straw on a pitchfork while the rest knelt around him, praying for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames went out. This was known as teen'lay.[97] There was a similar custom in Hertfordshire, and the lighting of 'tindle' fires in Derbyshire.[98] Some suggested these 'tindles' were originally lit to "guide the poor souls back to earth".[99] In Scotland and Ireland, old Allhallowtide customs that were at odds with Reformed teaching were not suppressed as they "were important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities" and curbing them would have been difficult.[22]

In parts of Italy until the 15th century, families left a meal out for the ghosts of relatives, before leaving for church services.[79] In 19th-century Italy, churches staged "theatrical re-enactments of scenes from the lives of the saints" on All Hallow's Day, with "participants represented by realistic wax figures".[79] In 1823, the graveyard of Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome presented a scene in which bodies of those who recently died were arrayed around a wax statue of an angel who pointed upward towards heaven.[79] In the same country, "parish priests went house-to-house, asking for small gifts of food which they shared among themselves throughout that night".[79] In Spain, they continue to bake special pastries called "bones of the holy" (Spanish: Huesos de Santo) and set them on graves.[100] At cemeteries in Spain and France, as well as in Latin America, priests lead Christian processions and services during Allhallowtide, after which people keep an all night vigil.[101] In 19th-century San Sebastián, there was a procession to the city cemetery at Allhallowtide, an event that drew beggars who "appeal[ed] to the tender recollectons of one's deceased relations and friends" for sympathy.[102]

Gaelic folk influence

 
An early 20th-century Irish Halloween mask displayed at the Museum of Country Life

Today's Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries, some of which are believed to have pagan roots.[103] Jack Santino, a folklorist, writes that "there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived".[104] The origins of Halloween customs are typically linked to the Gaelic festival Samhain.[105]

Samhain is one of the quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and has been celebrated on 31 October – 1 November[106] in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.[107][108] A kindred festival has been held by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany; a name meaning "first day of winter". For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset; thus the festival begins the evening before 1 November by modern reckoning.[109] Samhain is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century,[110] and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween.

 
Snap-Apple Night, painted by Daniel Maclise in 1833, shows people feasting and playing divination games on Halloween in Ireland.[111]

Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year.[112][113] It was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned. This meant the Aos Sí, the 'spirits' or 'fairies', could more easily come into this world and were particularly active.[114][115] Most scholars see them as "degraded versions of ancient gods [...] whose power remained active in the people's minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs".[116] They were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings.[117][118] At Samhain, the Aos Sí were appeased to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for them.[119][120][121] The souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking hospitality.[122] Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them.[123] The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures.[66] In 19th century Ireland, "candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin".[124]

Throughout Ireland and Britain, especially in the Celtic-speaking regions, the household festivities included divination rituals and games intended to foretell one's future, especially regarding death and marriage.[125] Apples and nuts were often used, and customs included apple bobbing, nut roasting, scrying or mirror-gazing, pouring molten lead or egg whites into water, dream interpretation, and others.[126] Special bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them. Their flames, smoke, and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers.[112] In some places, torches lit from the bonfire were carried sunwise around homes and fields to protect them.[110] It is suggested the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic – they mimicked the Sun and held back the decay and darkness of winter.[123][127][128] They were also used for divination and to ward off evil spirits.[74] In Scotland, these bonfires and divination games were banned by the church elders in some parishes.[129] In Wales, bonfires were also lit to "prevent the souls of the dead from falling to earth".[130] Later, these bonfires "kept away the devil".[131]

 
A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Halloween turnip (rutabaga) lantern on display in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland[132]

From at least the 16th century,[133] the festival included mumming and guising in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales.[134] This involved people going house-to-house in costume (or in disguise), usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. It may have originally been a tradition whereby people impersonated the Aos Sí, or the souls of the dead, and received offerings on their behalf, similar to 'souling'. Impersonating these beings, or wearing a disguise, was also believed to protect oneself from them.[135] In parts of southern Ireland, the guisers included a hobby horse. A man dressed as a Láir Bhán (white mare) led youths house-to-house reciting verses – some of which had pagan overtones – in exchange for food. If the household donated food it could expect good fortune from the 'Muck Olla'; not doing so would bring misfortune.[136] In Scotland, youths went house-to-house with masked, painted or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.[134] F. Marian McNeill suggests the ancient festival included people in costume representing the spirits, and that faces were marked or blackened with ashes from the sacred bonfire.[133] In parts of Wales, men went about dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod.[134] In the late 19th and early 20th century, young people in Glamorgan and Orkney cross-dressed.[134]

Elsewhere in Europe, mumming was part of other festivals, but in the Celtic-speaking regions, it was "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers".[134] From at least the 18th century, "imitating malignant spirits" led to playing pranks in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. Wearing costumes and playing pranks at Halloween did not spread to England until the 20th century.[134] Pranksters used hollowed-out turnips or mangel wurzels as lanterns, often carved with grotesque faces.[134] By those who made them, the lanterns were variously said to represent the spirits,[134] or used to ward off evil spirits.[137][138] They were common in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in the 19th century,[134] as well as in Somerset (see Punkie Night). In the 20th century they spread to other parts of Britain and became generally known as jack-o'-lanterns.[134]

Spread to North America

 
The annual New York Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, is the world's largest Halloween parade, with millions of spectators annually, and has its roots in New York’s queer community.[139]

Lesley Bannatyne and Cindy Ott write that Anglican colonists in the southern United States and Catholic colonists in Maryland "recognized All Hallow's Eve in their church calendars",[140][141] although the Puritans of New England strongly opposed the holiday, along with other traditional celebrations of the established Church, including Christmas.[142] Almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th century give no indication that Halloween was widely celebrated in North America.[22]

It was not until after mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in America.[22] Most American Halloween traditions were inherited from the Irish and Scots,[23][143] though "In Cajun areas, a nocturnal Mass was said in cemeteries on Halloween night. Candles that had been blessed were placed on graves, and families sometimes spent the entire night at the graveside".[144] Originally confined to these immigrant communities, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and was celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial, and religious backgrounds by the early 20th century.[145] Then, through American influence, these Halloween traditions spread to many other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century, including to mainland Europe and some parts of the Far East.[24][25][146]

Symbols

 
At Halloween, yards, public spaces, and some houses may be decorated with traditionally macabre symbols including skeletons, ghosts, cobwebs, headstones, and scary looking witches.

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. Jack-o'-lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows' Eve in order to frighten evil spirits.[73][147] There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack-o'-lantern,[148] which in folklore is said to represent a "soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell":[149]

On route home after a night's drinking, Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree. A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul. After a life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest.[150]

In Ireland and Scotland, the turnip has traditionally been carved during Halloween,[151][152] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger, making it easier to carve than a turnip.[151] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837[153] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.[154]

 
Decorated house in Weatherly, Pennsylvania

The modern imagery of Halloween comes from many sources, including Christian eschatology, national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus and Dracula) and classic horror films such as Frankenstein (1931) and The Mummy (1932).[155][156] Imagery of the skull, a reference to Golgotha in the Christian tradition, serves as "a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life" and is consequently found in memento mori and vanitas compositions;[157] skulls have therefore been commonplace in Halloween, which touches on this theme.[158] Traditionally, the back walls of churches are "decorated with a depiction of the Last Judgment, complete with graves opening and the dead rising, with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils", a motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum.[159] One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "bogles" (ghosts),[160] influencing Robert Burns' "Halloween" (1785).[161] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween. Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters.[162] Black cats, which have been long associated with witches, are also a common symbol of Halloween. Black, orange, and sometimes purple are Halloween's traditional colors.[163]

Trick-or-treating and guising

Main article: Trick-or-treating
 
Trick-or-treaters in Sweden

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" implies a "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.[64] The practice is said to have roots in the medieval practice of mumming, which is closely related to souling.[164] John Pymm wrote that "many of the feast days associated with the presentation of mumming plays were celebrated by the Christian Church."[165] These feast days included All Hallows' Eve, Christmas, Twelfth Night and Shrove Tuesday.[166][167] Mumming practiced in Germany, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe,[168] involved masked persons in fancy dress who "paraded the streets and entered houses to dance or play dice in silence".[169]

 
Girl in a Halloween costume in 1928, Ontario, Canada, the same province where the Scottish Halloween custom of guising was first recorded in North America

In England, from the medieval period,[170] up until the 1930s,[171] people practiced the Christian custom of souling on Halloween, which involved groups of soulers, both Protestant and Catholic,[93] going from parish to parish, begging the rich for soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the souls of the givers and their friends.[67] In the Philippines, the practice of souling is called Pangangaluluwa and is practiced on All Hallow's Eve among children in rural areas.[26] People drape themselves in white cloths to represent souls and then visit houses, where they sing in return for prayers and sweets.[26]

In Scotland and Ireland, guising – children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins – is a traditional Halloween custom.[172] It is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit, and money.[152][173] In Ireland, the most popular phrase for kids to shout (until the 2000s) was "Help the Halloween Party".[172] The practice of guising at Halloween in North America was first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood.[174]

American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book-length history of Halloween in the US; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America".[175] In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Halloween customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries".[176]

While the first reference to "guising" in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.[177] The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, in the Blackie Herald, of Alberta, Canada.[178]

 
An automobile trunk at a trunk-or-treat event at St. John Lutheran Church and Early Learning Center in Darien, Illinois

The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but not trick-or-treating.[179] Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice in North America until the 1930s, with the first US appearances of the term in 1934,[180] and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.[181]

A popular variant of trick-or-treating, known as trunk-or-treating (or Halloween tailgating), occurs when "children are offered treats from the trunks of cars parked in a church parking lot", or sometimes, a school parking lot.[100][182] In a trunk-or-treat event, the trunk (boot) of each automobile is decorated with a certain theme,[183] such as those of children's literature, movies, scripture, and job roles.[184] Trunk-or-treating has grown in popularity due to its perception as being more safe than going door to door, a point that resonates well with parents, as well as the fact that it "solves the rural conundrum in which homes [are] built a half-mile apart".[185][186]

Costumes

Main article: Halloween costume

Halloween costumes were traditionally modeled after figures such as vampires, ghosts, skeletons, scary looking witches, and devils.[64] Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.

 
Halloween shop in Derry, Northern Ireland, selling masks

Dressing up in costumes and going "guising" was prevalent in Scotland and Ireland at Halloween by the late 19th century.[152] A Scottish term, the tradition is called "guising" because of the disguises or costumes worn by the children.[173] In Ireland and Scotland, the masks are known as 'false faces',[38][187] a term recorded in Ayr, Scotland in 1890 by a Scot describing guisers: "I had mind it was Halloween . . . the wee callans were at it already, rinning aboot wi’ their fause-faces (false faces) on and their bits o’ turnip lanthrons (lanterns) in their haun (hand)".[38] Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children, and when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in Canada and the US in the 1920s and 1930s.[178][188]

Eddie J. Smith, in his book Halloween, Hallowed is Thy Name, offers a religious perspective to the wearing of costumes on All Hallows' Eve, suggesting that by dressing up as creatures "who at one time caused us to fear and tremble", people are able to poke fun at Satan "whose kingdom has been plundered by our Saviour". Images of skeletons and the dead are traditional decorations used as memento mori.[189][190]

"Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" is a fundraising program to support UNICEF,[64] a United Nations Programme that provides humanitarian aid to children in developing countries. Started as a local event in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood in 1950 and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools (or in modern times, corporate sponsors like Hallmark, at their licensed stores) to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small-change donations from the houses they visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $118 million for UNICEF since its inception. In Canada, in 2006, UNICEF decided to discontinue their Halloween collection boxes, citing safety and administrative concerns; after consultation with schools, they instead redesigned the program.[191][192]

The yearly New York's Village Halloween Parade was begun in 1974; it is the world's largest Halloween parade and America's only major nighttime parade, attracting more than 60,000 costumed participants, two million spectators, and a worldwide television audience.[193]

Since the late 2010s, ethnic stereotypes as costumes have increasingly come under scrutiny in the United States.[194] Such and other potentially offensive costumes have been met with increasing public disapproval.[195][196]

Pet costumes

According to a 2018 report from the National Retail Federation, 30 million Americans will spend an estimated $480 million on Halloween costumes for their pets in 2018. This is up from an estimated $200 million in 2010. The most popular costumes for pets are the pumpkin, followed by the hot dog, and the bumblebee in third place.[197]

Games and other activities

 
In this 1904 Halloween greeting card, divination is depicted: the young woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse of her future husband.

There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween. Some of these games originated as divination rituals or ways of foretelling one's future, especially regarding death, marriage and children. During the Middle Ages, these rituals were done by a "rare few" in rural communities as they were considered to be "deadly serious" practices.[198] In recent centuries, these divination games have been "a common feature of the household festivities" in Ireland and Britain.[125] They often involve apples and hazelnuts. In Celtic mythology, apples were strongly associated with the Otherworld and immortality, while hazelnuts were associated with divine wisdom.[199] Some also suggest that they derive from Roman practices in celebration of Pomona.[64]

 
Children bobbing for apples at Hallowe'en

The following activities were a common feature of Halloween in Ireland and Britain during the 17th–20th centuries. Some have become more widespread and continue to be popular today. One common game is apple bobbing or dunking (which may be called "dooking" in Scotland)[200] in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use only 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 drive the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a sticky face. Another once-popular game involves hanging a small wooden rod from the ceiling at head height, with a lit candle on one end and an apple hanging from the other. The rod is spun round and everyone takes turns to try to catch the apple with their teeth.[201]

 
Image from the Book of Hallowe'en (1919) showing several Halloween activities, such as nut roasting

Several of the traditional activities from Ireland and Britain involve foretelling one's future partner or spouse. An apple would be peeled in one long strip, then the peel tossed over the shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.[202][203] Two hazelnuts would be roasted near a fire; one named for the person roasting them and the other for the person they desire. If the nuts jump away from the heat, it is a bad sign, but if the nuts roast quietly it foretells a good match.[204][205] A salty oatmeal bannock would be baked; the person would eat it in three bites and then go to bed in silence without anything to drink. This is said to result in a dream in which their future spouse offers them a drink to quench their thirst.[206] Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror.[207] The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards[208] from the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Another popular Irish game was known as púicíní ("blindfolds"); a person would be blindfolded and then would choose between several saucers. The item in the saucer would provide a hint as to their future: a ring would mean that they would marry soon; clay, that they would die soon, perhaps within the year; water, that they would emigrate; rosary beads, that they would take Holy Orders (become a nun, priest, monk, etc.); a coin, that they would become rich; a bean, that they would be poor.[209][210][211][212] The game features prominently in the James Joyce short story "Clay" (1914).[213][214][215]

In Ireland and Scotland, items would be hidden in food – usually a cake, barmbrack, cranachan, champ or colcannon – and portions of it served out at random. A person's future would be foretold by the item they happened to find; for example, a ring meant marriage and a coin meant wealth.[216]

Up until the 19th century, the Halloween bonfires were also used for divination in parts of Scotland, Wales and Brittany. When the fire died down, a ring of stones would be laid in the ashes, one for each person. In the morning, if any stone was mislaid it was said that the person it represented would not live out the year.[110]

Telling ghost stories, listening to Halloween-themed songs and watching horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before Halloween, while new horror films are often released before Halloween to take advantage of the holiday.

Haunted attractions

Main article: Haunted attraction (simulated)
 
Humorous tombstones in front of a house in California
Humorous display window in Historic 25th Street, Ogden, Utah

Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses that may include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides,[217] and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown.

The first recorded purpose-built haunted attraction was the Orton and Spooner Ghost House, which opened in 1915 in Liphook, England. This attraction actually most closely resembles a carnival fun house, powered by steam.[218][219] The House still exists, in the Hollycombe Steam Collection.

It was during the 1930s, about the same time as trick-or-treating, that Halloween-themed haunted houses first began to appear in America. It was in the late 1950s that haunted houses as a major attraction began to appear, focusing first on California. Sponsored by the Children's Health Home Junior Auxiliary, the San Mateo Haunted House opened in 1957. The San Bernardino Assistance League Haunted House opened in 1958. Home haunts began appearing across the country during 1962 and 1963. In 1964, the San Manteo Haunted House opened, as well as the Children's Museum Haunted House in Indianapolis.[220]

The haunted house as an American cultural icon can be attributed to the opening of The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland on 12 August 1969.[221] Knott's Berry Farm began hosting its own Halloween night attraction, Knott's Scary Farm, which opened in 1973.[222] Evangelical Christians adopted a form of these attractions by opening one of the first "hell houses" in 1972.[223]

The first Halloween haunted house run by a nonprofit organization was produced in 1970 by the Sycamore-Deer Park Jaycees in Clifton, Ohio. It was cosponsored by WSAI, an AM radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was last produced in 1982.[224] Other Jaycees followed suit with their own versions after the success of the Ohio house. The March of Dimes copyrighted a "Mini haunted house for the March of Dimes" in 1976 and began fundraising through their local chapters by conducting haunted houses soon after. Although they apparently quit supporting this type of event nationally sometime in the 1980s, some March of Dimes haunted houses have persisted until today.[225]

On the evening of 11 May 1984, in Jackson Township, New Jersey, the Haunted Castle (Six Flags Great Adventure) caught fire. As a result of the fire, eight teenagers perished.[226] The backlash to the tragedy was a tightening of regulations relating to safety, building codes and the frequency of inspections of attractions nationwide. The smaller venues, especially the nonprofit attractions, were unable to compete financially, and the better funded commercial enterprises filled the vacuum.[227][228] Facilities that were once able to avoid regulation because they were considered to be temporary installations now had to adhere to the stricter codes required of permanent attractions.[229][230][231]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, theme parks entered the business seriously. Six Flags Fright Fest began in 1986 and Universal Studios Florida began Halloween Horror Nights in 1991. Knott's Scary Farm experienced a surge in attendance in the 1990s as a result of America's obsession with Halloween as a cultural event. Theme parks have played a major role in globalizing the holiday. Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Japan both participate, while Disney now mounts Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party events at its parks in Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo, as well as in the United States.[232] The theme park haunts are by far the largest, both in scale and attendance.[233]

Food

 
Pumpkins for sale during Halloween

On All Hallows' Eve, many Western Christian denominations encourage abstinence from meat, giving rise to a variety of vegetarian foods associated with this day.[234]

Because in the Northern Hemisphere Halloween comes in the wake of the yearly apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America), caramel apples or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts.

At one time, candy apples were commonly given to trick-or-treating children, but the practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples in the United States.[235] While there is evidence of such incidents,[236] relative to the degree of reporting of such cases, actual cases involving malicious acts are extremely rare and have never resulted in serious injury. Nonetheless, many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of the mass media. At the peak of the hysteria, some hospitals offered free X-rays of children's Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned their own children's candy.[237]

One custom that persists in modern-day Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays, the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish: báirín breac), which is a light fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin, and other charms are placed before baking.[238] It is considered fortunate to be the lucky one who finds it.[238] It has also been said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year. This is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany.

List of foods associated with Halloween:

Christian religious observances

 
The Vigil of All Hallows' is being celebrated at an Episcopal Christian church on Hallowe'en

On Hallowe'en (All Hallows' Eve), in Poland, believers were once taught to pray out loud as they walk through the forests in order that the souls of the dead might find comfort; in Spain, Christian priests in tiny villages toll their church bells in order to remind their congregants to remember the dead on All Hallows' Eve.[239] In Ireland, and among immigrants in Canada, a custom includes the Christian practice of abstinence, keeping All Hallows' Eve as a meat-free day and serving pancakes or colcannon instead.[240] In Mexico children make an altar to invite the return of the spirits of dead children (angelitos).[241]

The Christian Church traditionally observed Hallowe'en through a vigil. Worshippers prepared themselves for feasting on the following All Saints' Day with prayers and fasting.[242] This church service is known as the Vigil of All Hallows or the Vigil of All Saints;[243][244] an initiative known as Night of Light seeks to further spread the Vigil of All Hallows throughout Christendom.[245][246] After the service, "suitable festivities and entertainments" often follow, as well as a visit to the graveyard or cemetery, where flowers and candles are often placed in preparation for All Hallows' Day.[247][248] In Finland, because so many people visit the cemeteries on All Hallows' Eve to light votive candles there, they "are known as valomeri, or seas of light".[249]

 
Halloween Scripture Candy with gospel tract

Today, Christian attitudes towards Halloween are diverse. In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions associated with All Hallow's Eve.[250][251] Some of these practices include praying, fasting and attending worship services.[1][2][3]

O LORD our God, increase, we pray thee, and multiply upon us the gifts of thy grace: that we, who do prevent the glorious festival of all thy Saints, may of thee be enabled joyfully to follow them in all virtuous and godly living. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. —Collect of the Vigil of All Saints, The Anglican Breviary[252]

 
Votive candles in the Halloween section of Walmart

Other Protestant Christians also celebrate All Hallows' Eve as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation, alongside All Hallow's Eve or independently from it.[253] This is because Martin Luther is said to have nailed his Ninety-five Theses to All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on All Hallows' Eve.[254] Often, "Harvest Festivals" or "Reformation Festivals" are held on All Hallows' Eve, in which children dress up as Bible characters or Reformers.[255] In addition to distributing candy to children who are trick-or-treating on Hallowe'en, many Christians also provide gospel tracts to them. One organization, the American Tract Society, stated that around 3 million gospel tracts are ordered from them alone for Hallowe'en celebrations.[256] Others order Halloween-themed Scripture Candy to pass out to children on this day.[257][258]

 
Belizean children dressed up as Biblical figures and Christian saints

Some Christians feel concerned about the modern celebration of Halloween because they feel it trivializes – or celebrates – paganism, the occult, or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs.[259] Father Gabriele Amorth, an exorcist in Rome, has said, "if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that."[260] In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on Halloween.[261] Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy for free. To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage.[262] Christian minister Sam Portaro wrote that Halloween is about using "humor and ridicule to confront the power of death".[263]

In the Roman Catholic Church, Halloween's Christian connection is acknowledged, and Halloween celebrations are common in many Catholic parochial schools in the United States.[264][265] Many fundamentalist and evangelical churches use "Hell houses" and comic-style tracts in order to make use of Halloween's popularity as an opportunity for evangelism.[266] Others consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith due to its putative origins in the Festival of the Dead celebration.[267] Indeed, even though Eastern Orthodox Christians observe All Hallows' Day on the First Sunday after Pentecost, The Eastern Orthodox Church recommends the observance of Vespers or a Paraklesis on the Western observance of All Hallows' Eve, out of the pastoral need to provide an alternative to popular celebrations.[268]

Analogous celebrations and perspectives

Judaism

According to Alfred J. Kolatch in the Second Jewish Book of Why, in Judaism, Halloween is not permitted by Jewish Halakha because it violates Leviticus 18:3, which forbids Jews from partaking in gentile customs. Many Jews observe Yizkor communally four times a year, which is vaguely similar to the observance of Allhallowtide in Christianity, in the sense that prayers are said for both "martyrs and for one's own family".[269] Nevertheless, many American Jews celebrate Halloween, disconnected from its Christian origins.[270] Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser has said that "There is no religious reason why contemporary Jews should not celebrate Halloween" while Orthodox Rabbi Michael Broyde has argued against Jews' observing the holiday.[271] Purim has sometimes been compared to Halloween, in part due to some observants wearing costumes, especially of Biblical figures described in the Purim narrative.[272]

Islam

Sheikh Idris Palmer, author of A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam, has ruled that Muslims should not participate in Halloween, stating that "participation in Halloween is worse than participation in Christmas, Easter, ... it is more sinful than congratulating the Christians for their prostration to the crucifix".[273] It has also been ruled to be haram by the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia because of its alleged pagan roots stating "Halloween is celebrated using a humorous theme mixed with horror to entertain and resist the spirit of death that influence humans".[274][275] Dar Al-Ifta Al-Missriyyah disagrees provided the celebration is not referred to as an 'eid' and that behaviour remains in line with Islamic principles.[276]

Hinduism

Hindus remember the dead during the festival of Pitru Paksha, during which Hindus pay homage to and perform a ceremony "to keep the souls of their ancestors at rest". It is celebrated in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, usually in mid-September.[277] The celebration of the Hindu festival Diwali sometimes conflicts with the date of Halloween; but some Hindus choose to participate in the popular customs of Halloween.[278] Other Hindus, such as Soumya Dasgupta, have opposed the celebration on the grounds that Western holidays like Halloween have "begun to adversely affect our indigenous festivals".[279]

Neopaganism

There is no consistent rule or view on Halloween amongst those who describe themselves as Neopagans or Wiccans. Some Neopagans do not observe Halloween, but instead observe Samhain on 1 November,[280] some neopagans do enjoy Halloween festivities, stating that one can observe both "the solemnity of Samhain in addition to the fun of Halloween". Some neopagans are opposed to the celebration of Hallowe'en, stating that it "trivializes Samhain",[281] and "avoid Halloween, because of the interruptions from trick or treaters".[282] The Manitoban writes that "Wiccans don't officially celebrate Halloween, despite the fact that 31 Oct. will still have a star beside it in any good Wiccan's day planner. Starting at sundown, Wiccans celebrate a holiday known as Samhain. Samhain actually comes from old Celtic traditions and is not exclusive to Neopagan religions like Wicca. While the traditions of this holiday originate in Celtic countries, modern day Wiccans don't try to historically replicate Samhain celebrations. Some traditional Samhain rituals are still practised, but at its core, the period is treated as a time to celebrate darkness and the dead – a possible reason why Samhain can be confused with Halloween celebrations."[280]

Geography

Main article: Geography of Halloween
 
Halloween display in Kobe, Japan

The traditions and importance of Halloween vary greatly among countries that observe it. In Scotland and Ireland, traditional Halloween customs include children dressing up in costume going "guising", holding parties, while other practices in Ireland include lighting bonfires, and having firework displays.[172][283][284] In Brittany children would play practical jokes by setting candles inside skulls in graveyards to frighten visitors.[285] Mass transatlantic immigration in the 19th century popularized Halloween in North America, and celebration in the United States and Canada has had a significant impact on how the event is observed in other nations.[172] This larger North American influence, particularly in iconic and commercial elements, has extended to places such as Brazil, Ecuador, Chile,[286] Australia,[287] New Zealand,[288] (most) continental Europe, Finland,[289] Japan, and other parts of East Asia.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "BBC – Religions – Christianity: All Hallows' Eve". British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 2010. from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011. It is widely believed that many Hallowe'en traditions have evolved from an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain which was Christianised by the early Church.... All Hallows' Eve falls on 31st October each year, and is the day before All Hallows' Day, also known as All Saints' Day in the Christian calendar. The Church traditionally held a vigil on All Hallows' Eve when worshippers would prepare themselves with prayers and fasting prior to the feast day itself. The name derives from the Old English 'hallowed' meaning holy or sanctified and is now usually contracted to the more familiar word Hallowe'en. ...However, there are supporters of the view that Hallowe'en, as the eve of All Saints' Day, originated entirely independently of Samhain ...
  2. ^ a b "Service for All Hallows' Eve". The Book of Occasional Services 2003. Church Publishing, Inc. 2004. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-89869-409-3. This service may be used on the evening of October 31, known as All Hallows' Eve. Suitable festivities and entertainments may take place before or after this service, and a visit may be made to a cemetery or burial place.
  3. ^ a b Anne E. Kitch (2004). The Anglican Family Prayer Book. Church Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8192-2565-8. from the original on 25 January 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2011. All Hallow's Eve, which later became known as Halloween, is celebrated on the night before All Saints' Day, November 1. Use this simple prayer service in conjunction with Halloween festivities to mark the Christian roots of this festival.
  4. ^ The Paulist Liturgy Planning Guide. Paulist Press. 2006. ISBN 978-0-8091-4414-3. from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2011. Rather than compete, liturgy planners would do well to consider ways of including children in the celebration of these vigil Masses. For example, children might be encouraged to wear Halloween costumes representing their patron saint or their favorite saint, clearly adding a new level of meaning to the Halloween celebrations and the celebration of All Saints' Day.
  5. ^ Palmer, Abram Smythe (1882). Folk-etymology. Johnson Reprint. p. 6.
  6. ^ Elwell, Walter A. (2001). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker Academic. p. 533. ISBN 978-0-8010-2075-9. Halloween (All Hallows Eve). The name given to October 31, the eve of the Christian festival of All Saints Day (November 1).
  7. ^ "NEDCO Producers' Guide". 31–33. Northeast Dairy Cooperative Federation. 1973. Originally celebrated as the night before All Saints' Day, Christians chose November first to honor their many saints. The night before was called All Saints' Eve or hallowed eve meaning holy evening. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ . National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. 2012. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Hallowtide covers the three days – 31 October (All-Hallows Eve or Hallowe'en), 1 November (All Saints) and 2 November (All Souls).
  9. ^ Hughes, Rebekkah (29 October 2014). (PDF). The Stag. University of Surrey. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015. Halloween or Hallowe'en, is the yearly celebration on October 31st that signifies the first day of Allhallowtide, being the time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints and all faithful departed Christians.
  10. ^ Davis, Kenneth C. (29 December 2009). Don't Know Much About Mythology: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned. HarperCollins. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-06-192575-7.
  11. ^ "All Faithful Departed, Commemoration of".
  12. ^ "The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls' Day) - November 02, 2021 - Liturgical Calendar". www.catholicculture.org.
  13. ^ Smith, Bonnie G. (2004). Women's History in Global Perspective. University of Illinois Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-252-02931-8. Retrieved 14 December 2015. The pre-Christian observance obviously influenced the Christian celebration of All Hallows' Eve, just as the Taoist festival affected the newer Buddhist Ullambana festival. Although the Christian version of All Saints' and All Souls' Days came to emphasize prayers for the dead, visits to graves, and the role of the living assuring the safe passage to heaven of their departed loved ones, older notions never disappeared.
  14. ^ Nicholas Rogers (2002). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516896-9. Retrieved 31 October 2011. Halloween and the Day of the Dead share a common origin in the Christian commemoration of the dead on All Saints' and All Souls' Day. But both are thought to embody strong pre-Christian beliefs. In the case of Halloween, the Celtic celebration of Samhain is critical to its pagan legacy, a claim that has been foregrounded in recent years by both new-age enthusiasts and the evangelical Right.
  15. ^ Austrian information. 1965. Retrieved 31 October 2011. The feasts of Hallowe'en, or All Hallows Eve and the devotions to the dead on All Saints' and All Souls' Day are both mixtures of old Celtic, Druid and other pagan customs intertwined with Christian practice.
  16. ^ Merriam-Webster's Encyclopædia of World Religions. Merriam-Webster. 1999. p. 408. ISBN 978-0-87779-044-0. Retrieved 31 October 2011. Halloween, also called All Hallows' Eve, holy or hallowed evening observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day. The Irish pre-Christian observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows' Eve, celebrated on the same date.
  17. ^ Roberts, Brian K. (1987). The Making of the English Village: A Study in Historical Geography. Longman Scientific & Technical. ISBN 978-0-582-30143-6. Retrieved 14 December 2015. Time out of time', when the barriers between this world and the next were down, the dead returned from the grave, and gods and strangers from the underworld walked abroad was a twice- yearly reality, on dates Christianised as All Hallows' Eve and All Hallows' Day.
  18. ^ O’Donnell, Hugh; Foley, Malcolm (18 December 2008). Treat or Trick? Halloween in a Globalising World. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 91–92. ISBN 978-1-4438-0265-9. Hutton (1996, 363) identifies Rhys as a key figure who, along with another Oxbridge academic, James Frazer, romanticised the notion of Samhain and exaggerated its influence on Halloween. Hutton argues that Rhys had no substantiated documentary evidence for claiming that Halloween was the Celtic new year, but inferred it from contemporary folklore in Wales and Ireland. Moreover, he argues that Rhys: "thought that [he] was vindicated when he paid a subsequent visit to the Isle of Man and found its people sometimes called 31 October New Year's Night (Hog-unnaa) and practised customs which were usually associated with 31 December. In fact the flimsy nature of all this evidence ought to have been apparent from the start. The divinatory and purificatory rituals on 31 October could be explained by a connection to the most eerie of Christian feasts (All Saints) or by the fact that they ushered in the most dreaded of seasons. The many "Hog-unnaa" customs were also widely practised on the conventional New Year's Eve, and Rhys was uncomfortably aware that they might simply have been transferred, in recent years, from then Hallowe'en, to increase merriment and fundraising on the latter. He got round this problem by asserting that in his opinion (based upon no evidence at all) the transfer had been the other way round." ... Hutton points out that Rhy's unsubstantiated notions were further popularised by Frazer who used them to support an idea of his own, that Samhain, as well as being the origin of Halloween, had also been a pagan Celtic feast of the dead—a notion used to account for the element of ghosts, witches and other unworldly spirits commonly featured within Halloween. ... Halloween's preoccupation with the netherworld and with the supernatural owes more to the Christian festival of All Saints or All Souls, rather than vice versa.
  19. ^ Barr, Beth Allison (28 October 2016). "Guess what? Halloween is more Christian than Pagan". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 October 2020. It is the medieval Christian festivals of All Saints' and All Souls' that provide our firmest foundation for Halloween. From emphasizing dead souls (both good and evil), to decorating skeletons, lighting candles for processions, building bonfires to ward off evil spirits, organizing community feasts, and even encouraging carnival practices like costumes, the medieval and early modern traditions of "Hallowtide" fit well with our modern holiday. So what does this all mean? It means that when we celebrate Halloween, we are definitely participating in a tradition with deep historical roots. But, while those roots are firmly situated in the medieval Christian past, their historical connection to "paganism" is rather more tenuous.
  20. ^
    • Moser, Stefan (29 October 2010). (in German). Salzburger Nachrichten. Archived from the original on 17 March 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2017. Die Kelten haben gar nichts mit Halloween zu tun", entkräftet Stefan Moser, Direktor des Keltenmuseums Hallein, einen weit verbreiteten Mythos. Moser sieht die Ursprünge von Halloween insgesamt in einem christlichen Brauch, nicht in einem keltischen.
    • Döring, Alois; Bolinius, Erich (31 October 2006), Samhain – Halloween – Allerheiligen (in German), FDP Emden, Die lückenhaften religionsgeschichtlichen Überlieferungen, die auf die Neuzeit begrenzte historische Dimension der Halloween-Kultausprägung, vor allem auch die Halloween-Metaphorik legen nahe, daß wir umdenken müssen: Halloween geht nicht auf das heidnische Samhain zurück, sondern steht in Bezug zum christlichen Totengedenkfest Allerheiligen/ Allerseelen.
    • Hörandner, Editha (2005). Halloween in der Steiermark und anderswo (in German). LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 8, 12, 30. ISBN 978-3-8258-8889-3. Der Wunsch nach einer Tradition, deren Anfänge sich in grauer Vorzeit verlieren, ist bei Dachleuten wie laien gleichmäßig verbreitet. ... Abgesehen von Irrtümern wie die Herleitung des Fests in ungebrochener Tradition ("seit 2000 Jahren") ist eine mangelnde vertrautheit mit der heimischen Folklore festzustellen. Allerheiligen war lange vor der Halloween invasion ein wichtiger Brauchtermin und ist das ncoh heute. ... So wie viele heimische Bräuche generell als fruchtbarkeitsbringend und dämonenaustreibend interpretiert werden, was trottz aller Aufklärungsarbeit nicht auszurotten ist, begegnet uns Halloween als ...heidnisches Fest. Aber es wird nicht als solches inszeniert.
    • Döring, Volkskundler Alois (2011). (in German). Westdeutscher Rundfunk. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2015. Dr. Alois Döring ist wissenschaftlicher Referent für Volkskunde beim LVR-Institut für Landeskunde und Regionalgeschichte Bonn. Er schrieb zahlreiche Bücher über Bräuche im Rheinland, darunter das Nachschlagewerk "Rheinische Bräuche durch das Jahr". Darin widerspricht Döring der These, Halloween sei ursprünglich ein keltisch-heidnisches Totenfest. Vielmehr stamme Halloween von den britischen Inseln, der Begriff leite sich ab von "All Hallows eve", Abend vor Allerheiligen. Irische Einwanderer hätten das Fest nach Amerika gebracht, so Döring, von wo aus es als "amerikanischer" Brauch nach Europa zurückkehrte.
  21. ^ "All Hallows' Eve". British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2020. However, there are supporters of the view that Hallowe'en, as the eve of All Saints' Day, originated entirely independently of Samhain and some question the existence of a specific pan-Celtic religious festival which took place on 31st October/1st November.
  22. ^ a b c d Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 49–50. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  23. ^ a b Brunvand, Jan (editor). American Folklore: An Encyclopedia. Routledge, 2006. p.749
  24. ^ a b Colavito, Jason. Knowing Fear: Science, Knowledge and the Development of the Horror Genre. McFarland, 2007. pp.151–152
  25. ^ a b c Rogers, Nicholas (2002). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, p. 164. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516896-8
  26. ^ a b c Paul Fieldhouse (17 April 2017). Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions. ABC-CLIO. p. 256. ISBN 978-1-61069-412-4.
  27. ^ Skog, Jason (2008). Teens in Finland. Capstone. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-7565-3405-9. Most funerals are Lutheran, and nearly 98 percent of all funerals take place in a church. It is customary to take pictures of funerals or even videotape them. To Finns, death is a part of the cycle of life, and a funeral is another special occasion worth remembering. In fact, during All Hallow's Eve and Christmas Eve, cemeteries are known as valomeri, or seas of light. Finns visit cemeteries and light candles in remembrance of the deceased.
  28. ^ (PDF). Duke University. 31 October 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2014. About All Hallows Eve: Tonight is the eve of All Saints Day, the festival in the Church that recalls the faith and witness of the men and women who have come before us. The service celebrates our continuing communion with them, and memorializes the recently deceased. The early church followed the Jewish custom that a new day began at sundown; thus, feasts and festivals in the church were observed beginning the night before.
  29. ^ "The Christian Observances of Halloween". National Republic. 15: 33. 5 May 2009. Among the European nations the beautiful custom of lighting candles for the dead was always a part of the "All Hallow's Eve" festival.
  30. ^ Hynes, Mary Ellen (1993). Companion to the Calendar. Liturgy Training Publications. p. 160. ISBN 978-1-56854-011-5. In most of Europe, Halloween is strictly a religious event. Sometimes in North America the church's traditions are lost or confused.
  31. ^ Kernan, Joe (30 October 2013). . Cranston Herald. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015. By the early 20th century, Halloween, like Christmas, was commercialized. Pre-made costumes, decorations and special candy all became available. The Christian origins of the holiday were downplayed.
  32. ^ Braden, Donna R.; Village, Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield (1988). Leisure and entertainment in America. Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. ISBN 978-0-933728-32-5. Retrieved 2 June 2014. Halloween, a holiday with religious origins but increasingly secularized as celebrated in America, came to assume major proportions as a children's festivity.
  33. ^ Santino, p. 85
  34. ^ All Hallows' Eve (Diana Swift), Anglican Journal
  35. ^ Mahon, Bríd (1991). Land of Milk and Honey: The Story of Traditional Irish Food & Drink. Poolbeg Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-85371-142-8. The vigil of the feast is Halloween, the night when charms and incantations were powerful, when people looked into the future, and when feasting and merriment were ordained. Up to recent time this was a day of abstinence, when according to church ruling no flesh meat was allowed. Colcannon, apple cake and barm brack, as well as apples and nuts were part of the festive fare.
  36. ^ Fieldhouse, Paul (17 April 2017). Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions. ABC-CLIO. p. 254. ISBN 978-1-61069-412-4. from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017. In Ireland, dishes based on potatoes and other vegetables were associated with Halloween, as meat was forbidden during the Catholic vigil and fast leading up to All Saint's Day.
  37. ^ Luck, Steve (1998). "All Saints' Day". The American Desk Encyclopedia. Oxford University Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-19-521465-9.
  38. ^ a b c . Dsl.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  39. ^ The A to Z of Anglicanism (Colin Buchanan), Scarecrow Press, p. 8
  40. ^ "All Hallows' Eve". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. ealra halgena mæsseæfen (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  41. ^ "Halloween". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  42. ^ Thomson, Thomas; Annandale, Charles (1896). A History of the Scottish People from the Earliest Times: From the Union of the kingdoms, 1706, to the present time. Blackie. Retrieved 31 October 2011. Of the stated rustic festivals peculiar to Scotland the most important was Hallowe'en, a contraction for All-hallow Evening, or the evening of All-Saints Day, the annual return of which was a season for joy and festivity.
  43. ^ "E'EN, Een". Scottish National Dictionary (1700–). Vol. III =. 1952. snd8629.
  44. ^ a b c d Hopwood, James A. (2019). Keeping Christmas: Finding Joy in a Season of Excess and Strife. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-5326-9537-7. The name "Halloween," of course, is a contraction of "All Hallow's Eve." That's the eve of All Saints Day, or All Hallows Day, as it was popularly known in Britain. As with Christmas Eve and the Easter vigil, the celebration of All Saints Day began with a service the night before, on All Hallow's Eve. With All Souls Day on November 2, it formed the feast of Allhallowtide. All Saints Day began in fourth-century Rome as a festival honoring Christian martyrs. By the eighth century, it was expanded to all those remembered as saints, and the date of its observance was moved from May 13 to November 1. That move, of course, put it smack dab on top of Samhain in Britain. But the decision to move the date was not made in Britain; it was made in Rome, where there was no Samhain or anything like it. There is no evidence that any Samhain customs rubbed off on Halloween anywhere because there is no evidence of any Samhain customs at all.
  45. ^ Beth Allison Barr (28 October 2016). "Guess what? Halloween is more Christian than Pagan – The Washington Post". The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 October 2018. It is the medieval Christian festivals of All Saints' and All Souls' that provide our firmest foundation for Halloween. From emphasizing dead souls (both good and evil), to decorating skeletons, lighting candles for processions, building bonfires to ward off evil spirits, organizing community feasts, and even encouraging carnival practices like costumes, the medieval and early modern traditions of "Hallowtide" fit well with our modern holiday.
  46. ^ a b Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 22, 27. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  47. ^ New Proclamation Commentary on Feasts, Holy Days, and Other Celebrations (Bill Doggett, Gordon W. Lathrop), Fortress Press, p. 92
  48. ^ Benham, William (1887). The Dictionary of Religion: An Encyclopedia of Christian and Other Religious Doctrines, Denominations, Sects, Heresies, Ecclesiastical Terms, History, Biography, Etc. Cassell. p. 1085. Vigils were kept at least till midnight before the feasts of martyrs, and those of Easter Eve and Christmas Eve were prolonged till cock-crow.
  49. ^ Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints. Church Publishing, Inc. 2010. p. 662. ISBN 978-0-89869-678-3.
  50. ^ Saunders, William. . Catholic Education Resource Center. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  51. ^ Melton, J Gordon (editor). Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO, 2011. p.22
  52. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "All Saints, Festival of" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  53. ^ "All Saints' Day", The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd edition, ed. E. A. Livingstone. Oxford University Press, 1997. pp.41–42
  54. ^ McClendon, Charles. "Old Saint Peter's and the Iconoclastic Controversy", in Old Saint Peter's, Rome. Cambridge University Press, 2013. pp. 215–216. Quote: "Soon after his election in 731, Gregory III summoned a synod to gather on 1 November in the basilica of Saint Peter's in order to respond to the policy of iconoclasm that he believed was being promoted by the Byzantine Emperor [...] Six months later, in April of the following year, 732, the pope assembled another synod in the basilica to consecrate a new oratory dedicated to the Saviour, the Virgin Mary, and all the saints".
  55. ^ Ó Carragáin, Éamonn. Ritual and the Rood: Liturgical Images and the Old English Poems of the Dream of the Rood Tradition. University of Toronto Press, 2005. p. 258. Quote: "Gregory III began his reign with a synod in St Peter's (1 November 731) which formally condemned iconoclasm [...] on the Sunday before Easter, 12 April 732, Gregory convoked yet another synod [...] and at the synod inaugurated an oratory [...] Dedicated to all saints, this oratory was designed to hold 'relics of the holy apostles and all the holy martyrs and confessors'".
  56. ^ Farmer, David. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Fifth Edition, Revised). Oxford University Press, 2011. p. 14
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  64. ^ a b c d e "Halloween". Encyclopædia Britannica. from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
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  67. ^ a b Mary Mapes Dodge, ed. (1883). St. Nicholas Magazine. Scribner & Company. p. 93. 'Soul-cakes,' which the rich gave to the poor at the Halloween season, in return for which the recipients prayed for the souls of the givers and their friends. And this custom became so favored in popular esteem that, for a long time, it was a regular observance in the country towns of England for small companies to go from parish to parish, begging soul-cakes by singing under the windows some such verse as this: 'Soul, souls, for a soul-cake; Pray you good mistress, a soul-cake!'
  68. ^ DeMello, Margo (2012). A Cultural Encyclopedia of the Human Face. ABC-CLIO. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-59884-617-1. Trick-or-treating began as souling an English and Irish tradition in which the poor, wearing masks, would go door to door and beg for soul cakes in exchange for people's dead relatives.
  69. ^ Cleene, Marcel. Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe. Man & Culture, 2002. p. 108. Quote: "Soul cakes were small cakes baked as food for the deceased or offered for the salvation of their souls. They were therefore offered at funerals and feasts of the dead, laid on graves, or given to the poor as representatives of the dead. The baking of these soul cakes is a universal practice".
  70. ^ Levene, Alysa (2016). Cake: A Slice of History. Pegasus Books. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-68177-108-3. Like the perennial favourites, hot cross buns; they were often marked with a cross to indicate that they were baked as alms.
  71. ^ The Two Gentlemen of Verona Act 2, Scene 1.
  72. ^ a b Pulliam, June; Fonseca, Anthony J. (2016). Ghosts in Popular Culture and Legend. ABC-CLIO. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-4408-3491-2. Since the 16th century, costumes have become a central part of Halloween traditions. Perhaps the most common traditional Halloween costume is that of the ghost. This is likely because ... when Halloween customs began to be influenced by Catholicism, the incorporation of the themes of All Hallows' and All Souls' Day would have emphasized visitations from the spirit world over the motifs of spirits and fairies. ... The baking and sharing of souls cakes was introduced around the 15th century: in some cultures, the poor would go door to door to collect them in exchange for praying for the dead (a practice called souling), often carrying lanterns made of hollowed-out turnips. Around the 16th century, the practice of going house to house in disguise (a practice called guising) to ask for food began and was often accompanied by recitation of traditional verses (a practice called mumming). Wearing costumes, another tradition, has many possible explanations, such as it was done to confuse the spirits or souls who visited the earth or who rose from local graveyards to engage in what was called a Danse Macabre, basically a large party among the dead.
  73. ^ a b Rogers, p. 57
  74. ^ a b Carter, Albert Howard; Petro, Jane Arbuckle (1998). Rising from the Flames: The Experience of the Severely Burned. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-8122-1517-5. Halloween, incorporated into the Christian year as the eve of All Saints Day, marked the return of the souls of the departed and the release of devils who could move freely on that night. Fires lit on that night served to prevent the influence of such spirits and to provide omens for the future. Modern children go from house to house at Halloween with flashlights powered by electric batteries, while jack o'lanterns (perhaps with an actual candle, but often with a lightbulb) glow from windows and porches.
  75. ^ Guiley, Rosemary (2008). The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca. Infobase Publishing. p. 183. ISBN 978-1-4381-2684-5. According to most legends, the jack-o'-lantern is a wandering soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell. ... In Ireland, children who are caught outdoors after dark are told to wear their jackets inside-out in order not to be lured astray by a jack-o'-lantern. In Sweden, the spirit is believed to be the soul of an unbaptized child, who tries to lead travelers to water in hopes of receiving baptism. ... In American lore, the jack-o'-lantern is associated with withces and the Halloween custom of trick-or-treating. It is customary for trick-or-treaters to carry pumpkin jack-o'-lanterns to frighten away evil spirits.
  76. ^ Santino, The Hallowed Eve, p. 95
  77. ^ a b c d Frazer, James George (1922). The Golden Bough: A new abridgement. Oxford University Press, 1998. pp.380–383
  78. ^ Ruth Hutchison and Ruth Constance Adams (1951). Every Day's a Holiday. Harper, 1951. pp.236
  79. ^ a b c d e Morton, Lisa (15 September 2013). Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween. Reaktion Books. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-78023-055-9.
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  81. ^ Bannatyne, Lesley (1998). Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History. Pelican Publishing Company. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4556-0553-8. Villagers were also encouraged to masquerade on this day, not to frighten unwelcome spirits, but to honor Christian saints. On All Saints' Day, churches throughout Europe and the British Isles displayed relics of their patron saints. Poor churches could not afford genuine relics and instead had processions in which parishioners dressed as saints, angels and devils. It served the new church by giving an acceptable Christian basis to the custom of dressing up on Halloween.
  82. ^ Morrow, Ed (2001). The Halloween Handbook. Kensington Publishing Corporation. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-8065-2227-2. Another contributor to the custom of dressing up at Halloween was the old Irish practice of marking All Hallows' Day with religious pageants that recounted biblical events. These were common during the Middle Ages all across Europe. The featured players dressed as saints and angels, but there were also plenty of roles for demons who had more fun, capering, acting devilish, and playing to the crows. The pageant began inside the church, then moved by procession to the churchyard, where it continued long into the night.
  83. ^ "Eve of All Saints", Using Common Worship: Times and Seasons – All Saints to Candlemas (David Kennedy), Church House Publishing, p. 42
  84. ^ Bannatyne, Lesley. Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History. Pelican Publishing, 1998. p. 9
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  87. ^ Reimer, Margaret Loewen (2018). Approaching the Divine: Signs and Symbols of the Christian Faith. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-5326-5675-0. Christians in Europe envisioned a danse macabre, a hideous dance by the spirits of the dead who arose from the churchyards for a wild carnival each year. This dance, commonly depicted on the walls of cathedrals, monasteries and cemeteries, may well be the origin of the macabre costumes we don on Halloween.
  88. ^ DeSpelder, Lynne Ann; Strickland, Albert Lee (2009). The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying. McGraw-Hill Education. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-07-340546-9. More subtly, images associated with the danse macabre persist in the form of skeletons and other scary regalia found on children's Halloween costumes.
  89. ^ Books & Culture: A Christian Review. Christianity Today. 1999. p. 12. from the original on 23 April 2016. Sometimes enacted as at village pageants, the danse macabre was also performed as court masques, the courtiers dressing up as corpses from various strata of society...both the name and the observance began liturgically as All Hallows' Eve.
  90. ^ Hutton, p. 372
  91. ^ Santino, Jack (21 October 2021). The Hallowed Eve: Dimensions of Culture in a Calendar Festival in Northern Ireland. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-8458-6.
  92. ^ The Episcopal Church, its teaching and worship (Latta Griswold), E.S. Gorham, p. 110
  93. ^ a b Mosteller, Angie (2 July 2014). Christian Origins of Halloween. Rose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59636-535-3. In Protestant regions souling remained an important occasion for soliciting food and money from rich neighbors in preparation for the coming cold and dark months.
  94. ^ Aston, Margaret. Broken Idols of the English Reformation. Cambridge University Press, 2015. pp.475–477
  95. ^ Medieval Celebrations: Your Guide to Planning and Hosting Spectacular Feasts, Parties, Weddings, and Renaissance Fairs (Daniel Diehl, Mark Donnelly), Stackpole Books, p. 17
  96. ^ Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 37–38. ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
  97. ^ Hutton, Ronald (2001). Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford University Press. pp. 369, 373. ISBN 978-0-19-157842-7. Fires were indeed lit in England on All Saints' Day, notably in Lancashire, and may well ultimately have descended from the same rites, but were essentially party of a Christian ceremony ... families still assembled at the midnight before All Saints' Day in the early nineteenth century. Each did so on a hill near its homestead, one person holding a large bunch of burning straw on the end of a fork. The rest in a circle around and prayed for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames burned out. The author who recorded this custom added that it gradually died out in the latter part of the century, but that before it had been very common and at nearby Whittingham such fires could be seen all around the horizon at Hallowe'en. He went on to say that the name 'Purgatory Field', found across northern Lancashire, testified to an even wider distribution and that the rite itself was called 'Teen'lay'.
  98. ^ O'Donnell, Hugh and Foley, Malcolm. "Treat or Trick? Halloween in a Globalising World" 31 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008. p.35
  99. ^ The Catholic World, Vol. 138: A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science. Vol. 138. Paulist Press. 1934. There is proof that this shifting of customs from one day to another really took place. For until the end of the eighteenth century, children in some Derbyshire parishes, instead of lighting bonfires with the rest of England on November 5th, lit their furze fires called 'tindles' on All Souls night. And even then, the educated folk of the districts concerned, declared that these fires were a relic of papistical days when they were lit at night to guide the poor souls back to earth.
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  171. ^ Hood, Karen Jean Matsko (1 January 2014). Halloween Delights. Whispering Pine Press International. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-59434-181-6. The tradition continued in some areas of northern England as late as the 1930s, with children going from door to door "souling" for cakes or money by singing a song.
  172. ^ a b c d "Ten trick-or-treating facts for impressive bonfire chats". The Irish Times. 31 October 2014. Scotland and Ireland started tricking: A few decades later a practice called 'guising' was in full swing in Scotland and Ireland. Short for 'disguising', children would go out from door to door dressed in costume and rather than pledging to pray, they would tell a joke, sing a song or perform another sort of "trick" in exchange for food or money. The expression trick or treat has only been used at front doors for the last 10 to 15 years. Before that "Help the Halloween Party" seems to have been the most popular phrase to holler.
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    The heart of the Night of Light is an all-night vigil of prayer, but there is room for children's fun too: sweets, perhaps a bonfire and dressing up as St George or St Lucy. The minimum gesture is to put a lighted candle in the window, which is in itself too exciting for some proponents of health and safety. The inventor of the Night of Light is Damian Stayne, the founder of a year-round religious community called Cor et Lumen Christi – heart and light of Christ. This new movement is Catholic, orthodox and charismatic – emphasising the work of the Holy Spirit.
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Further reading

See also: Bibliography of Halloween

External links

  • Halloween at Curlie
  • "A brief history of Halloween" by the BBC
  • "All Hallows Eve (Halloween) in the Traditional, Pre-1955 Liturgical Books" by the Liturgical Arts Journal
  • "The History of Halloween" by the History Channel


June 14, 2023
halloween, hallows, redirects, here, other, uses, hallows, disambiguation, disambiguation, hallowe, less, commonly, known, allhalloween, hallows, saints, celebration, observed, many, countries, october, western, christian, feast, saints, begins, observance, al. All Hallows Eve redirects here For other uses see All Hallows Eve disambiguation and Halloween disambiguation Halloween or Hallowe en less commonly known as Allhalloween 5 All Hallows Eve 6 or All Saints Eve 7 is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints Day It begins the observance of Allhallowtide 8 the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead including saints hallows martyrs and all the faithful departed 9 10 11 12 HalloweenCarving a jack o lantern is a common Halloween traditionAlso calledHallowe en All Hallowe en All Hallows Eve All Saints EveObserved byWestern Christians and many non Christians around the world 1 TypeChristianSignificanceFirst day of AllhallowtideCelebrationsTrick or treating costume parties making jack o lanterns lighting bonfires divination apple bobbing visiting haunted attractions ObservancesChurch services 2 prayer 3 fasting 1 and vigil 4 Date31 OctoberRelated toSamhain Hop tu Naa Calan Gaeaf Allantide Day of the Dead Reformation Day All Saints Day Mischief Night cf vigil One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain which are believed to have pagan roots 13 14 15 16 Some go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallow s Day along with its eve by the early Church 17 Other academics believe Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday being the vigil of All Hallow s Day 18 19 20 21 Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries Irish and Scottish immigrants took many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century 22 23 and then through American influence Halloween had spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century 24 25 Popular Halloween activities include trick or treating or the related guising and souling attending Halloween costume parties carving pumpkins or turnips into jack o lanterns lighting bonfires apple bobbing divination games playing pranks visiting haunted attractions telling scary stories and watching horror or Halloween themed films 26 Some people practice the Christian religious observances of All Hallows Eve including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead 27 28 29 although it is a secular celebration for others 30 31 32 Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows Eve a tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day including apples potato pancakes and soul cakes 33 34 35 36 Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Christian origins and historic customs 2 2 Gaelic folk influence 2 3 Spread to North America 3 Symbols 4 Trick or treating and guising 5 Costumes 5 1 Pet costumes 6 Games and other activities 7 Haunted attractions 8 Food 9 Christian religious observances 10 Analogous celebrations and perspectives 10 1 Judaism 10 2 Islam 10 3 Hinduism 10 4 Neopaganism 11 Geography 12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External linksEtymology Halloween 1785 by Scottish poet Robert Burns recounts various legends of the holiday The word Halloween or Hallowe en Saints evening 37 is of Christian origin 38 39 a term equivalent to All Hallows Eve is attested in Old English 40 The word hallowe en comes from the Scottish form of All Hallows Eve the evening before All Hallows Day 41 even is the Scots term for eve or evening 42 and is contracted to e en or een 43 All Hallow s E v en became Hallowe en HistoryChristian origins and historic customs Halloween is thought to have influences from Christian beliefs and practices 44 45 The English word Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve being the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows Day All Saints Day on 1 November and All Souls Day on 2 November 46 Since the time of the early Church 47 major feasts in Christianity such as Christmas Easter and Pentecost had vigils that began the night before as did the feast of All Hallows 48 44 These three days are collectively called Allhallowtide and are a time when Western Christians honour all saints and pray for recently departed souls who have yet to reach Heaven Commemorations of all saints and martyrs were held by several churches on various dates mostly in springtime 49 In 4th century Roman Edessa it was held on 13 May and on 13 May 609 Pope Boniface IV re dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to St Mary and all martyrs 50 This was the date of Lemuria an ancient Roman festival of the dead 51 In the 8th century Pope Gregory III 731 741 founded an oratory in St Peter s for the relics of the holy apostles and of all saints martyrs and confessors 44 52 Some sources say it was dedicated on 1 November 53 while others say it was on Palm Sunday in April 732 54 55 By 800 there is evidence that churches in Ireland 56 and Northumbria were holding a feast commemorating all saints on 1 November 57 Alcuin of Northumbria a member of Charlemagne s court may then have introduced this 1 November date in the Frankish Empire 58 In 835 it became the official date in the Frankish Empire 57 Some suggest this was due to Celtic influence while others suggest it was a Germanic idea 57 although it is claimed that both Germanic and Celtic speaking peoples commemorated the dead at the beginning of winter 59 They may have seen it as the most fitting time to do so as it is a time of dying in nature 57 59 It is also suggested the change was made on the practical grounds that Rome in summer could not accommodate the great number of pilgrims who flocked to it and perhaps because of public health concerns over Roman Fever which claimed a number of lives during Rome s sultry summers 60 44 On All Hallows Eve Christians in some parts of the world visit cemeteries to pray and place flowers and candles on the graves of their loved ones 61 Top Christians in Bangladesh lighting candles on the headstone of a relative Bottom Lutheran Christians praying and lighting candles in front of the central crucifix of a graveyard By the end of the 12th century the celebration had become known as the holy days of obligation in Western Christianity and involved such traditions as ringing church bells for souls in purgatory It was also customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets ringing a bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember the poor souls 62 The Allhallowtide custom of baking and sharing soul cakes for all christened souls 63 has been suggested as the origin of trick or treating 64 The custom dates back at least as far as the 15th century 65 and was found in parts of England Wales Flanders Bavaria and Austria 66 Groups of poor people often children would go door to door during Allhallowtide collecting soul cakes in exchange for praying for the dead especially the souls of the givers friends and relatives This was called souling 65 67 68 Soul cakes were also offered for the souls themselves to eat 66 or the soulers would act as their representatives 69 As with the Lenten tradition of hot cross buns soul cakes were often marked with a cross indicating they were baked as alms 70 Shakespeare mentions souling in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona 1593 71 While souling Christians would carry lanterns made of hollowed out turnips which could have originally represented souls of the dead 72 73 jack o lanterns were used to ward off evil spirits 74 75 On All Saints and All Souls Day during the 19th century candles were lit in homes in Ireland 76 Flanders Bavaria and in Tyrol where they were called soul lights 77 that served to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes 78 In many of these places candles were also lit at graves on All Souls Day 77 In Brittany libations of milk were poured on the graves of kinfolk 66 or food would be left overnight on the dinner table for the returning souls 77 a custom also found in Tyrol and parts of Italy 79 77 Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh linked the wearing of costumes to the belief in vengeful ghosts It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints Day and All Hallows Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance people would don masks or costumes 80 In the Middle Ages churches in Europe that were too poor to display relics of martyred saints at Allhallowtide let parishioners dress up as saints instead 81 82 Some Christians observe this custom at Halloween today 83 Lesley Bannatyne believes this could have been a Christianization of an earlier pagan custom 84 Many Christians in mainland Europe especially in France believed that once a year on Hallowe en the dead of the churchyards rose for one wild hideous carnival known as the danse macabre which was often depicted in church decoration 85 Christopher Allmand and Rosamond McKitterick write in The New Cambridge Medieval History that the danse macabre urged Christians not to forget the end of all earthly things 86 The danse macabre was sometimes enacted in European village pageants and court masques with people dressing up as corpses from various strata of society and this may be the origin of Halloween costume parties 87 88 89 72 In Britain these customs came under attack during the Reformation as Protestants berated purgatory as a popish doctrine incompatible with the Calvinist doctrine of predestination State sanctioned ceremonies associated with the intercession of saints and prayer for souls in purgatory were abolished during the Elizabethan reform though All Hallow s Day remained in the English liturgical calendar to commemorate saints as godly human beings 90 For some Nonconformist Protestants the theology of All Hallows Eve was redefined souls cannot be journeying from Purgatory on their way to Heaven as Catholics frequently believe and assert Instead the so called ghosts are thought to be in actuality evil spirits 91 Other Protestants believed in an intermediate state known as Hades Bosom of Abraham 92 In some localities Catholics and Protestants continued souling candlelit processions or ringing church bells for the dead 46 93 the Anglican church eventually suppressed this bell ringing 94 Mark Donnelly a professor of medieval archaeology and historian Daniel Diehl write that barns and homes were blessed to protect people and livestock from the effect of witches who were believed to accompany the malignant spirits as they traveled the earth 95 After 1605 Hallowtide was eclipsed in England by Guy Fawkes Night 5 November which appropriated some of its customs 96 In England the ending of official ceremonies related to the intercession of saints led to the development of new unofficial Hallowtide customs In 18th 19th century rural Lancashire Catholic families gathered on hills on the night of All Hallows Eve One held a bunch of burning straw on a pitchfork while the rest knelt around him praying for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames went out This was known as teen lay 97 There was a similar custom in Hertfordshire and the lighting of tindle fires in Derbyshire 98 Some suggested these tindles were originally lit to guide the poor souls back to earth 99 In Scotland and Ireland old Allhallowtide customs that were at odds with Reformed teaching were not suppressed as they were important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities and curbing them would have been difficult 22 In parts of Italy until the 15th century families left a meal out for the ghosts of relatives before leaving for church services 79 In 19th century Italy churches staged theatrical re enactments of scenes from the lives of the saints on All Hallow s Day with participants represented by realistic wax figures 79 In 1823 the graveyard of Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome presented a scene in which bodies of those who recently died were arrayed around a wax statue of an angel who pointed upward towards heaven 79 In the same country parish priests went house to house asking for small gifts of food which they shared among themselves throughout that night 79 In Spain they continue to bake special pastries called bones of the holy Spanish Huesos de Santo and set them on graves 100 At cemeteries in Spain and France as well as in Latin America priests lead Christian processions and services during Allhallowtide after which people keep an all night vigil 101 In 19th century San Sebastian there was a procession to the city cemetery at Allhallowtide an event that drew beggars who appeal ed to the tender recollectons of one s deceased relations and friends for sympathy 102 Gaelic folk influence An early 20th century Irish Halloween mask displayed at the Museum of Country Life Today s Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic speaking countries some of which are believed to have pagan roots 103 Jack Santino a folklorist writes that there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived 104 The origins of Halloween customs are typically linked to the Gaelic festival Samhain 105 Samhain is one of the quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and has been celebrated on 31 October 1 November 106 in Ireland Scotland and the Isle of Man 107 108 A kindred festival has been held by the Brittonic Celts called Calan Gaeaf in Wales Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goanv in Brittany a name meaning first day of winter For the Celts the day ended and began at sunset thus the festival begins the evening before 1 November by modern reckoning 109 Samhain is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century 110 and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween Snap Apple Night painted by Daniel Maclise in 1833 shows people feasting and playing divination games on Halloween in Ireland 111 Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the darker half of the year 112 113 It was seen as a liminal time when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned This meant the Aos Si the spirits or fairies could more easily come into this world and were particularly active 114 115 Most scholars see them as degraded versions of ancient gods whose power remained active in the people s minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs 116 They were both respected and feared with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings 117 118 At Samhain the Aos Si were appeased to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter Offerings of food and drink or portions of the crops were left outside for them 119 120 121 The souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking hospitality 122 Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them 123 The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures 66 In 19th century Ireland candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the dead After this the eating drinking and games would begin 124 Throughout Ireland and Britain especially in the Celtic speaking regions the household festivities included divination rituals and games intended to foretell one s future especially regarding death and marriage 125 Apples and nuts were often used and customs included apple bobbing nut roasting scrying or mirror gazing pouring molten lead or egg whites into water dream interpretation and others 126 Special bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them Their flames smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers 112 In some places torches lit from the bonfire were carried sunwise around homes and fields to protect them 110 It is suggested the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic they mimicked the Sun and held back the decay and darkness of winter 123 127 128 They were also used for divination and to ward off evil spirits 74 In Scotland these bonfires and divination games were banned by the church elders in some parishes 129 In Wales bonfires were also lit to prevent the souls of the dead from falling to earth 130 Later these bonfires kept away the devil 131 A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Halloween turnip rutabaga lantern on display in the Museum of Country Life Ireland 132 From at least the 16th century 133 the festival included mumming and guising in Ireland Scotland the Isle of Man and Wales 134 This involved people going house to house in costume or in disguise usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food It may have originally been a tradition whereby people impersonated the Aos Si or the souls of the dead and received offerings on their behalf similar to souling Impersonating these beings or wearing a disguise was also believed to protect oneself from them 135 In parts of southern Ireland the guisers included a hobby horse A man dressed as a Lair Bhan white mare led youths house to house reciting verses some of which had pagan overtones in exchange for food If the household donated food it could expect good fortune from the Muck Olla not doing so would bring misfortune 136 In Scotland youths went house to house with masked painted or blackened faces often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed 134 F Marian McNeill suggests the ancient festival included people in costume representing the spirits and that faces were marked or blackened with ashes from the sacred bonfire 133 In parts of Wales men went about dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod 134 In the late 19th and early 20th century young people in Glamorgan and Orkney cross dressed 134 Elsewhere in Europe mumming was part of other festivals but in the Celtic speaking regions it was particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers 134 From at least the 18th century imitating malignant spirits led to playing pranks in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands Wearing costumes and playing pranks at Halloween did not spread to England until the 20th century 134 Pranksters used hollowed out turnips or mangel wurzels as lanterns often carved with grotesque faces 134 By those who made them the lanterns were variously said to represent the spirits 134 or used to ward off evil spirits 137 138 They were common in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in the 19th century 134 as well as in Somerset see Punkie Night In the 20th century they spread to other parts of Britain and became generally known as jack o lanterns 134 Spread to North America The annual New York Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village Manhattan is the world s largest Halloween parade with millions of spectators annually and has its roots in New York s queer community 139 Lesley Bannatyne and Cindy Ott write that Anglican colonists in the southern United States and Catholic colonists in Maryland recognized All Hallow s Eve in their church calendars 140 141 although the Puritans of New England strongly opposed the holiday along with other traditional celebrations of the established Church including Christmas 142 Almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th century give no indication that Halloween was widely celebrated in North America 22 It was not until after mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in America 22 Most American Halloween traditions were inherited from the Irish and Scots 23 143 though In Cajun areas a nocturnal Mass was said in cemeteries on Halloween night Candles that had been blessed were placed on graves and families sometimes spent the entire night at the graveside 144 Originally confined to these immigrant communities it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and was celebrated coast to coast by people of all social racial and religious backgrounds by the early 20th century 145 Then through American influence these Halloween traditions spread to many other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century including to mainland Europe and some parts of the Far East 24 25 146 Symbols At Halloween yards public spaces and some houses may be decorated with traditionally macabre symbols including skeletons ghosts cobwebs headstones and scary looking witches Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time Jack o lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows Eve in order to frighten evil spirits 73 147 There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack o lantern 148 which in folklore is said to represent a soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell 149 On route home after a night s drinking Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree A quick thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark thus trapping the Devil Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul After a life of sin drink and mendacity Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies Keeping his promise the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him It was a cold night so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest 150 In Ireland and Scotland the turnip has traditionally been carved during Halloween 151 152 but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin which is both much softer and much larger making it easier to carve than a turnip 151 The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837 153 and was originally associated with harvest time in general not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid to late 19th century 154 Decorated house in Weatherly Pennsylvania The modern imagery of Halloween comes from many sources including Christian eschatology national customs works of Gothic and horror literature such as the novels Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus and Dracula and classic horror films such as Frankenstein 1931 and The Mummy 1932 155 156 Imagery of the skull a reference to Golgotha in the Christian tradition serves as a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life and is consequently found in memento mori and vanitas compositions 157 skulls have therefore been commonplace in Halloween which touches on this theme 158 Traditionally the back walls of churches are decorated with a depiction of the Last Judgment complete with graves opening and the dead rising with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils a motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum 159 One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne who in 1780 made note of pranks at Halloween What fearfu pranks ensue as well as the supernatural associated with the night bogles ghosts 160 influencing Robert Burns Halloween 1785 161 Elements of the autumn season such as pumpkins corn husks and scarecrows are also prevalent Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween Halloween imagery includes themes of death evil and mythical monsters 162 Black cats which have been long associated with witches are also a common symbol of Halloween Black orange and sometimes purple are Halloween s traditional colors 163 Trick or treating and guisingMain article Trick or treating Trick or treaters in Sweden Trick or treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween Children go in costume from house to house asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money with the question Trick or treat The word trick implies a threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given 64 The practice is said to have roots in the medieval practice of mumming which is closely related to souling 164 John Pymm wrote that many of the feast days associated with the presentation of mumming plays were celebrated by the Christian Church 165 These feast days included All Hallows Eve Christmas Twelfth Night and Shrove Tuesday 166 167 Mumming practiced in Germany Scandinavia and other parts of Europe 168 involved masked persons in fancy dress who paraded the streets and entered houses to dance or play dice in silence 169 Girl in a Halloween costume in 1928 Ontario Canada the same province where the Scottish Halloween custom of guising was first recorded in North America In England from the medieval period 170 up until the 1930s 171 people practiced the Christian custom of souling on Halloween which involved groups of soulers both Protestant and Catholic 93 going from parish to parish begging the rich for soul cakes in exchange for praying for the souls of the givers and their friends 67 In the Philippines the practice of souling is called Pangangaluluwa and is practiced on All Hallow s Eve among children in rural areas 26 People drape themselves in white cloths to represent souls and then visit houses where they sing in return for prayers and sweets 26 In Scotland and Ireland guising children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins is a traditional Halloween custom 172 It is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips visit homes to be rewarded with cakes fruit and money 152 173 In Ireland the most popular phrase for kids to shout until the 2000s was Help the Halloween Party 172 The practice of guising at Halloween in North America was first recorded in 1911 where a newspaper in Kingston Ontario Canada reported children going guising around the neighborhood 174 American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book length history of Halloween in the US The Book of Hallowe en 1919 and references souling in the chapter Hallowe en in America 175 In her book Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic Americans have fostered them and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas All Halloween customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries 176 While the first reference to guising in North America occurs in 1911 another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears place unknown in 1915 with a third reference in Chicago in 1920 177 The earliest known use in print of the term trick or treat appears in 1927 in the Blackie Herald of Alberta Canada 178 An automobile trunk at a trunk or treat event at St John Lutheran Church and Early Learning Center in Darien Illinois The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but not trick or treating 179 Trick or treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice in North America until the 1930s with the first US appearances of the term in 1934 180 and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939 181 A popular variant of trick or treating known as trunk or treating or Halloween tailgating occurs when children are offered treats from the trunks of cars parked in a church parking lot or sometimes a school parking lot 100 182 In a trunk or treat event the trunk boot of each automobile is decorated with a certain theme 183 such as those of children s literature movies scripture and job roles 184 Trunk or treating has grown in popularity due to its perception as being more safe than going door to door a point that resonates well with parents as well as the fact that it solves the rural conundrum in which homes are built a half mile apart 185 186 CostumesMain article Halloween costume Halloween costumes were traditionally modeled after figures such as vampires ghosts skeletons scary looking witches and devils 64 Over time the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction celebrities and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses Halloween shop in Derry Northern Ireland selling masks Dressing up in costumes and going guising was prevalent in Scotland and Ireland at Halloween by the late 19th century 152 A Scottish term the tradition is called guising because of the disguises or costumes worn by the children 173 In Ireland and Scotland the masks are known as false faces 38 187 a term recorded in Ayr Scotland in 1890 by a Scot describing guisers I had mind it was Halloween the wee callans were at it already rinning aboot wi their fause faces false faces on and their bits o turnip lanthrons lanterns in their haun hand 38 Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century as often for adults as for children and when trick or treating was becoming popular in Canada and the US in the 1920s and 1930s 178 188 Eddie J Smith in his book Halloween Hallowed is Thy Name offers a religious perspective to the wearing of costumes on All Hallows Eve suggesting that by dressing up as creatures who at one time caused us to fear and tremble people are able to poke fun at Satan whose kingdom has been plundered by our Saviour Images of skeletons and the dead are traditional decorations used as memento mori 189 190 Trick or Treat for UNICEF is a fundraising program to support UNICEF 64 a United Nations Programme that provides humanitarian aid to children in developing countries Started as a local event in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood in 1950 and expanded nationally in 1952 the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools or in modern times corporate sponsors like Hallmark at their licensed stores to trick or treaters in which they can solicit small change donations from the houses they visit It is estimated that children have collected more than 118 million for UNICEF since its inception In Canada in 2006 UNICEF decided to discontinue their Halloween collection boxes citing safety and administrative concerns after consultation with schools they instead redesigned the program 191 192 The yearly New York s Village Halloween Parade was begun in 1974 it is the world s largest Halloween parade and America s only major nighttime parade attracting more than 60 000 costumed participants two million spectators and a worldwide television audience 193 Since the late 2010s ethnic stereotypes as costumes have increasingly come under scrutiny in the United States 194 Such and other potentially offensive costumes have been met with increasing public disapproval 195 196 Pet costumes According to a 2018 report from the National Retail Federation 30 million Americans will spend an estimated 480 million on Halloween costumes for their pets in 2018 This is up from an estimated 200 million in 2010 The most popular costumes for pets are the pumpkin followed by the hot dog and the bumblebee in third place 197 Games and other activities In this 1904 Halloween greeting card divination is depicted the young woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse of her future husband There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween Some of these games originated as divination rituals or ways of foretelling one s future especially regarding death marriage and children During the Middle Ages these rituals were done by a rare few in rural communities as they were considered to be deadly serious practices 198 In recent centuries these divination games have been a common feature of the household festivities in Ireland and Britain 125 They often involve apples and hazelnuts In Celtic mythology apples were strongly associated with the Otherworld and immortality while hazelnuts were associated with divine wisdom 199 Some also suggest that they derive from Roman practices in celebration of Pomona 64 Children bobbing for apples at Hallowe en The following activities were a common feature of Halloween in Ireland and Britain during the 17th 20th centuries Some have become more widespread and continue to be popular today One common game is apple bobbing or dunking which may be called dooking in Scotland 200 in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use only 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 drive the fork into an apple Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup coated scones by strings these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string an activity that inevitably leads to a sticky face Another once popular game involves hanging a small wooden rod from the ceiling at head height with a lit candle on one end and an apple hanging from the other The rod is spun round and everyone takes turns to try to catch the apple with their teeth 201 Image from the Book of Hallowe en 1919 showing several Halloween activities such as nut roasting Several of the traditional activities from Ireland and Britain involve foretelling one s future partner or spouse An apple would be peeled in one long strip then the peel tossed over the shoulder The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse s name 202 203 Two hazelnuts would be roasted near a fire one named for the person roasting them and the other for the person they desire If the nuts jump away from the heat it is a bad sign but if the nuts roast quietly it foretells a good match 204 205 A salty oatmeal bannock would be baked the person would eat it in three bites and then go to bed in silence without anything to drink This is said to result in a dream in which their future spouse offers them a drink to quench their thirst 206 Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror 207 The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards 208 from the late 19th century and early 20th century Another popular Irish game was known as puicini blindfolds a person would be blindfolded and then would choose between several saucers The item in the saucer would provide a hint as to their future a ring would mean that they would marry soon clay that they would die soon perhaps within the year water that they would emigrate rosary beads that they would take Holy Orders become a nun priest monk etc a coin that they would become rich a bean that they would be poor 209 210 211 212 The game features prominently in the James Joyce short story Clay 1914 213 214 215 In Ireland and Scotland items would be hidden in food usually a cake barmbrack cranachan champ or colcannon and portions of it served out at random A person s future would be foretold by the item they happened to find for example a ring meant marriage and a coin meant wealth 216 Up until the 19th century the Halloween bonfires were also used for divination in parts of Scotland Wales and Brittany When the fire died down a ring of stones would be laid in the ashes one for each person In the morning if any stone was mislaid it was said that the person it represented would not live out the year 110 Telling ghost stories listening to Halloween themed songs and watching horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties Episodes of television series and Halloween themed specials with the specials usually aimed at children are commonly aired on or before Halloween while new horror films are often released before Halloween to take advantage of the holiday Haunted attractionsMain article Haunted attraction simulated Humorous tombstones in front of a house in California source Humorous display window in Historic 25th Street Ogden Utah Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses that may include haunted houses corn mazes and hayrides 217 and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown The first recorded purpose built haunted attraction was the Orton and Spooner Ghost House which opened in 1915 in Liphook England This attraction actually most closely resembles a carnival fun house powered by steam 218 219 The House still exists in the Hollycombe Steam Collection It was during the 1930s about the same time as trick or treating that Halloween themed haunted houses first began to appear in America It was in the late 1950s that haunted houses as a major attraction began to appear focusing first on California Sponsored by the Children s Health Home Junior Auxiliary the San Mateo Haunted House opened in 1957 The San Bernardino Assistance League Haunted House opened in 1958 Home haunts began appearing across the country during 1962 and 1963 In 1964 the San Manteo Haunted House opened as well as the Children s Museum Haunted House in Indianapolis 220 The haunted house as an American cultural icon can be attributed to the opening of The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland on 12 August 1969 221 Knott s Berry Farm began hosting its own Halloween night attraction Knott s Scary Farm which opened in 1973 222 Evangelical Christians adopted a form of these attractions by opening one of the first hell houses in 1972 223 The first Halloween haunted house run by a nonprofit organization was produced in 1970 by the Sycamore Deer Park Jaycees in Clifton Ohio It was cosponsored by WSAI an AM radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati Ohio It was last produced in 1982 224 Other Jaycees followed suit with their own versions after the success of the Ohio house The March of Dimes copyrighted a Mini haunted house for the March of Dimes in 1976 and began fundraising through their local chapters by conducting haunted houses soon after Although they apparently quit supporting this type of event nationally sometime in the 1980s some March of Dimes haunted houses have persisted until today 225 On the evening of 11 May 1984 in Jackson Township New Jersey the Haunted Castle Six Flags Great Adventure caught fire As a result of the fire eight teenagers perished 226 The backlash to the tragedy was a tightening of regulations relating to safety building codes and the frequency of inspections of attractions nationwide The smaller venues especially the nonprofit attractions were unable to compete financially and the better funded commercial enterprises filled the vacuum 227 228 Facilities that were once able to avoid regulation because they were considered to be temporary installations now had to adhere to the stricter codes required of permanent attractions 229 230 231 In the late 1980s and early 1990s theme parks entered the business seriously Six Flags Fright Fest began in 1986 and Universal Studios Florida began Halloween Horror Nights in 1991 Knott s Scary Farm experienced a surge in attendance in the 1990s as a result of America s obsession with Halloween as a cultural event Theme parks have played a major role in globalizing the holiday Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Japan both participate while Disney now mounts Mickey s Not So Scary Halloween Party events at its parks in Paris Hong Kong and Tokyo as well as in the United States 232 The theme park haunts are by far the largest both in scale and attendance 233 Food Pumpkins for sale during Halloween On All Hallows Eve many Western Christian denominations encourage abstinence from meat giving rise to a variety of vegetarian foods associated with this day 234 A candy apple Because in the Northern Hemisphere Halloween comes in the wake of the yearly apple harvest candy apples known as toffee apples outside North America caramel apples or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts At one time candy apples were commonly given to trick or treating children but the practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples in the United States 235 While there is evidence of such incidents 236 relative to the degree of reporting of such cases actual cases involving malicious acts are extremely rare and have never resulted in serious injury Nonetheless many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of the mass media At the peak of the hysteria some hospitals offered free X rays of children s Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of tampering Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned their own children s candy 237 One custom that persists in modern day Ireland is the baking or more often nowadays the purchase of a barmbrack Irish bairin breac which is a light fruitcake into which a plain ring a coin and other charms are placed before baking 238 It is considered fortunate to be the lucky one who finds it 238 It has also been said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year This is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany A jack o lantern Halloween cake with a witches hat List of foods associated with Halloween Barmbrack Ireland Bonfire toffee Great Britain Candy apples toffee apples Great Britain and Ireland Candy apples candy corn candy pumpkins North America Chocolate Monkey nuts peanuts in their shells Ireland and Scotland Caramel apples Caramel corn Colcannon Ireland see below Halloween cake Sweets candy Novelty candy shaped like skulls pumpkins bats worms etc Roasted pumpkin seeds Roasted sweet corn Soul cakes Pumpkin PieChristian religious observances The Vigil of All Hallows is being celebrated at an Episcopal Christian church on Hallowe en On Hallowe en All Hallows Eve in Poland believers were once taught to pray out loud as they walk through the forests in order that the souls of the dead might find comfort in Spain Christian priests in tiny villages toll their church bells in order to remind their congregants to remember the dead on All Hallows Eve 239 In Ireland and among immigrants in Canada a custom includes the Christian practice of abstinence keeping All Hallows Eve as a meat free day and serving pancakes or colcannon instead 240 In Mexico children make an altar to invite the return of the spirits of dead children angelitos 241 The Christian Church traditionally observed Hallowe en through a vigil Worshippers prepared themselves for feasting on the following All Saints Day with prayers and fasting 242 This church service is known as the Vigil of All Hallows or the Vigil of All Saints 243 244 an initiative known as Night of Light seeks to further spread the Vigil of All Hallows throughout Christendom 245 246 After the service suitable festivities and entertainments often follow as well as a visit to the graveyard or cemetery where flowers and candles are often placed in preparation for All Hallows Day 247 248 In Finland because so many people visit the cemeteries on All Hallows Eve to light votive candles there they are known as valomeri or seas of light 249 Halloween Scripture Candy with gospel tract Today Christian attitudes towards Halloween are diverse In the Anglican Church some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions associated with All Hallow s Eve 250 251 Some of these practices include praying fasting and attending worship services 1 2 3 O LORD our God increase we pray thee and multiply upon us the gifts of thy grace that we who do prevent the glorious festival of all thy Saints may of thee be enabled joyfully to follow them in all virtuous and godly living Through Jesus Christ Our Lord who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost ever one God world without end Amen Collect of the Vigil of All Saints The Anglican Breviary 252 Votive candles in the Halloween section of Walmart Other Protestant Christians also celebrate All Hallows Eve as Reformation Day a day to remember the Protestant Reformation alongside All Hallow s Eve or independently from it 253 This is because Martin Luther is said to have nailed his Ninety five Theses to All Saints Church in Wittenberg on All Hallows Eve 254 Often Harvest Festivals or Reformation Festivals are held on All Hallows Eve in which children dress up as Bible characters or Reformers 255 In addition to distributing candy to children who are trick or treating on Hallowe en many Christians also provide gospel tracts to them One organization the American Tract Society stated that around 3 million gospel tracts are ordered from them alone for Hallowe en celebrations 256 Others order Halloween themed Scripture Candy to pass out to children on this day 257 258 Belizean children dressed up as Biblical figures and Christian saints Some Christians feel concerned about the modern celebration of Halloween because they feel it trivializes or celebrates paganism the occult or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs 259 Father Gabriele Amorth an exorcist in Rome has said if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem If it is just a game there is no harm in that 260 In more recent years the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a Saint Fest on Halloween 261 Similarly many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up play games and get candy for free To these Christians Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children being taught about death and mortality and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners heritage 262 Christian minister Sam Portaro wrote that Halloween is about using humor and ridicule to confront the power of death 263 In the Roman Catholic Church Halloween s Christian connection is acknowledged and Halloween celebrations are common in many Catholic parochial schools in the United States 264 265 Many fundamentalist and evangelical churches use Hell houses and comic style tracts in order to make use of Halloween s popularity as an opportunity for evangelism 266 Others consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith due to its putative origins in the Festival of the Dead celebration 267 Indeed even though Eastern Orthodox Christians observe All Hallows Day on the First Sunday after Pentecost The Eastern Orthodox Church recommends the observance of Vespers or a Paraklesis on the Western observance of All Hallows Eve out of the pastoral need to provide an alternative to popular celebrations 268 Analogous celebrations and perspectivesJudaism According to Alfred J Kolatch in the Second Jewish Book of Why in Judaism Halloween is not permitted by Jewish Halakha because it violates Leviticus 18 3 which forbids Jews from partaking in gentile customs Many Jews observe Yizkor communally four times a year which is vaguely similar to the observance of Allhallowtide in Christianity in the sense that prayers are said for both martyrs and for one s own family 269 Nevertheless many American Jews celebrate Halloween disconnected from its Christian origins 270 Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser has said that There is no religious reason why contemporary Jews should not celebrate Halloween while Orthodox Rabbi Michael Broyde has argued against Jews observing the holiday 271 Purim has sometimes been compared to Halloween in part due to some observants wearing costumes especially of Biblical figures described in the Purim narrative 272 Islam Sheikh Idris Palmer author of A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam has ruled that Muslims should not participate in Halloween stating that participation in Halloween is worse than participation in Christmas Easter it is more sinful than congratulating the Christians for their prostration to the crucifix 273 It has also been ruled to be haram by the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia because of its alleged pagan roots stating Halloween is celebrated using a humorous theme mixed with horror to entertain and resist the spirit of death that influence humans 274 275 Dar Al Ifta Al Missriyyah disagrees provided the celebration is not referred to as an eid and that behaviour remains in line with Islamic principles 276 Hinduism Hindus remember the dead during the festival of Pitru Paksha during which Hindus pay homage to and perform a ceremony to keep the souls of their ancestors at rest It is celebrated in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada usually in mid September 277 The celebration of the Hindu festival Diwali sometimes conflicts with the date of Halloween but some Hindus choose to participate in the popular customs of Halloween 278 Other Hindus such as Soumya Dasgupta have opposed the celebration on the grounds that Western holidays like Halloween have begun to adversely affect our indigenous festivals 279 Neopaganism There is no consistent rule or view on Halloween amongst those who describe themselves as Neopagans or Wiccans Some Neopagans do not observe Halloween but instead observe Samhain on 1 November 280 some neopagans do enjoy Halloween festivities stating that one can observe both the solemnity of Samhain in addition to the fun of Halloween Some neopagans are opposed to the celebration of Hallowe en stating that it trivializes Samhain 281 and avoid Halloween because of the interruptions from trick or treaters 282 The Manitoban writes that Wiccans don t officially celebrate Halloween despite the fact that 31 Oct will still have a star beside it in any good Wiccan s day planner Starting at sundown Wiccans celebrate a holiday known as Samhain Samhain actually comes from old Celtic traditions and is not exclusive to Neopagan religions like Wicca While the traditions of this holiday originate in Celtic countries modern day Wiccans don t try to historically replicate Samhain celebrations Some traditional Samhain rituals are still practised but at its core the period is treated as a time to celebrate darkness and the dead a possible reason why Samhain can be confused with Halloween celebrations 280 GeographyMain article Geography of Halloween Halloween display in Kobe Japan The traditions and importance of Halloween vary greatly among countries that observe it In Scotland and Ireland traditional Halloween customs include children dressing up in costume going guising holding parties while other practices in Ireland include lighting bonfires and having firework displays 172 283 284 In Brittany children would play practical jokes by setting candles inside skulls in graveyards to frighten visitors 285 Mass transatlantic immigration in the 19th century popularized Halloween in North America and celebration in the United States and Canada has had a significant impact on how the event is observed in other nations 172 This larger North American influence particularly in iconic and commercial elements has extended to places such as Brazil Ecuador Chile 286 Australia 287 New Zealand 288 most continental Europe Finland 289 Japan and other parts of East Asia 25 See also Christianity portal Holidays portalCampfire story Devil s Night Dziady Ghost Festival Naraka Chaturdashi Kekri List of fiction works about Halloween List of films set around Halloween List of Halloween television specials Martinisingen Neewollah St John s Eve Walpurgis Night Will o the wisp English festivalsReferences a b c BBC Religions Christianity All Hallows Eve British Broadcasting Corporation BBC 2010 Archived from the original on 3 November 2011 Retrieved 1 November 2011 It is widely believed that many Hallowe en traditions have evolved from an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain which was Christianised by the early Church All Hallows Eve falls on 31st October each year and is the day before All Hallows Day also known as All Saints Day in the Christian calendar The Church traditionally held a vigil on All Hallows Eve when worshippers would prepare themselves with prayers and fasting prior to the feast day itself The name derives from the Old English hallowed meaning holy or sanctified and is now usually contracted to the more familiar word Hallowe en However there are supporters of the view that Hallowe en as the eve of All Saints Day originated entirely independently of Samhain a b Service for All Hallows Eve The Book of Occasional Services 2003 Church Publishing Inc 2004 p 108 ISBN 978 0 89869 409 3 This service may be used on the evening of October 31 known as All Hallows Eve Suitable festivities and entertainments may take place before or after this service and a visit may be made to a cemetery or burial place a b Anne E Kitch 2004 The Anglican Family Prayer Book Church Publishing Inc ISBN 978 0 8192 2565 8 Archived from the original on 25 January 2017 Retrieved 31 October 2011 All Hallow s Eve which later became known as Halloween is celebrated on the night before All Saints Day November 1 Use this simple prayer service in conjunction with Halloween festivities to mark the Christian roots of this festival The Paulist Liturgy Planning Guide Paulist Press 2006 ISBN 978 0 8091 4414 3 Archived from the original on 31 October 2017 Retrieved 31 October 2011 Rather than compete liturgy planners would do well to consider ways of including children in the celebration of these vigil Masses For example children might be encouraged to wear Halloween costumes representing their patron saint or their favorite saint clearly adding a new level of meaning to the Halloween celebrations and the celebration of All Saints Day Palmer Abram Smythe 1882 Folk etymology Johnson Reprint p 6 Elwell Walter A 2001 Evangelical Dictionary of Theology Baker Academic p 533 ISBN 978 0 8010 2075 9 Halloween All Hallows Eve The name given to October 31 the eve of the Christian festival of All Saints Day November 1 NEDCO Producers Guide 31 33 Northeast Dairy Cooperative Federation 1973 Originally celebrated as the night before All Saints Day Christians chose November first to honor their many saints The night before was called All Saints Eve or hallowed eve meaning holy evening a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Tudor Hallowtide National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty 2012 Archived from the original on 6 October 2014 Hallowtide covers the three days 31 October All Hallows Eve or Hallowe en 1 November All Saints and 2 November All Souls Hughes Rebekkah 29 October 2014 Happy Hallowe en Surrey PDF The Stag University of Surrey p 1 Archived from the original PDF on 19 November 2015 Retrieved 31 October 2015 Halloween or Hallowe en is the yearly celebration on October 31st that signifies the first day of Allhallowtide being the time to remember the dead including martyrs saints and all faithful departed Christians Davis Kenneth C 29 December 2009 Don t Know Much About Mythology Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned HarperCollins p 231 ISBN 978 0 06 192575 7 All Faithful Departed Commemoration of The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed All Souls Day November 02 2021 Liturgical Calendar www catholicculture org Smith Bonnie G 2004 Women s History in Global Perspective University of Illinois Press p 66 ISBN 978 0 252 02931 8 Retrieved 14 December 2015 The pre Christian observance obviously influenced the Christian celebration of All Hallows Eve just as the Taoist festival affected the newer Buddhist Ullambana festival Although the Christian version of All Saints and All Souls Days came to emphasize prayers for the dead visits to graves and the role of the living assuring the safe passage to heaven of their departed loved ones older notions never disappeared Nicholas Rogers 2002 Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 516896 9 Retrieved 31 October 2011 Halloween and the Day of the Dead share a common origin in the Christian commemoration of the dead on All Saints and All Souls Day But both are thought to embody strong pre Christian beliefs In the case of Halloween the Celtic celebration of Samhain is critical to its pagan legacy a claim that has been foregrounded in recent years by both new age enthusiasts and the evangelical Right Austrian information 1965 Retrieved 31 October 2011 The feasts of Hallowe en or All Hallows Eve and the devotions to the dead on All Saints and All Souls Day are both mixtures of old Celtic Druid and other pagan customs intertwined with Christian practice Merriam Webster s Encyclopaedia of World Religions Merriam Webster 1999 p 408 ISBN 978 0 87779 044 0 Retrieved 31 October 2011 Halloween also called All Hallows Eve holy or hallowed evening observed on October 31 the eve of All Saints Day The Irish pre Christian observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows Eve celebrated on the same date Roberts Brian K 1987 The Making of the English Village A Study in Historical Geography Longman Scientific amp Technical ISBN 978 0 582 30143 6 Retrieved 14 December 2015 Time out of time when the barriers between this world and the next were down the dead returned from the grave and gods and strangers from the underworld walked abroad was a twice yearly reality on dates Christianised as All Hallows Eve and All Hallows Day O Donnell Hugh Foley Malcolm 18 December 2008 Treat or Trick Halloween in a Globalising World Cambridge Scholars Publishing pp 91 92 ISBN 978 1 4438 0265 9 Hutton 1996 363 identifies Rhys as a key figure who along with another Oxbridge academic James Frazer romanticised the notion of Samhain and exaggerated its influence on Halloween Hutton argues that Rhys had no substantiated documentary evidence for claiming that Halloween was the Celtic new year but inferred it from contemporary folklore in Wales and Ireland Moreover he argues that Rhys thought that he was vindicated when he paid a subsequent visit to the Isle of Man and found its people sometimes called 31 October New Year s Night Hog unnaa and practised customs which were usually associated with 31 December In fact the flimsy nature of all this evidence ought to have been apparent from the start The divinatory and purificatory rituals on 31 October could be explained by a connection to the most eerie of Christian feasts All Saints or by the fact that they ushered in the most dreaded of seasons The many Hog unnaa customs were also widely practised on the conventional New Year s Eve and Rhys was uncomfortably aware that they might simply have been transferred in recent years from then Hallowe en to increase merriment and fundraising on the latter He got round this problem by asserting that in his opinion based upon no evidence at all the transfer had been the other way round Hutton points out that Rhy s unsubstantiated notions were further popularised by Frazer who used them to support an idea of his own that Samhain as well as being the origin of Halloween had also been a pagan Celtic feast of the dead a notion used to account for the element of ghosts witches and other unworldly spirits commonly featured within Halloween Halloween s preoccupation with the netherworld and with the supernatural owes more to the Christian festival of All Saints or All Souls rather than vice versa Barr Beth Allison 28 October 2016 Guess what Halloween is more Christian than Pagan The Washington Post Retrieved 15 October 2020 It is the medieval Christian festivals of All Saints and All Souls that provide our firmest foundation for Halloween From emphasizing dead souls both good and evil to decorating skeletons lighting candles for processions building bonfires to ward off evil spirits organizing community feasts and even encouraging carnival practices like costumes the medieval and early modern traditions of Hallowtide fit well with our modern holiday So what does this all mean It means that when we celebrate Halloween we are definitely participating in a tradition with deep historical roots But while those roots are firmly situated in the medieval Christian past their historical connection to paganism is rather more tenuous Moser Stefan 29 October 2010 Kein Trick or Treat bei Salzburgs Kelten in German Salzburger Nachrichten Archived from the original on 17 March 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2017 Die Kelten haben gar nichts mit Halloween zu tun entkraftet Stefan Moser Direktor des Keltenmuseums Hallein einen weit verbreiteten Mythos Moser sieht die Ursprunge von Halloween insgesamt in einem christlichen Brauch nicht in einem keltischen Doring Alois Bolinius Erich 31 October 2006 Samhain Halloween Allerheiligen in German FDP Emden Die luckenhaften religionsgeschichtlichen Uberlieferungen die auf die Neuzeit begrenzte historische Dimension der Halloween Kultauspragung vor allem auch die Halloween Metaphorik legen nahe dass wir umdenken mussen Halloween geht nicht auf das heidnische Samhain zuruck sondern steht in Bezug zum christlichen Totengedenkfest Allerheiligen Allerseelen Horandner Editha 2005 Halloween in der Steiermark und anderswo in German LIT Verlag Munster pp 8 12 30 ISBN 978 3 8258 8889 3 Der Wunsch nach einer Tradition deren Anfange sich in grauer Vorzeit verlieren ist bei Dachleuten wie laien gleichmassig verbreitet Abgesehen von Irrtumern wie die Herleitung des Fests in ungebrochener Tradition seit 2000 Jahren ist eine mangelnde vertrautheit mit der heimischen Folklore festzustellen Allerheiligen war lange vor der Halloween invasion ein wichtiger Brauchtermin und ist das ncoh heute So wie viele heimische Brauche generell als fruchtbarkeitsbringend und damonenaustreibend interpretiert werden was trottz aller Aufklarungsarbeit nicht auszurotten ist begegnet uns Halloween als heidnisches Fest Aber es wird nicht als solches inszeniert Doring Volkskundler Alois 2011 Susses Saures olle Kamellen Ist Halloween schon wieder out in German Westdeutscher Rundfunk Archived from the original on 14 June 2011 Retrieved 12 November 2015 Dr Alois Doring ist wissenschaftlicher Referent fur Volkskunde beim LVR Institut fur Landeskunde und Regionalgeschichte Bonn Er schrieb zahlreiche Bucher uber Brauche im Rheinland darunter das Nachschlagewerk Rheinische Brauche durch das Jahr Darin widerspricht Doring der These Halloween sei ursprunglich ein keltisch heidnisches Totenfest Vielmehr stamme Halloween von den britischen Inseln der Begriff leite sich ab von All Hallows eve Abend vor Allerheiligen Irische Einwanderer hatten das Fest nach Amerika gebracht so Doring von wo aus es als amerikanischer Brauch nach Europa zuruckkehrte All Hallows Eve British Broadcasting Corporation 20 October 2011 Retrieved 29 October 2020 However there are supporters of the view that Hallowe en as the eve of All Saints Day originated entirely independently of Samhain and some question the existence of a specific pan Celtic religious festival which took place on 31st October 1st November a b c d Rogers Nicholas Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night Oxford University Press 2002 pp 49 50 ISBN 0 19 516896 8 a b Brunvand Jan editor American Folklore An Encyclopedia Routledge 2006 p 749 a b Colavito Jason Knowing Fear Science Knowledge and the Development of the Horror Genre McFarland 2007 pp 151 152 a b c Rogers Nicholas 2002 Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night p 164 New York Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 516896 8 a b c Paul Fieldhouse 17 April 2017 Food Feasts and Faith An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions ABC CLIO p 256 ISBN 978 1 61069 412 4 Skog Jason 2008 Teens in Finland Capstone p 31 ISBN 978 0 7565 3405 9 Most funerals are Lutheran and nearly 98 percent of all funerals take place in a church It is customary to take pictures of funerals or even videotape them To Finns death is a part of the cycle of life and a funeral is another special occasion worth remembering In fact during All Hallow s Eve and Christmas Eve cemeteries are known as valomeri or seas of light Finns visit cemeteries and light candles in remembrance of the deceased All Hallows Eve Service PDF Duke University 31 October 2012 Archived from the original PDF on 5 October 2013 Retrieved 31 May 2014 About All Hallows Eve Tonight is the eve of All Saints Day the festival in the Church that recalls the faith and witness of the men and women who have come before us The service celebrates our continuing communion with them and memorializes the recently deceased The early church followed the Jewish custom that a new day began at sundown thus feasts and festivals in the church were observed beginning the night before The Christian Observances of Halloween National Republic 15 33 5 May 2009 Among the European nations the beautiful custom of lighting candles for the dead was always a part of the All Hallow s Eve festival Hynes Mary Ellen 1993 Companion to the Calendar Liturgy Training Publications p 160 ISBN 978 1 56854 011 5 In most of Europe Halloween is strictly a religious event Sometimes in North America the church s traditions are lost or confused Kernan Joe 30 October 2013 Not so spooky after all The roots of Halloween are tamer than you think Cranston Herald Archived from the original on 26 November 2015 Retrieved 31 October 2015 By the early 20th century Halloween like Christmas was commercialized Pre made costumes decorations and special candy all became available The Christian origins of the holiday were downplayed Braden Donna R Village Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield 1988 Leisure and entertainment in America Henry Ford Museum amp Greenfield Village ISBN 978 0 933728 32 5 Retrieved 2 June 2014 Halloween a holiday with religious origins but increasingly secularized as celebrated in America came to assume major proportions as a children s festivity Santino p 85 All Hallows Eve Diana Swift Anglican Journal Mahon Brid 1991 Land of Milk and Honey The Story of Traditional Irish Food amp Drink Poolbeg Press p 138 ISBN 978 1 85371 142 8 The vigil of the feast is Halloween the night when charms and incantations were powerful when people looked into the future and when feasting and merriment were ordained Up to recent time this was a day of abstinence when according to church ruling no flesh meat was allowed Colcannon apple cake and barm brack as well as apples and nuts were part of the festive fare Fieldhouse Paul 17 April 2017 Food Feasts and Faith An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions ABC CLIO p 254 ISBN 978 1 61069 412 4 Archived from the original on 31 October 2017 Retrieved 13 August 2017 In Ireland dishes based on potatoes and other vegetables were associated with Halloween as meat was forbidden during the Catholic vigil and fast leading up to All Saint s Day Luck Steve 1998 All Saints Day The American Desk Encyclopedia Oxford University Press p 22 ISBN 978 0 19 521465 9 a b c DOST Hallow Evin Dsl ac uk Archived from the original on 29 April 2014 Retrieved 13 October 2013 The A to Z of Anglicanism Colin Buchanan Scarecrow Press p 8 All Hallows Eve Oxford English Dictionary Online ed Oxford University Press ealra halgena maesseaefen Subscription or participating institution membership required Halloween Oxford English Dictionary Online ed Oxford University Press Subscription or participating institution membership required Thomson Thomas Annandale Charles 1896 A History of the Scottish People from the Earliest Times From the Union of the kingdoms 1706 to the present time Blackie Retrieved 31 October 2011 Of the stated rustic festivals peculiar to Scotland the most important was Hallowe en a contraction for All hallow Evening or the evening of All Saints Day the annual return of which was a season for joy and festivity E EN Een Scottish National Dictionary 1700 Vol III 1952 snd8629 a b c d Hopwood James A 2019 Keeping Christmas Finding Joy in a Season of Excess and Strife Wipf and Stock Publishers p 47 ISBN 978 1 5326 9537 7 The name Halloween of course is a contraction of All Hallow s Eve That s the eve of All Saints Day or All Hallows Day as it was popularly known in Britain As with Christmas Eve and the Easter vigil the celebration of All Saints Day began with a service the night before on All Hallow s Eve With All Souls Day on November 2 it formed the feast of Allhallowtide All Saints Day began in fourth century Rome as a festival honoring Christian martyrs By the eighth century it was expanded to all those remembered as saints and the date of its observance was moved from May 13 to November 1 That move of course put it smack dab on top of Samhain in Britain But the decision to move the date was not made in Britain it was made in Rome where there was no Samhain or anything like it There is no evidence that any Samhain customs rubbed off on Halloween anywhere because there is no evidence of any Samhain customs at all Beth Allison Barr 28 October 2016 Guess what Halloween is more Christian than Pagan The Washington Post The Washington Post Retrieved 31 October 2018 It is the medieval Christian festivals of All Saints and All Souls that provide our firmest foundation for Halloween From emphasizing dead souls both good and evil to decorating skeletons lighting candles for processions building bonfires to ward off evil spirits organizing community feasts and even encouraging carnival practices like costumes the medieval and early modern traditions of Hallowtide fit well with our modern holiday a b Rogers Nicholas Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night Oxford University Press 2002 pp 22 27 ISBN 0 19 516896 8 New Proclamation Commentary on Feasts Holy Days and Other Celebrations Bill Doggett Gordon W Lathrop Fortress Press p 92 Benham William 1887 The Dictionary of Religion An Encyclopedia of Christian and Other Religious Doctrines Denominations Sects Heresies Ecclesiastical Terms History Biography Etc Cassell p 1085 Vigils were kept at least till midnight before the feasts of martyrs and those of Easter Eve and Christmas Eve were prolonged till cock crow Holy Women Holy Men Celebrating the Saints Church Publishing Inc 2010 p 662 ISBN 978 0 89869 678 3 Saunders William All Saints and All Souls Catholic Education Resource Center Archived from the original on 18 September 2016 Retrieved 19 September 2016 Melton J Gordon editor Religious Celebrations An Encyclopedia of Holidays Festivals Solemn Observances and Spiritual Commemorations Volume 1 ABC CLIO 2011 p 22 Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 All Saints Festival of Encyclopaedia Britannica 11th ed Cambridge University Press All Saints Day The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church 3rd edition ed E A Livingstone Oxford University Press 1997 pp 41 42 McClendon Charles Old Saint Peter s and the Iconoclastic Controversy in Old Saint Peter s Rome Cambridge University Press 2013 pp 215 216 Quote Soon after his election in 731 Gregory III summoned a synod to gather on 1 November in the basilica of Saint Peter s in order to respond to the policy of iconoclasm that he believed was being promoted by the Byzantine Emperor Six months later in April of the following year 732 the pope assembled another synod in the basilica to consecrate a new oratory dedicated to the Saviour the Virgin Mary and all the saints o Carragain Eamonn Ritual and the Rood Liturgical Images and the Old English Poems of the Dream of the Rood Tradition University of Toronto Press 2005 p 258 Quote Gregory III began his reign with a synod in St Peter s 1 November 731 which formally condemned iconoclasm on the Sunday before Easter 12 April 732 Gregory convoked yet another synod and at the synod inaugurated an oratory Dedicated to all saints this oratory was designed to hold relics of the holy apostles and all the holy martyrs and confessors Farmer David The Oxford Dictionary of Saints Fifth Edition Revised Oxford University Press 2011 p 14 a b c d Hutton p 364 New Catholic Encyclopedia Second ed 2003 pp 242 243 ISBN 0 7876 4004 2 a b MacCulloch John Arnott 1911 The Religion of the Ancient Celts Chapter 10 The Cult of the Dead Archived 29 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine Burns Paul editor Butler s Saint for the Day Liturgical Press 2007 p 516 Ramdin Ron Arising from Bondage A History of the Indo Caribbean People New York University Press p 241 The World Review Volume 4 University of Minnesota p 255 Rogers Nicholas 2001 Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night Oxford University Press pp 28 30 ISBN 978 0 19 514691 2 a b c d e Halloween Encyclopaedia Britannica Archived from the original on 30 October 2012 Retrieved 25 October 2012 a b Hutton pp 374 375 a b c d Miles Clement A 1912 Christmas in Ritual and Tradition Chapter 7 All Hallow Tide to Martinmas Archived 4 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine a b Mary Mapes Dodge ed 1883 St Nicholas Magazine Scribner amp Company p 93 Soul cakes which the rich gave to the poor at the Halloween season in return for which the recipients prayed for the souls of the givers and their friends And this custom became so favored in popular esteem that for a long time it was a regular observance in the country towns of England for small companies to go from parish to parish begging soul cakes by singing under the windows some such verse as this Soul souls for a soul cake Pray you good mistress a soul cake DeMello Margo 2012 A Cultural Encyclopedia of the Human Face ABC CLIO p 167 ISBN 978 1 59884 617 1 Trick or treating began as souling an English and Irish tradition in which the poor wearing masks would go door to door and beg for soul cakes in exchange for people s dead relatives Cleene Marcel Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe Man amp Culture 2002 p 108 Quote Soul cakes were small cakes baked as food for the deceased or offered for the salvation of their souls They were therefore offered at funerals and feasts of the dead laid on graves or given to the poor as representatives of the dead The baking of these soul cakes is a universal practice Levene Alysa 2016 Cake A Slice of History Pegasus Books p 44 ISBN 978 1 68177 108 3 Like the perennial favourites hot cross buns they were often marked with a cross to indicate that they were baked as alms The Two Gentlemen of Verona Act 2 Scene 1 a b Pulliam June Fonseca Anthony J 2016 Ghosts in Popular Culture and Legend ABC CLIO p 145 ISBN 978 1 4408 3491 2 Since the 16th century costumes have become a central part of Halloween traditions Perhaps the most common traditional Halloween costume is that of the ghost This is likely because when Halloween customs began to be influenced by Catholicism the incorporation of the themes of All Hallows and All Souls Day would have emphasized visitations from the spirit world over the motifs of spirits and fairies The baking and sharing of souls cakes was introduced around the 15th century in some cultures the poor would go door to door to collect them in exchange for praying for the dead a practice called souling often carrying lanterns made of hollowed out turnips Around the 16th century the practice of going house to house in disguise a practice called guising to ask for food began and was often accompanied by recitation of traditional verses a practice called mumming Wearing costumes another tradition has many possible explanations such as it was done to confuse the spirits or souls who visited the earth or who rose from local graveyards to engage in what was called a Danse Macabre basically a large party among the dead a b Rogers p 57 a b Carter Albert Howard Petro Jane Arbuckle 1998 Rising from the Flames The Experience of the Severely Burned University of Pennsylvania Press p 100 ISBN 978 0 8122 1517 5 Halloween incorporated into the Christian year as the eve of All Saints Day marked the return of the souls of the departed and the release of devils who could move freely on that night Fires lit on that night served to prevent the influence of such spirits and to provide omens for the future Modern children go from house to house at Halloween with flashlights powered by electric batteries while jack o lanterns perhaps with an actual candle but often with a lightbulb glow from windows and porches Guiley Rosemary 2008 The Encyclopedia of Witches Witchcraft and Wicca Infobase Publishing p 183 ISBN 978 1 4381 2684 5 According to most legends the jack o lantern is a wandering soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell In Ireland children who are caught outdoors after dark are told to wear their jackets inside out in order not to be lured astray by a jack o lantern In Sweden the spirit is believed to be the soul of an unbaptized child who tries to lead travelers to water in hopes of receiving baptism In American lore the jack o lantern is associated with withces and the Halloween custom of trick or treating It is customary for trick or treaters to carry pumpkin jack o lanterns to frighten away evil spirits Santino The Hallowed Eve p 95 a b c d Frazer James George 1922 The Golden Bough A new abridgement Oxford University Press 1998 pp 380 383 Ruth Hutchison and Ruth Constance Adams 1951 Every Day s a Holiday Harper 1951 pp 236 a b c d e Morton Lisa 15 September 2013 Trick or Treat A History of Halloween Reaktion Books p 129 ISBN 978 1 78023 055 9 Prince Sorie Conteh 2009 Traditionalists Muslims and Christians in Africa Interreligious Encounters and Dialogue Cambria Press ISBN 978 1 60497 596 3 Archived from the original on 31 October 2017 Retrieved 31 October 2011 Bannatyne Lesley 1998 Halloween An American Holiday an American History Pelican Publishing Company p 19 ISBN 978 1 4556 0553 8 Villagers were also encouraged to masquerade on this day not to frighten unwelcome spirits but to honor Christian saints On All Saints Day churches throughout Europe and the British Isles displayed relics of their patron saints Poor churches could not afford genuine relics and instead had processions in which parishioners dressed as saints angels and devils It served the new church by giving an acceptable Christian basis to the custom of dressing up on Halloween Morrow Ed 2001 The Halloween Handbook Kensington Publishing Corporation p 19 ISBN 978 0 8065 2227 2 Another contributor to the custom of dressing up at Halloween was the old Irish practice of marking All Hallows Day with religious pageants that recounted biblical events These were common during the Middle Ages all across Europe The featured players dressed as saints and angels but there were also plenty of roles for demons who had more fun capering acting devilish and playing to the crows The pageant began inside the church then moved by procession to the churchyard where it continued long into the night Eve of All Saints Using Common Worship Times and Seasons All Saints to Candlemas David Kennedy Church House Publishing p 42 Bannatyne Lesley Halloween An American Holiday an American History Pelican Publishing 1998 p 9 Perry Edward Baxter Descriptive Analyses of Piano Works For the Use of Teachers Players and Music Clubs Theodore Presser Company 1902 p 276 Allmand Christopher 1998 The New Cambridge Medieval History Volume 7 c 1415 c 1500 Cambridge University Press p 210 ISBN 978 0 521 38296 0 Archived from the original on 23 April 2016 Retrieved 19 October 2015 Reimer Margaret Loewen 2018 Approaching the Divine Signs and Symbols of the Christian Faith Wipf and Stock Publishers p 85 ISBN 978 1 5326 5675 0 Christians in Europe envisioned a danse macabre a hideous dance by the spirits of the dead who arose from the churchyards for a wild carnival each year This dance commonly depicted on the walls of cathedrals monasteries and cemeteries may well be the origin of the macabre costumes we don on Halloween DeSpelder Lynne Ann Strickland Albert Lee 2009 The Last Dance Encountering Death and Dying McGraw Hill Education p 107 ISBN 978 0 07 340546 9 More subtly images associated with the danse macabre persist in the form of skeletons and other scary regalia found on children s Halloween costumes Books amp Culture A Christian Review Christianity Today 1999 p 12 Archived from the original on 23 April 2016 Sometimes enacted as at village pageants the danse macabre was also performed as court masques the courtiers dressing up as corpses from various strata of society both the name and the observance began liturgically as All Hallows Eve Hutton p 372 Santino Jack 21 October 2021 The Hallowed Eve Dimensions of Culture in a Calendar Festival in Northern Ireland University Press of Kentucky ISBN 978 0 8131 8458 6 The Episcopal Church its teaching and worship Latta Griswold E S Gorham p 110 a b Mosteller Angie 2 July 2014 Christian Origins of Halloween Rose Publishing ISBN 978 1 59636 535 3 In Protestant regions souling remained an important occasion for soliciting food and money from rich neighbors in preparation for the coming cold and dark months Aston Margaret Broken Idols of the English Reformation Cambridge University Press 2015 pp 475 477 Medieval Celebrations Your Guide to Planning and Hosting Spectacular Feasts Parties Weddings and Renaissance Fairs Daniel Diehl Mark Donnelly Stackpole Books p 17 Rogers Nicholas Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night Oxford University Press 2002 pp 37 38 ISBN 0 19 516896 8 Hutton Ronald 2001 Stations of the Sun A History of the Ritual Year in Britain Oxford University Press pp 369 373 ISBN 978 0 19 157842 7 Fires were indeed lit in England on All Saints Day notably in Lancashire and may well ultimately have descended from the same rites but were essentially party of a Christian ceremony families still assembled at the midnight before All Saints Day in the early nineteenth century Each did so on a hill near its homestead one person holding a large bunch of burning straw on the end of a fork The rest in a circle around and prayed for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames burned out The author who recorded this custom added that it gradually died out in the latter part of the century but that before it had been very common and at nearby Whittingham such fires could be seen all around the horizon at Hallowe en He went on to say that the name Purgatory Field found across northern Lancashire testified to an even wider distribution and that the rite itself was called Teen lay O Donnell Hugh and Foley Malcolm Treat or Trick Halloween in a Globalising World Archived 31 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2008 p 35 The Catholic World Vol 138 A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science Vol 138 Paulist Press 1934 There is proof that this shifting of customs from one day to another really took place For until the end of the eighteenth century children in some Derbyshire parishes instead of lighting bonfires with the rest of England on November 5th lit their furze fires called tindles on All Souls night And even then the educated folk of the districts concerned declared that these fires were a relic of papistical days when they were lit at night to guide the poor souls back to earth a b Morton Lisa The Halloween Encyclopedia McFarland 2003 p 9 Fieldhouse Paul 17 April 2017 Food Feasts and Faith An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions 2 volumes ABC CLIO p 19 ISBN 978 1 61069 412 4 Richard Ford 1855 A Handbook for Travellers in Spain John Murray p 208 Boenig Robert Anglo Saxon Spirituality Selected Writings Paulist Press 2000 p 7 Santino Jack The Hallowed Eve Dimensions of Culture in a Calendar Festival of Northern Ireland University Press of Kentucky 1998 p 95 Rogers Nicholas Samhain and the Celtic Origins of Halloween Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night Oxford University Press 2002 pp 11 21 ISBN 0 19 516896 8 How Halloween Traditions Are Rooted in the Ancient Pagan Festival of Samhain Time Retrieved 4 December 2019 A Pocket Guide To Superstitions of the British Isles Publisher Penguin Books Ltd Reprint edition 4 November 2004 ISBN 0 14 051549 6 All Hallows Eve Archived 3 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine BBC Retrieved 31 October 2011 o hogain Daithi Myth Legend amp Romance An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition Prentice Hall Press 1991 p 402 a b c Hutton Ronald The Stations of the Sun A History of the Ritual Year in Britain Oxford University Press 1996 pp 365 369 Snap Apple Night or All Hallow Eve January 1 1845 Metmuseum org Retrieved 19 October 2021 In October 1832 Daniel Maclise attended a Halloween party in Blarney Ireland and the next summer exhibited a painting at London s Royal Academy of Arts titled Snap Apple Night or All Hallow Eve a b Monaghan Patricia The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore Infobase Publishing 2004 p 407 Hutton p 361 Monaghan p 41 O Halpin Andy Ireland An Oxford Archaeological Guide Oxford University Press 2006 p 236 Monaghan Patricia 2014 The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore Infobase publishing p 167 Monaghan Patricia 1 January 2009 The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore Infobase Publishing p 167 ISBN 978 1 4381 1037 0 Archived from the original on 23 April 2016 Retrieved 19 October 2015 They were both respected and feared Their backs towards us their faces away from us and may God and Mary save us from harm was a prayer spoken whenever one ventured near their dwellings Santino p 105 Danaher Kevin The Year in Ireland Irish Calendar Customs Mercier Press 1972 p 200 Evans Wentz Walter 1911 The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries p 44 McNeill F Marian 1961 The Silver Bough Volume 3 p 34 Halloween Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Chicago Encyclopaedia Britannica 2009 Credo Reference Web 21 September 2012 a b McNeill The Silver Bough Volume 3 pp 11 46 Hutton p 379 a b Hutton p 380 Danaher Kevin Irish Folk Tradition and the Celtic Calendar in The Celtic Consciousness ed Robert O Driscoll Braziller 1981 pp 218 227 Frazer James George 1922 The Golden Bough A Study in Magic and Religion Chapter 63 Part 1 On the Fire festivals in general Archived 12 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine MacCulloch John Arnott 1911 The Religion of the Ancient Celts Chapter 18 Festivals Archived 12 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Hutton pp 366 380 Halloween traditions Welsh Government 2016 Archived from the original on 2 October 2017 Retrieved 2 October 2017 Rosinsky Natalie M 2002 Halloween Capstone Publishers p 8 ISBN 978 0 7565 0392 5 Christian leaders made old Celtic and Roman customs into new Christian ones Bonfires were once lighted against evil spirits Now they kept away the devil MacDonald Sarah Service Catholic News 19 October 2017 From turnips to potatoes to pumpkins Irish folklife expert says Jack O Lanterns began in Ireland a b McNeill F Marian Hallowe en its origin rites and ceremonies in the Scottish tradition Albyn Press 1970 pp 29 31 a b c d e f g h i j Hutton pp 379 383 Hole Christina British Folk Customs Hutchinson 1976 p 91 Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Volume 2 1855 pp 308 309 Palmer Kingsley Oral folk tales of Wessex David amp Charles 1973 pp 87 88 Wilson David Scofield Rooted in America Foodlore of Popular Fruits and Vegetables Univ of Tennessee Press 1999 p 154 Bryan van Gorder 22 October 2018 THE QUEER HISTORY AND PRESENT OF NYC S VILLAGE HALLOWEEN PARADE Logo TV Retrieved 10 November 2022 Ott Cindy Pumpkin The Curious History of an American Icon University of Washington Press 2012 p 42 Bannatyne p 45 Encyclopaedia Londinensis or Universal dictionary of arts sciences and literature Volume 21 John Wilkes R G Gunnell and Co p 544 Santino Jack All Around the Year Holidays and Celebrations in American Life University of Illinois Press 1995 p 153 Morton Lisa 2003 The Halloween Encyclopedia McFarland ISBN 978 0 7864 1524 3 Rogers Nicholas Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night Oxford University Press 2002 p 74 ISBN 0 19 516896 8 Is Halloween celebrated in Asia Asia Media Centre New Zealand Retrieved 31 October 2022 The Encyclopedia of Witches Witchcraft and Wicca Infobase Publishing p 183 Dante s Commedia and the Poetics of Christian Catabasis Lee Foust ProQuest p 15 The Guinness Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits Rosemary Guiley Guinness World Records Limited p 178 Encyclopedia of Death and Dying Glennys Howarth Oliver Leaman Taylor amp Francis p 320 a b The Oxford companion to American food and drink p 269 Oxford University Press 2007 Retrieved 17 February 2011 a b c Leslie Frank 5 February 2009 Frank Leslie s popular monthly Volume 40 November 1895 pp 540 543 Archived from the original on 11 May 2011 Retrieved 23 October 2011 Nathaniel Hawthorne The Great Carbuncle in Twice Told Tales 1837 Hide it the great carbuncle under thy cloak say st thou Why it will gleam through the holes and make thee look like a jack o lantern As late as 1900 an article on Thanksgiving entertaining recommended a lit jack o lantern as part of the festivities The Day We Celebrate Thanksgiving Treated Gastronomically and Socially Archived 5 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times 24 November 1895 p 27 Odd Ornaments for Table Archived 5 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times 21 October 1900 p 12 The Rhetoric of Vision Essays on Charles Williams Charles Adolph Huttar Peter J Schakel Bucknell University Press p 155 Rogers Nicholas 2002 Halloween Goes to Hollywood Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night pp 103 124 New York Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 516896 8 A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art Gertrude Grace Sill Simon amp Schuster p 64 In flagrante collecto Marilynn Gelfman Karp Abrams p 299 School Year Church Year Peter Mazar Liturgy Training Publications p 115 Mayne John Halloween PoetryExplorer Retrieved 24 November 2022 Thomas Crawford Burns a study of the poems and songs Crawford Thomas 1960 Burns A Study of the Poems and Songs ISBN 978 0 8047 0055 9 Archived from the original on 23 April 2016 Retrieved 27 November 2018 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Stanford University Press 1960 Simpson Jacqueline All Saints Day in Encyclopedia of Death and Dying Howarth G and Leeman O 2001 London Routledge ISBN 0 415 18825 3 p 14 Halloween is closely associated in folklore with death and the supernatural Herberholz Donald Herberholz Barbara 1990 Artworks for Elementary Teachers Developing Artistic and Perceptual Awareness W C Brown p 16 Faces Around the World A Cultural Encyclopedia of the Human Face Margo DeMello ABC CLIO p 225 A Student s Guide to A2 Performance Studies for the OCR Specification John Pymm Rhinegold Publishing Ltd p 28 Folklore An Encyclopedia of Beliefs Customs Tales Music and Art Volume 1 Thomas Green ABC CLIO p 566 Interacting communities studies on some aspects of migration and urban ethnology Zsuzsa Szarvas Hungarian Ethnographic Society p 314 The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature David Scott Kastan Oxford University Press p 47 Mumming Play Encyclopaedia Britannica Carmichael Sherman 2012 Legends and Lore of South Carolina The History Press p 70 ISBN 978 1 60949 748 4 The practice of dressing up and going door to door for treats dates back to the middle ages and the practice of souling Hood Karen Jean Matsko 1 January 2014 Halloween Delights Whispering Pine Press International p 33 ISBN 978 1 59434 181 6 The tradition continued in some areas of northern England as late as the 1930s with children going from door to door souling for cakes or money by singing a song a b c d Ten trick or treating facts for impressive bonfire chats The Irish Times 31 October 2014 Scotland and Ireland started tricking A few decades later a practice called guising was in full swing in Scotland and Ireland Short for disguising children would go out from door to door dressed in costume and rather than pledging to pray they would tell a joke sing a song or perform another sort of trick in exchange for food or money The expression trick or treat has only been used at front doors for the last 10 to 15 years Before that Help the Halloween Party seems to have been the most popular phrase to holler a b Definition of guising Collins English Dictionary in Scotland and N England the practice or custom of disguising oneself in fancy dress often with a mask and visiting people s houses esp at Halloween Rogers Nicholas 2002 Coming Over Halloween in North America Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night p 76 Oxford University Press 2002 ISBN 0 19 514691 3 Kelley Ruth Edna The Book of Hallowe en Boston Lothrop Lee and Shepard Co 1919 chapter 15 p 127 Hallowe en in America Archived 23 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Kelley Ruth Edna Hallowe en in America Archived from the original on 14 October 2013 Theo E Wright A Halloween Story St Nicholas October 1915 p 1144 Mae McGuire Telford What Shall We Do Halloween Ladies Home Journal October 1920 p 135 a b Trick or Treat Is Demand Herald Lethbridge Alberta 4 November 1927 p 5 dateline Blackie Alberta 3 November For examples see the websites Postcard amp Greeting Card Museum Halloween Gallery Archived 24 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine Antique Hallowe en Postcards Archived 19 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine Vintage Halloween Postcards Archived 23 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine Halloween Pranks Keep Police on Hop Oregon Journal Portland Oregon 1 November 1934 and The Gangsters of Tomorrow The Helena Independent Helena Montana 2 November 1934 p 4 The Chicago Tribune also mentioned door to door begging in Aurora Illinois on Halloween in 1934 although not by the term trick or treating Front Views and Profiles column Chicago Tribune 3 November 1934 p 17 Moss Doris Hudson A Victim of the Window Soaping Brigade The American Home November 1939 p 48 Bluff Park Heather Jones Skaggs Arcadia Publishing p 117 Trunk or Treat The Chicago Tribune Suggested Themes for Trunks for Trunk or Treat Dail R Faircloth First Baptist Church of Royal Palm Beach Trunk or Treat focuses on fun children s safety Desert Valley Times Trunk or Treat Halloween Tailgating Grows Fernanda Santos The New York Times Bradley Michael 24 October 2018 A very Derry Halloween a carnival of frights fireworks and parade The Guardian Retrieved 25 October 2018 Miller Marian 31 October 1932 Halloween Jollity Within Reason Need The Morning Oregonian p 8 Quote Trick or treat the youthful mischief maker will say this evening probably as he rings the doorbell of a neighbor School Year Church Year Peter Mazar Liturgy Training Publications p 114 Memento Mori Museum of Art and Archaeology University of Missouri Beauchemin Genevieve CTV ca News Staff 31 May 2006 UNICEF to end Halloween orange box program CTV Archived from the original on 16 October 2007 Retrieved 29 October 2006 History of the Trick or Treat for UNICEF Campaign UNICEF Canada 2008 Archived from the original on 4 June 2009 Retrieved 25 October 2009 Village Halloween Parade History of the Parade Archived from the original on 27 July 2014 Retrieved 19 September 2014 Fadel Leila 29 October 2019 Cultural Appropriation A Perennial Issue On Halloween NPR Archived from the original on 29 October 2019 Retrieved 14 November 2020 Escobar Sam Robin Marci 5 October 2020 15 Offensive Halloween Costumes That Shouldn t Exist Good Housekeeping Archived from the original on 13 October 2020 Retrieved 16 October 2020 Park Sumner 2 October 2020 Pinterest is prohibiting culturally inappropriate Halloween costumes Fox News Archived from the original on 22 October 2020 Retrieved 16 October 2020 Keshner Andrew 17 October 2018 Instagram loving pets owners will spend nearly 500M on animal costumes this Halloween MarketWatch Retrieved 17 October 2018 Diehl Daniel Donnelly Mark P 13 April 2011 Medieval Celebrations Your Guide to Planning and Hosting Spectacular Feasts Parties Weddings and Renaissance Fairs Stackpole Books p 17 ISBN 978 0 8117 4430 0 All Hallows Eve A time of spiritual unrest when the souls of the dead along with ghosts and evil spirits were believed to walk the land Church bells were run and fires lit to guide these souls on their way and deflect them from haunting honest Christian folk Barns and homes were blessed to protect people and livestock from the effects of witches who were believed to accompany the malignant spirits as they traveld the earth Although a rare few continued to divine the future cast spells and tell ghost stories in rural communities woe to anyone who was denounced to the church for engaging in such activities These may seem like innocent fun today but it was deadly serious stuff during the Middle Ages MacLeod Sharon Celtic Myth and Religion McFarland 2011 pp 61 107 Apple dookers make record attempt Archived 28 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine BBC News 2 October 2008 Danaher Kevin The Year in Ireland Irish Calendar Customs Mercier Press 1972 pp 202 205 Danaher 1972 p 223 McNeill F Marian 1961 1990 The Silver Bough Volume III William MacLellan Glasgow ISBN 0 948474 04 1 pp 11 46 Danaher 1972 p 219 McNeill 1961 The Silver Bough Volume III pp 33 34 McNeill 1961 The Silver Bough Volume III p 34 Hollister Helen 1917 Halloween Frolics Parlor Games for the Wise and Otherwise Philadelphia Penn Publishing Company p 98 Archived from the original on 8 December 2015 Vintage Halloween Cards Vintage Holiday Crafts 21 January 2008 Archived from the original on 29 September 2009 Retrieved 28 October 2009 Preschool Halloween Fast Facts www everythingpreschool com Traditional Irish Halloween games try to marry off young girls IrishCentral com 15 October 2018 Halloween in Irish Folklore Irish Archaeology irisharchaeology ie 30 October 2015 Tricks and treats Irish Examiner 30 October 2010 Clay www cliffsnotes com Madden Ed 31 October 2008 Teaching Joyce James Joyce Quarterly 46 1 133 doi 10 1353 jjq 0 0133 S2CID 201751292 via Project MUSE Attridge Derek Attridge Professor of English Derek 16 March 2000 Joyce Effects On Language Theory and History Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 77788 9 via Google Books McNeill 1961 The Silver Bough Volume III p 34 Greg Ryan 17 September 2008 A Model of Mayhem Hudson Valley Magazine Archived from the original on 11 May 2011 Retrieved 6 October 2008 Warner Adam 27 October 2014 The History of Haunted Houses A Fight for Frights as Tastes Change NBC Bay Area Archived from the original on 27 October 2014 Retrieved 21 July 2017 McKendry Bekah March 2014 The History of Haunted Houses America Haunts Archived from the original on 8 March 2014 Retrieved 21 July 2014 Morton Lisa 28 September 2012 Trick or Treat A History of Halloween paperback United Kingdom Reaktion Books ISBN 978 1 78023 047 4 Surrell Jason 11 August 2009 Haunted Mansion From The Magic Kingdom To The Movies paperback Disney Editions ISBN 978 1 4231 1895 4 Celestino Mike 28 September 2016 Knott s Scary Farm remains the ideal Southern California Halloween theme park event for the 2016 season Inside The Magic Distant Creations Group LLC Archived from the original on 30 September 2016 Retrieved 22 July 2017 Lum Kathryn Gin 30 October 2014 These evangelical haunted houses are designed to show sinners that they re going to hell The Washington Post Archived from the original on 31 October 2014 Retrieved 22 July 2017 Classic Haunts From Cincinnati s Past House of Doom 2012 Archived from the original on 25 April 2012 Retrieved 8 August 2017 A757914 Catalog of Copyright Entries Third Series 30 xliii July December 1976 ISSN 0041 7815 Retrieved 22 July 2017 Gruson Lindsey 19 May 1984 Blaze Fatal to 8 Linked to Lighter The New York Times Archived from the original on 1 May 2009 Retrieved 20 November 2006 Fires in History The Haunted Castle Archived from the original on 25 March 2017 Retrieved 9 August 2017 8 Killed by Smoky Fire in Park s Haunted Castle The Washington Post 12 May 1984 Archived from the original on 13 August 2017 The Haunted Castle Revisited NFPA Journal nfpa org Archived from the original on 13 August 2017 Retrieved 9 August 2017 Spooky and Safe nfpa org Archived from the original on 13 August 2017 Retrieved 9 August 2017 Horror in a Haunted Castle PDF Archived from the original PDF on 15 February 2015 Retrieved 29 September 2017 Barnes Brooks 25 October 2011 The Real Scare Is Not Being Scary The New York Times Archived from the original on 30 July 2017 Retrieved 12 July 2017 Munarriz Rick Aristotle 23 October 2014 Halloween Is Raking in Scary Profits for Theme Parks AOL com Finance Archived from the original on 7 November 2017 Retrieved 3 November 2017 Mader Isabel 30 September 2014 Halloween Colcannon Simmer Magazine Archived from the original on 5 October 2014 Retrieved 3 October 2014 All Hallow s Eve was a Western Anglo Christian holiday that revolved around commemorating the dead using humor to intimidate death itself Like all holidays All Hallow s Eve involved traditional treats The church encouraged an abstinence from meat which created many vegetarian dishes Rogers Nicholas 2002 Razor in the Apple Struggle for Safe and Sane Halloween c 1920 1990 Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night pp 78 102 New York Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 516896 8 Urban Legends Reference Pages Pins and Needles in Halloween Candy Snopes com 2 November 2000 Retrieved 31 October 2008 Nixon Robin 27 October 2010 Poisoned Halloween Candy Trick Treat or Myth LiveScience LiveScience com Archived from the original on 11 January 2012 Retrieved 23 January 2011 a b Top ten Irish Halloween traditions and memories you may share Ireland Central Retrieved 23 October 2018 Bannatyne Lesley Pratt 1 August 1998 Halloween An American Holiday an American History Pelican Publishing p 12 ISBN 978 1 56554 346 1 Archived from the original on 31 October 2017 Retrieved 1 November 2012 Polish Catholics taught their children to pray out loud as they walked through the woods so that the souls of the dead could hear them and be comforted Priests in tiny Spanish villages still ring their church bells to remind parishioners to honor the dead on All Hallows Eve Feasting and Fasting Canada s Heritage Celebrations Dorothy Duncan Dundurn p 249 Latina and Latino Voices in Literature Frances Ann Day Greenwood Publishing Group p 72 BBC Religions Christianity All Hallows Eve British Broadcasting Corporation BBC 2010 Archived from the original on 3 November 2011 Retrieved 1 November 2011 All Hallows Eve falls on 31st October each year and is the day before All Hallows Day also known as All Saints Day in the Christian calendar The Church traditionally held a vigil on All Hallows Eve when worshippers would prepare themselves with prayers and fasting prior to the feast day itself Andrew James Harvey 31 October 2012 All Hallows Eve The Patriot Post Archived from the original on 21 April 2013 Retrieved 1 November 2011 The vigil of the hallows refers to the prayer service the evening before the celebration of All Hallows or Saints Day Or Halloween for short a fixture on the liturgical calendar of the Christian West since the seventh century Vigil of All Saints Catholic News Agency 31 October 2012 Archived from the original on 24 May 2013 Retrieved 1 November 2011 The Vigil is based on the monastic office of Vigils or Matins when the monks would arise in the middle of the night to pray On major feast days they would have an extended service of readings scriptural patristic and from lives of the saints in addition to chanting the psalms This all would be done in the dark of course and was an opportunity to listen carefully to the Word of God as well as the words of the Church Fathers and great saints The Vigil of All Saints is an adaptation of this ancient practice using the canonical office of Compline at the end Night of Light Beginnings Cor et Lumen Christi Community Archived from the original on 23 October 2013 Retrieved 2 November 2012 In its first year 2000 AD over 1000 people participated from several countries This included special All Saints Vigil masses extended periods of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and parties for children In our second year 10 000 participated Since these modest beginnings the Night of Light has been adopted in many countries around the world with vast numbers involved each year from a Cathedral in India to a convent in New Zealand from Churches in the US and Europe to Africa in Schools churches homes and church halls all ages have got involved Although it began in the Catholic Church it has been taken up by other Christians who while keeping its essentials have adapted it to suit their own traditions Here s to the Soulcakers going about their mysterious mummery The Telegraph 6 November 2010 Archived from the original on 3 April 2013 Retrieved 6 November 2012 One that has grown over the past decade is the so called Night of Light on All Hallows Eve October 31 It was invented in 2000 in leafy Chertsey Surrey when perhaps 1 000 people took part Now it is a worldwide movement popular in Africa and the United States The heart of the Night of Light is an all night vigil of prayer but there is room for children s fun too sweets perhaps a bonfire and dressing up as St George or St Lucy The minimum gesture is to put a lighted candle in the window which is in itself too exciting for some proponents of health and safety The inventor of the Night of Light is Damian Stayne the founder of a year round religious community called Cor et Lumen Christi heart and light of Christ This new movement is Catholic orthodox and charismatic emphasising the work of the Holy Spirit Armentrout Donald S Slocum Robert Boak 1999 An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church Church Publishing Inc p 7 ISBN 978 0 89869 211 2 Archived from the original on 30 July 2016 Retrieved 1 November 2012 The BOS notes that suitable festivities and entertainments may precede of follow the service and there may be a visit to a cemetery or burial place Infeld Joanna 1 December 2008 In Formation D amp J Holdings LLC p 150 ISBN 978 0 9760512 4 4 Retrieved 1 November 2012 My folks are Polish and they celebrate Halloween in a different way It is time to remember your dead and visit the cemetery and graves of your loved ones Teens in Finland Jason Skog Capstone p 61 Bishop Challenges Supermarkets to Lighten up Halloween The Church of England Archived from the original on 18 May 2012 Retrieved 28 October 2009 Christianity needs to make clear its positive message for young people It s high time we reclaimed the Christian aspects of Halloween says the Bishop explaining the background to his letter Halloween and All Saints Day newadvent org n d Archived from the original on 16 October 2006 Retrieved 22 October 2006 The Anglican Breviary Frank Gavin Liturgical Foundation 1955 pp 1514 E494 Archived from the original on 23 April 2016 Retrieved 12 November 2015 Reformation Day What Why and Resources for Worship The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church 21 October 2005 Archived from the original on 23 February 2007 Retrieved 22 October 2006 Halloween Hallowed Is Thy Name Smith p 29 Allen Travis 2011 Christians and Halloween Church Publishing Inc Archived from the original on 28 October 2011 Retrieved 31 October 2011 Other Christians will opt for Halloween alternatives called Harvest Festivals Hallelujah Night or Reformation Festivals the kids dress up as farmers Bible characters or Reformation heroes Halloween tracts serve as tool to spread gospel to children Curry Baptist Press Woods Robert 2013 Evangelical Christians and Popular Culture ABC CLIO p 239 ISBN 978 0 313 38654 1 Evangelicals have found opportunities with both Christmas and Easter to use Christian candy to re inject religion into these traditionally Christian holidays and boldly reclaim them as their own They have increasingly begun to use Halloween the most candy centric holiday as an opportunity for evangelism Contained in small packages featuring Bible verses Scripture Candy s Harvest Seeds candy corn in everything but name are among many candies created for this purpose D Augostine Lori 20 September 2013 Suffer Not the Trick or Treaters CBN Archived from the original on 29 October 2013 Retrieved 23 October 2013 Halloween What s a Christian to Do 1998 by Steve Russo Gyles Brandreth The Devil is gaining ground The Sunday Telegraph London 11 March 2000 Salem Saint Fest restores Christian message to Halloween rcab org n d Archived from the original on 29 September 2006 Retrieved 22 October 2006 Feast of Samhain Celtic New Year Celebration of All Celtic Saints 1 November All Saints Parish n d Archived from the original on 20 November 2006 Retrieved 22 November 2006 Portaro Sam 25 January 1998 A Companion to the Lesser Feasts and Fasts Cowley Publications p 199 ISBN 978 1 4616 6051 4 All Saints Day is the centerpiece of an autumn triduum In the carnival celebrations of All Hallows Eve our ancestors used the most powerful weapon in the human arsenal the power of humor and ridicule to confront the power of death The following day in the commemoration of All Saints we gave witness to the victory of incarnate goodness embodied in remarkable deeds and doers triumphing over the misanthropy of darkness and devils And in the commemoration of All Souls we proclaimed the hope of common mortality expressed in our aspirations and expectations of a shared eternity Halloween s Christian Roots AmericanCatholic org Retrieved 24 October 2007 Bucci Rich 2016 Catholic Elementary Schools to Celebrate Halloween with Costume Parades on Friday October 28 amp Monday October 31 The Catholic Schools of Broome County Retrieved 2 October 2018 Suarez Essdras 29 October 2007 Some Christians use Hell Houses to reach out on Halloween USA Today Retrieved 7 November 2015 While some Christians aren t certain what to make of Halloween unsure whether to embrace or ignore all the goblins and ghoulishness some evangelical churches use Oct 31 as a day to evangelize Some use trick or treating as an evangelistic opportunity giving out Bible tracts with candy Trick or Treat Unmasking Halloween The Restored Church of God n d Archived from the original on 25 April 2012 Retrieved 21 September 2007 Do Orthodox Christians Observe Halloween by Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church The Jewish Life Cycle rites of passage from biblical to modern times Ivan G Marcus University of Washington Press p 232 Jews and Halloween Jewishvirtuallibrary org Archived from the original on 13 July 2012 Retrieved 5 March 2013 A Jewish exploration of halloween Archived 31 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Jewish Journal Pitofsky Marina 15 March 2022 What day is Purim Here s what you need to know about the Jewish holiday USA Today Retrieved 31 October 2022 A Idris Palmer Halloween Through Muslim Eyes PDF Al Huda Institute Canada archived from the original PDF on 4 November 2009 retrieved 11 November 2015 Halloween is haram declares Malaysia fatwa council Al Arabiya English 29 October 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2020 Tuesday 28 October 2014 11 41 AM MYT 28 October 2014 Trick or treat Fatwa Council bars Muslims from celebrating Halloween Malay Mail www malaymail com Retrieved 15 October 2020 Fatawa Is it forbidden for Muslims to celebrate days such as valentine s day and halloween Dar al Ifta al Misriyyah Retrieved 15 October 2020 Lauren Stengele 25 October 2012 Halloween in India Vision Nationals archived from the original on 8 December 2015 retrieved 11 November 2015 Vineet Chander 30 October 2009 Trick or Treat Not quite sure Beliefnet archived from the original on 8 December 2015 retrieved 11 November 2015 Soumya Dasgupta 5 November 2009 Should Indians Celebrate Foreign Festivals Like Halloween The Wall Street Journal archived from the original on 20 June 2015 a b George Stephanie 25 October 2010 Real life witches that don t celebrate Halloween The Manitoban Archived from the original on 29 May 2014 Retrieved 29 May 2014 Should Pagans Celebrate Halloween Wicasta Lovelace Pagan Centric Halloween From a Wiccan Neopagan perspective B A Robinson Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance Halloween fire calls every 90 seconds Archived 2 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine UTV News Retrieved 22 November 2010 McCann Chris 28 October 2010 Halloween firework injuries are on the increase The Belfast Telegraph Retrieved 22 November 2010 Kalan Goanv ha Marv Tartanplace com 12 July 2001 Archived from the original on 20 January 2013 Retrieved 1 November 2012 Como se introduce la fiesta de Halloween en Chile noticias universia cl Archived from the original on 12 October 2016 Retrieved 11 October 2016 Paul Kent 27 October 2010 Calls for Halloween holiday in Australia Herald Sun Archived from the original on 31 October 2020 Retrieved 7 October 2013 Denton Hannah 30 October 2010 Safe treats for kids on year s scariest night The New Zealand Herald Retrieved 22 November 2010 Usein kysyttya FAQ in Finnish Helsingin yliopiston almanakkatoimisto Retrieved 28 September 2020 Further readingSee also Bibliography of Halloween Diane C Arkins Halloween Romantic Art and Customs of Yesteryear Pelican Publishing Company 2000 96 pages ISBN 1 56554 712 8 Diane C Arkins Halloween Merrymaking An Illustrated Celebration Of Fun Food And Frolics From Halloweens Past Pelican Publishing Company 2004 112 pages ISBN 1 58980 113 X Lesley Bannatyne Halloween An American Holiday An American History Facts on File 1990 Pelican Publishing Company 1998 180 pages ISBN 1 56554 346 7 Lesley Bannatyne A Halloween Reader Stories Poems and Plays from Halloweens Past Pelican Publishing Company 2004 272 pages ISBN 1 58980 176 8 Phyllis Galembo Dressed for Thrills 100 Years of Halloween Costumes and Masquerade Harry N Abrams Inc 2002 128 pages ISBN 0 8109 3291 1 Editha Horandner ed Halloween in der Steiermark und anderswo Volkskunde Munster in Westfalen LIT Verlag Munster 2005 308 pages ISBN 3 8258 8889 4 Lisa Morton Trick or Treat A history of Halloween Reaktion Books 2012 229 pages ISBN 978 1 78023 187 7 Lisa Morton The Halloween Encyclopedia McFarland amp Company 2003 240 pages ISBN 0 7864 1524 X Nicholas Rogers Halloween From Pagan Ritual to Party Night Oxford University Press US 2002 ISBN 0 19 514691 3 Jack Santino ed Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life University of Tennessee Press 1994 280 pages ISBN 0 87049 813 4 David J Skal Death Makes a Holiday A Cultural History of Halloween Bloomsbury US 2003 224 pages ISBN 1 58234 305 5 James Tipper Gods of The Nowhere A Novel of Halloween Waxlight Press 2013 294 pages ISBN 978 0 9882433 1 6External linksHalloween at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons News from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Travel information from Wikivoyage Halloween at Curlie A brief history of Halloween by the BBC All Hallows Eve Halloween in the Traditional Pre 1955 Liturgical Books by the Liturgical Arts Journal The History of Halloween by the History Channel Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Halloween amp oldid 1151903089, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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