From Samuin To Trick-or-Treating

If you are of Celtic descent then you might have heard of the holiday Samuin or Samhain, which is actually Celtic New Year and was a 3 day holiday. It was during this time that Celts believed that the time between the years 'opened the door' so to speak betwixt the world of the living and the world of the dead. This meant that spirits could cross over into the world of the living and cause harm and mischief.

The Celts believed that bad spirits of the dead were harmful to the living, they also believed that even the good dead needed to stay in the world of the dead, that it was not good for them to be in the world of the living. So there are several traditions that occurred during this festival, that helped celebrate the harvest, welcomed the death of the earth, and kept the spirits of the dead in their own realm.

Some of the rituals and practices that were practiced across those regions that were influenced by Celtic traditions included bonfires, feasting, leaving offerings of food for spirits and ancestors, scaring the evil spirits by dressing up and going through the village and being 'rewarded' by gifts of fruits, nuts, and sweet cakes for their efforts.

The bonfires, and now to a degree Jack o'Lanterns, are to help the spirits of the dead on their way to the other world and to scare away the evil spirits that could roam the land of the living during Samuin.

How Jack o'Lantern went from his own story to the main player of Halloween isn't specifically clear, but the implications are. There is an old Irish tale that speaks of a man Jack, that tricked the devil, for his trickery, upon his death he was turned away from both the gates of Heaven and Hell, thus he was forced to wander the Earth. To help guide him on his wanders he made a lantern out of a turnip, which were plenty in Ireland, yet not so much in America. So when the traditions were brought to America, during the period of the famine, the Irish traded the turnip for a pumpkin and thus we have Jack o'Lanterns keeping us safe on All Hallow's Eve, by helping the spirits make their way to the other world and scaring off the evil spirits as well.

Another practice that we have mentioned to help the spirits on their way and to keep the evil ones away was the act of children or men of a village dressing up as 'demons' or in black to disguise themselves, a practice known as guising, from the evil spirits and they were 'rewarded' by receiving gifts of food. Then later it was the poor that would go door to door asking for 'treats' in exchange for prayers for the dead for a family. It wasn't until much later that the tradition of today's 'Trick-or-Treating' took on its present trappings. As reported in the Blackie Edition of the Alberta Canada Herald, on 4NOV1927...

Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.