Hallowe'en is one of the old festivals of Britain but has enjoyed a relatively recent resurgence of popularity, undoubtedly due to influence from the USA, where it is a far more important holiday, and the impact of TV.
THE ORIGINS OF THE FESTIVAL
The name "Hallowe'en" comes from the full name of the festival :
All Hallows Eve (the night before All Hallows - or All Saints' Day which is on November 1st.) This is the day in the Christian Church which commemorates all those saints who do not have a special feast day of their own. As with many other religious holidays, however, its roots lie much earlier, in pre-Christian times.
The Celtic festival of
Samhain (Gaelic for "summer's end") was celebrated at the end of the Celtic year, on October 31st. It marked the final harvest of the year and symbolised the death of the summer, exactly six months after its counterpart, Beltane, celebrated the coming of the summer. Both festivals were marked by the lighting of bonfires and dancing and feasting, but whereas Beltane celebrated new life, Samhain was associated with darkness and the cult of the dead, and when in 837 AD Christian missionaries adapted this extremely popular event by naming November 1st as All Saints Day, they were unable to totally dissociate it from the supernatural element with which Hallowe'en remains connected to this day.
Hallowe'en was believed to be the night when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was at its thinnest and communication would be possible. The souls of the departed would be able to travel between the two worlds, hobgoblins and spirits would be able to roam freely, and witches and even the devil would be at the height of their powers. In order to confuse these wandering spirits, children would dress up in each others' clothes, and "jack-o-lanterns" would be placed by the doors to frighten them away.
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
Many of the practices carried out by today's children, particularly in the cities, are not traditional but merely copied off American customs seen on TV.
"Trick-or-treating" in its present form is not an English custom but is becoming more widespread, much to the puzzlement of older people who are not familiar with the practice and don't know how to respond to a doorstep demand for a "trick or treat." It has its origins in the ancient Celtic practice of dressing up to confuse the devil and the wandering spirits, and no doubt children suitably disguised would take the opportunity to get up to mischief, safe from being recognised and punished!
The Hallowe'en
bonfires have been transferred to Guy Fawkes Night (often called "Bonfire Night") less than a week later, but many other customs and traditions persist.
The carved
"Jack-o-Lanterns" which everyone associates with Hallowe'en were always made out of swedes (rutabagas) or turnips, or even large beet or mangel-wurzels - quite difficult to hollow out successfully, so now that pumpkins are becoming more widely available they are taking over from the traditional vegetable. The name is said to come from a legendary Irishman, condemned to walk the earth until the end of time because neither God nor the devil would have him, with only a glowing coal in a hollowed-out turnip to light his way.
As this is an autumn festival, fruit and nuts are used to foretell the future :
nuts roasted over the fire are watched carefully to see whose cracks first, as the owner of the nut will be the first to marry, and
apples can be used to tell who is your "true love." This is done by peeling the apple with a sharp knife, trying to keep the peel all in one piece, or at least as long as possible. The peel is then thrown over the left shoulder to land behind - the shape it takes will be the inital of your "true love" or the person you will marry. This sometimes requires a bit of imaginitive interpretation! Another way of finding out the identity of a future spouse is to brush one's hair in front of a mirror at midnight, and the "shade" of the person you will marry will appear over your shoulder. No shade - no wedding that year!
Apples also feature in two variants of the most common Hallowe'en game played today :
Apple-bobbing (also called apple-dookin or ducking for apples) where apples are floated on a large bowl or tub of water and have to be picked up with the teeth, and an even messier version where the apples are supended on string after first being smeared with honey or treacle to make them good and sticky - in both cases, use of the hands is not permitted!
In some parts of the world Hallowe'en is also Mischief Night but in most parts of the UK this is celebrated on November 4th, the night before Bonfire Night (thus extending the festivities.)