David Tanguay

A little History of Halloween



Posted: Saturday, October 22, 2011

by David Tanguay

History of Halloween

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of

Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parental, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)". The name of the festival historically kept by the Gaels and celts in the British Isles which is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end"

However, according to the Oxford Dictionary of English folk lore: "Certainly Samhain was a time for festive gatherings, and medieval Irish texts and later Irish, Welsh, and Scottish folklore use it as a setting for supernatural encounters, but there is no evidence that it was connected with the dead in pre-Christian times, or that pagan religious ceremonies were held."

Christian monks wrote the Irish myths, which mention Samhain, in the 10th and 11th centuries. This is around 200 years after the Catholic Church inaugurated All Saints Day and at least 400 year after Ireland became Christian.

Trick Or Treat

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" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In some parts of Scotland children still go guising. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, to earn their treats.

Dave Tanguay was born on November 8,1948 in Westbrook, Maine. The 10th. child of a family of eleven children. Served in Vietnam in the 60s, he became active with the youth movement of that day on completion of military duty. Now retired and living in Florida. (still believes in the young)

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