By J.M. Sinclair  

Today is Halloween. No doubt we will be inundated in the US, and to a lesser extent other nations, with children dressed in masks and costumes trick or treating for candy at our doors. But where did this rather odd holiday come from? It lacks the Judaeo-Christian themes of other popular US holidays, such as Christmas, Hannukah, Easter and so on. It has no commemorative function like that of labor day, thanksgiving, or memorial day. It just exists as an island of a holiday without the underlying functions of our other annual celebrations.

Celebrating Halloween started over two millenia ago by the celts, the ancient inhabitants of Ireland, England, Scotland and parts of Europe. The holiday was known as Samhain, and commemorated the end of the harvest season, and was a time when animals were slaughtered, and supplies inventoried for the coming winter. As the Roman Empire extended into Celtic lands, the holiday took on further aspects, including the Roman festival of Feralia, which commemorated the passing of the dead, and a festival which celebrated the goddess of fruit, possibly originating the tradition of bobbing for apples.

As Christianity spread, Halloween underwent a conversion from the pagan to the Christian. This seems to have been common, often pagan temples were converted to churches in the early church, and often so were festivals. Somehow, this tradition survived, traditionally in Scotland and Ireland to modern times. Immigrants from Ireland and Scotland brought the celebration to the US, though some aspects of the celtic holiday have dissappeared in the US version of halloween, such as the practice of sprinkling salt in children's hair to ward off evil spirits, but some have survived. The practice of carving a pumpkin with a scary face for example derives from carving turnips, which is experiencing a revival in Scotland. 

As a holiday, Halloween with its paranormal themes is not unique. The Chinese celebrate 'Ghost day' on the 14th night of the seventh lunar month. On this day, spirits and ancestors come from the lower world into ours, not unlike some of the traditions that follow halloween. In Mexico, the colorful day of the dead, which coincides with the time of Halloween, has a festive theme even though the subject is somewhat morbid, and dates to the ancient precolumbian cultures of Central America.

So when the goblins and ghosts come knocking on your door this Halloween, remember its origins and odd nature, and celebrate a very old, though highly commercialized, tradition of the fall festival.

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