Spiritual

A Little Something About Halloween

It is Halloween again! You better prepare some sweets for your neighbors, especially those with children, or you will have nothing to give those excited kids who knock at your door and say “Trick or Treat!” to you. In case you are not familiar with trick or treating, it is a custom on Halloween night that kids visit houses and ask for their beloved sweets.

Halloween is not just a festival for children, but also for adults. The old-fashioned sweets may recall adults’ memories of their old Halloween nights. You may wonder who started the candied history of Halloween. The whole concept dates back to centuries ago while pagan rituals had not even been blended with the Church yet.

There has been various versions concerning the origin of its name, but no one can really be sure that their stories are right. A few suggested that it came from the Celtics who were celebrating a good harvest. What gave this festival the spookiness has to do with a myth. On this night, the dead would rise from their death and cast spells on the crops and the living people. This explains why people carve frightening profiles on pumpkins and dressed as terrifying spirits for Halloween nowadays.

What about the trick or treating? Where does that one come from? Some say that the poor go from houses to houses to pray for the family and their friends who are sick. In return for their good wishes, the people would offer them something to eat.

These people are called ‘Halloween peddlers’. This in turn explains why trick-or-treaters now often dress hideously and receive such a great variety of traditional tasty sweets.

New stories about Halloween keep arising. Most of them believe that Halloween is a tradition originated from Ireland and England. However, the origin does not really matter now.

After all, nowadays, we – not just limited to children – only enjoy Halloween for just that: Halloween. The origin no longer matters, for Halloween has became a day, simply for people to enjoy themselves by dressing up as every scary little thing they could imagine.

However, you should always remember that beneath those horrible costumes are just lovely kids who want to enjoy their childhoods. It is delightful to recall your good times on your old Halloween nights.

If you are curious about this article, you may find some inspiration on e-cards as well as christmas cards.

© 2009 Finding Who We Are.