Halloween Explained

Holiday Name:Halloween
Type:Christian
Nickname:
  • Hallowe'en
  • All Hallowe'en
  • All Hallows' Eve
  • All Saints' Eve
Observedby:Western Christians and many non-Christians around the world
Significance:First day of Allhallowtide[1]
Date:31 October
Celebrations:Trick-or-treating, costume parties, making jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, divination, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions
Duration:1 day
Observances:Church services,[2] prayer,[3] fasting, vigil[4]
Relatedto:Samhain, Hop-tu-Naa, Calan Gaeaf, Allantide, Day of the Dead, Reformation Day, All Saints' Day, Mischief Night (cf. vigil)
Longtype:Christian, cultural

Halloween or Hallowe'en[5] [6] (less commonly known as Allhalloween,[7] All Hallows' Eve,[8] or All Saints' Eve)[9] is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It is at the beginning of the observance of Allhallowtide,[10] the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.[11] [12] [13] [14] In popular culture, the day has become a celebration of horror, being associated with the macabre and supernatural.

One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are believed to have pagan roots.[15] [16] [17] [18] Some go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallow's Day, along with its eve, by the early Church.[19] Other academics believe Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All Hallow's Day.[20] [21] [22] [23] Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants took many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century,[24] and then through American influence various Halloween customs spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.[25]

Popular Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins or turnips into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror or Halloween-themed films.[26] Some people practice the Christian observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead,[27] [28] [29] although it is a secular celebration for others.[30] [31] [32] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows' Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.[33] [34] [35] [36]

Etymology

The word Halloween or Hallowe'en ("Saints' evening"[37]) is of Christian origin;[38] a term equivalent to "All Hallows Eve" is attested in Old English.[39] The word hallowe[']en comes from the Scottish form of All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day): Scots: even is the Scots term for "eve" or "evening",[40] and is contracted to Scots: e'en or Scots: een;[41] (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en became Hallowe'en.

History

Christian origins and historic customs

Halloween is thought to have influences from Christian beliefs and practices.[21] The English word 'Halloween' comes from "All Hallows' Eve", being the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows' Day (All Saints' Day) on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2 November.[42] Since the time of the early Church,[43] major feasts in Christianity (such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost) had vigils that began the night before, as did the feast of All Hallows'.[44] [45] These three days are collectively called Allhallowtide and are a time when Western Christians honour all saints and pray for recently departed souls who have yet to reach Heaven. Commemorations of all saints and martyrs were held by several churches on various dates, mostly in springtime.[46] In 4th-century Roman Edessa it was held on 13 May, and on 13 May 609, Pope Boniface IV re-dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to "St Mary and all martyrs".[47] This was the date of Lemuria, an ancient Roman festival of the dead.[48]

In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III (731–741) founded an oratory in St Peter's for the relics "of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors".[45] [49] Some sources say it was dedicated on 1 November,[50] while others say it was on Palm Sunday in April 732.[51] [52] By 800, there is evidence that churches in Ireland[53] and Northumbria were holding a feast commemorating all saints on 1 November.[54] Alcuin of Northumbria, a member of Charlemagne's court, may then have introduced this 1 November date in the Frankish Empire.[55] In 835, it became the official date in the Frankish Empire.[54] Some suggest this was due to Celtic influence, while others suggest it was a Germanic idea,[54] although it is claimed that both Germanic and Celtic-speaking peoples commemorated the dead at the beginning of winter.[56] They may have seen it as the most fitting time to do so, as it is a time of 'dying' in nature.[54] [56] It is also suggested the change was made on the "practical grounds that Rome in summer could not accommodate the great number of pilgrims who flocked to it", and perhaps because of public health concerns over Roman Fever, which claimed a number of lives during Rome's sultry summers.[57] [45]

By the end of the 12th century, the celebration had become known as the holy days of obligation in Western Christianity and involved such traditions as ringing church bells for souls in purgatory. It was also "customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets, ringing a bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember the poor souls".[58] The Allhallowtide custom of baking and sharing soul cakes for all christened souls,[59] has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating. The custom dates back at least as far as the 15th century[60] and was found in parts of England, Wales, Flanders, Bavaria and Austria. Groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door during Allhallowtide, collecting soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the dead, especially the souls of the givers' friends and relatives. This was called "souling".[60] [61] Soul cakes were also offered for the souls themselves to eat, or the 'soulers' would act as their representatives.[62] As with the Lenten tradition of hot cross buns, soul cakes were often marked with a cross, indicating they were baked as alms.[63] Shakespeare mentions souling in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593).[64] While souling, Christians would carry "lanterns made of hollowed-out turnips", which could have originally represented souls of the dead;[65] [66] jack-o'-lanterns were used to ward off evil spirits.[67] On All Saints' and All Souls' Day during the 19th century, candles were lit in homes in Ireland,[68] Flanders, Bavaria, and in Tyrol, where they were called "soul lights",[69] that served "to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes".[70] In many of these places, candles were also lit at graves on All Souls' Day.[69] In Brittany, libations of milk were poured on the graves of kinfolk, or food would be left overnight on the dinner table for the returning souls;[69] a custom also found in Tyrol and parts of Italy.[69]

Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh linked the wearing of costumes to the belief in vengeful ghosts: "It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes".[71] In the Middle Ages, churches in Europe that were too poor to display relics of martyred saints at Allhallowtide let parishioners dress up as saints instead.[72] [73] Some Christians observe this custom at Halloween today.[74] Lesley Bannatyne believes this could have been a Christianization of an earlier pagan custom.[75] Many Christians in mainland Europe, especially in France, believed "that once a year, on Hallowe'en, the dead of the churchyards rose for one wild, hideous carnival" known as the danse macabre, which was often depicted in church decoration.[76] Christopher Allmand and Rosamond McKitterick write in The New Cambridge Medieval History that the danse macabre urged Christians "not to forget the end of all earthly things".[77] The danse macabre was sometimes enacted in European village pageants and court masques, with people "dressing up as corpses from various strata of society", and this may be the origin of Halloween costume parties.[78] [79] [80] [65]

In Britain, these customs came under attack during the Reformation, as Protestants berated purgatory as a "popish" doctrine incompatible with the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. State-sanctioned ceremonies associated with the intercession of saints and prayer for souls in purgatory were abolished during the Elizabethan reform, though All Hallow's Day remained in the English liturgical calendar to "commemorate saints as godly human beings".[81] For some Nonconformist Protestants, the theology of All Hallows' Eve was redefined; "souls cannot be journeying from Purgatory on their way to Heaven, as Catholics frequently believe and assert. Instead, the so-called ghosts are thought to be in actuality evil spirits".[82] Other Protestants believed in an intermediate state known as Hades (Bosom of Abraham).[83] In some localities, Catholics and Protestants continued souling, candlelit processions, or ringing church bells for the dead;[42] the Anglican church eventually suppressed this bell-ringing.[84] Mark Donnelly, a professor of medieval archaeology, and historian Daniel Diehl write that "barns and homes were blessed to protect people and livestock from the effect of witches, who were believed to accompany the malignant spirits as they traveled the earth".[85] After 1605, Hallowtide was eclipsed in England by Guy Fawkes Night (5 November), which appropriated some of its customs.[86] In England, the ending of official ceremonies related to the intercession of saints led to the development of new, unofficial Hallowtide customs. In 18th–19th century rural Lancashire, Catholic families gathered on hills on the night of All Hallows' Eve. One held a bunch of burning straw on a pitchfork while the rest knelt around him, praying for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames went out. This was known as teen'lay.[87] There was a similar custom in Hertfordshire, and the lighting of 'tindle' fires in Derbyshire.[88] Some suggested these 'tindles' were originally lit to "guide the poor souls back to earth".[89] In Scotland and Ireland, old Allhallowtide customs that were at odds with Reformed teaching were not suppressed as they "were important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities" and curbing them would have been difficult.

In parts of Italy until the 15th century, families left a meal out for the ghosts of relatives, before leaving for church services. In 19th-century Italy, churches staged "theatrical re-enactments of scenes from the lives of the saints" on All Hallow's Day, with "participants represented by realistic wax figures". In 1823, the graveyard of Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome presented a scene in which bodies of those who recently died were arrayed around a wax statue of an angel who pointed upward towards heaven. In the same country, "parish priests went house-to-house, asking for small gifts of food which they shared among themselves throughout that night".[90] In Spain, they continue to bake special pastries called "bones of the holy" (Spanish; Castilian: link=no|Huesos de Santo) and set them on graves.[91] At cemeteries in Spain and France, as well as in Latin America, priests lead Christian processions and services during Allhallowtide, after which people keep an all night vigil.[92] In 19th-century San Sebastián, there was a procession to the city cemetery at Allhallowtide, an event that drew beggars who "appeal[ed] to the tender recollections of one's deceased relations and friends" for sympathy.[93]

Gaelic folk influence

Today's Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries, some of which are believed to have pagan roots.[94] Jack Santino, a folklorist, writes that "there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived".[95] The origins of Halloween customs are typically linked to the Gaelic festival Samhain.[96]

Samhain is one of the quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and has been celebrated on 31 October1 November[97] in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.[98] [99] A kindred festival has been held by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany; a name meaning "first day of winter". For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset; thus the festival begins the evening before 1 November by modern reckoning.[100] Samhain is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century,[101] and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween.

Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year.[102] [103] It was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned. This meant the Aos Sí, the 'spirits' or 'fairies', could more easily come into this world and were particularly active.[104] [105] Most scholars see them as "degraded versions of ancient gods [...] whose power remained active in the people's minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs".[106] They were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings.[107] [108] At Samhain, the Aos Sí were appeased to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for them.[109] [110] [111] The souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking hospitality.[112] Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them.[113] The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures.[114] In 19th century Ireland, "candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin".[115]

Throughout Ireland and Britain, especially in the Celtic-speaking regions, the household festivities included divination rituals and games intended to foretell one's future, especially regarding death and marriage.[116] Apples and nuts were often used, and customs included apple bobbing, nut roasting, scrying or mirror-gazing, pouring molten lead or egg whites into water, dream interpretation, and others.[117] Special bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them. Their flames, smoke, and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers.[102] In some places, torches lit from the bonfire were carried sunwise around homes and fields to protect them.[101] It is suggested the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magicthey mimicked the Sun and held back the decay and darkness of winter.[113] [118] [119] They were also used for divination and to ward off evil spirits.[120] In Scotland, these bonfires and divination games were banned by the church elders in some parishes.[121] In Wales, bonfires were also lit to "prevent the souls of the dead from falling to earth".[122] Later, these bonfires "kept away the devil".[123]

From at least the 16th century,[124] the festival included mumming and guising in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales.[125] This involved people going house-to-house in costume (or in disguise), usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. It may have originally been a tradition whereby people impersonated the Aos Sí, or the souls of the dead, and received offerings on their behalf, similar to 'souling'. Impersonating these beings, or wearing a disguise, was also believed to protect oneself from them.[126] In parts of southern Ireland, the guisers included a hobby horse. A man dressed as a Láir Bhán (white mare) led youths house-to-house reciting verses – some of which had pagan overtones – in exchange for food. If the household donated food it could expect good fortune from the 'Muck Olla'; not doing so would bring misfortune.[127] In Scotland, youths went house-to-house with masked, painted or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.[125] F. Marian McNeill suggests the ancient festival included people in costume representing the spirits, and that faces were marked or blackened with ashes from the sacred bonfire.[124] In parts of Wales, men went about dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod.[125] In the late 19th and early 20th century, young people in Glamorgan and Orkney cross-dressed.[125]

Elsewhere in Europe, mumming was part of other festivals, but in the Celtic-speaking regions, it was "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers".[125] From at least the 18th century, "imitating malignant spirits" led to playing pranks in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. Wearing costumes and playing pranks at Halloween did not spread to England until the 20th century.[125] Pranksters used hollowed-out turnips or mangel wurzels as lanterns, often carved with grotesque faces.[125] By those who made them, the lanterns were variously said to represent the spirits,[125] or used to ward off evil spirits.[128] [129] They were common in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in the 19th century,[125] as well as in Somerset (see Punkie Night). In the 20th century they spread to other parts of Britain and became generally known as jack-o'-lanterns.[125]

Spread to North America

Lesley Bannatyne and Cindy Ott write that Anglican colonists in the southern United States and Catholic colonists in Maryland "recognized All Hallow's Eve in their church calendars",[130] [131] although the Puritans of New England strongly opposed the holiday, along with other traditional celebrations of the established Church, including Christmas.[132] Almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th century give no indication that Halloween was widely celebrated in North America.[133]

It was not until after mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in America.[133] Most American Halloween traditions were inherited from the Irish and Scots,[24] [134] though "In Cajun areas, a nocturnal Mass was said in cemeteries on Halloween night. Candles that had been blessed were placed on graves, and families sometimes spent the entire night at the graveside".[135] Originally confined to these immigrant communities, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and was celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial, and religious backgrounds by the early 20th century.[136] Then, through American influence, these Halloween traditions spread to many other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century, including to mainland Europe and some parts of the Far East.[25] [137]

Symbols

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. Jack-o'-lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows' Eve in order to frighten evil spirits.[66] [138] There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack-o'-lantern,[139] which in folklore is said to represent a "soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell":[140] In Ireland, Scotland, and Northern England the turnip has traditionally been carved during Halloween,[141] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger, making it easier to carve than a turnip.[141] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837[142] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.[143] The modern imagery of Halloween comes from many sources, including Christian eschatology, national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus and Dracula) and classic horror films such as Frankenstein (1931) and The Mummy (1932).[144] [145] Imagery of the skull, a reference to Golgotha in the Christian tradition, serves as "a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life" and is consequently found in memento mori and vanitas compositions;[146] skulls have therefore been commonplace in Halloween, which touches on this theme.[147] Traditionally, the back walls of churches are "decorated with a depiction of the Last Judgment, complete with graves opening and the dead rising, with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils", a motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum.[148] One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "bogles" (ghosts),[149] influencing Robert Burns' "Halloween" (1785).[150] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween. Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters.[151] Black cats, which have been long associated with witches, are also a common symbol of Halloween. Black, orange, and sometimes purple are Halloween's traditional colors.[152]

Trick-or-treating and guising

See main article: Trick-or-treating.

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" implies a "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.[153] The practice is said to have roots in the medieval practice of mumming, which is closely related to souling.[154] John Pymm wrote that "many of the feast days associated with the presentation of mumming plays were celebrated by the Christian Church."[155] These feast days included All Hallows' Eve, Christmas, Twelfth Night and Shrove Tuesday.[156] [157] Mumming practiced in Germany, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe,[158] involved masked persons in fancy dress who "paraded the streets and entered houses to dance or play dice in silence".[159]

In England, from the medieval period,[160] up until the 1930s,[161] people practiced the Christian custom of souling on Halloween, which involved groups of soulers, both Protestant and Catholic,[162] going from parish to parish, begging the rich for soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the souls of the givers and their friends.[163] In the Philippines, the practice of souling is called Pangangaluluwa and is practiced on All Hallow's Eve among children in rural areas.[26] People drape themselves in white cloths to represent souls and then visit houses, where they sing in return for prayers and sweets.[26]

In Scotland and Ireland, guisingchildren disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coinsis a secular Halloween custom. It is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit, and money.[164] [165] In Ireland, the most popular phrase for kids to shout (until the 2000s) was "Help the Halloween Party".[166] The practice of guising at Halloween in North America was first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood.[167]

American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book-length history of Halloween in the US; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America".[168] In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Halloween customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries".[169]

While the first reference to "guising" in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.[170] The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, in the Blackie Herald, of Alberta, Canada.[171]

The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but not trick-or-treating.[172] Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice in North America until the 1930s, with the first US appearances of the term in 1934,[173] and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.[174]

A popular variant of trick-or-treating, known as trunk-or-treating (or Halloween tailgating), occurs when "children are offered treats from the trunks of cars parked in a church parking lot", or sometimes, a school parking lot.[91] [175] In a trunk-or-treat event, the trunk (boot) of each automobile is decorated with a certain theme,[176] such as those of children's literature, movies, scripture, and job roles.[177] Trunk-or-treating has grown in popularity due to its perception as being more safe than going door to door, a point that resonates well with parents, as well as the fact that it "solves the rural conundrum in which homes [are] built a half-mile apart".[178] [179]

Costumes

See main article: Halloween costume. Halloween costumes were traditionally modeled after figures such as vampires, ghosts, skeletons, scary looking witches, and devils. Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.

Dressing up in costumes and going "guising" was prevalent in Scotland and Ireland at Halloween by the late 19th century.[164] A Scottish term, the tradition is called "guising" because of the disguises or costumes worn by the children.[165] In Ireland and Scotland, the masks are known as 'false faces',[180] a term recorded in Ayr, Scotland in 1890 by a Scot describing guisers: "I had mind it was Halloween . . . the wee callans (boys) were at it already, rinning aboot wi’ their fause-faces (false faces) on and their bits o’ turnip lanthrons (lanterns) in their haun (hand)".[181] Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children, and when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in Canada and the US in the 1920s and 1930s.[171] [182]

Eddie J. Smith, in his book Halloween, Hallowed is Thy Name, offers a religious perspective to the wearing of costumes on All Hallows' Eve, suggesting that by dressing up as creatures "who at one time caused us to fear and tremble", people are able to poke fun at Satan "whose kingdom has been plundered by our Saviour". Images of skeletons and the dead are traditional decorations used as memento mori.[183] [184]

"Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" is a fundraising program to support UNICEF, a United Nations Programme that provides humanitarian aid to children in developing countries. Started as a local event in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood in 1950 and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools (or in modern times, corporate sponsors like Hallmark, at their licensed stores) to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small-change donations from the houses they visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $118 million for UNICEF since its inception. In Canada, in 2006, UNICEF decided to discontinue their Halloween collection boxes, citing safety and administrative concerns; after consultation with schools, they instead redesigned the program.[185] [186]

The yearly New York's Village Halloween Parade was begun in 1974; it is the world's largest Halloween parade and America's only major nighttime parade, attracting more than 60,000 costumed participants, two million spectators, and a worldwide television audience.[187]

Since the late 2010s, ethnic stereotypes as costumes have increasingly come under scrutiny in the United States.[188] [189] [190]

Pet costumes

According to a 2018 report from the National Retail Federation, 30 million Americans will spend an estimated $480 million on Halloween costumes for their pets in 2018. This is up from an estimated $200 million in 2010. The most popular costumes for pets are the pumpkin, followed by the hot dog, and the bumblebee in third place.[191]

Games and other activities

There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween. Some of these games originated as divination rituals or ways of foretelling one's future, especially regarding death, marriage and children. During the Middle Ages, these rituals were done by a "rare few" in rural communities as they were considered to be "deadly serious" practices.[192] In recent centuries, these divination games have been "a common feature of the household festivities" in Ireland and Britain.[116] They often involve apples and hazelnuts. In Celtic mythology, apples were strongly associated with the Otherworld and immortality, while hazelnuts were associated with divine wisdom.[193] Some also suggest that they derive from Roman practices in celebration of Pomona.

The following activities were a common feature of Halloween in Ireland and Britain during the 17th–20th centuries. Some have become more widespread and continue to be popular today.One common game is apple bobbing or dunking (which may be called "dooking" in Scotland)[194] in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use only their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drive the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a sticky face. Another once-popular game involves hanging a small wooden rod from the ceiling at head height, with a lit candle on one end and an apple hanging from the other. The rod is spun round, and everyone takes turns to try to catch the apple with their teeth.[195]

Several of the traditional activities from Ireland and Britain involve foretelling one's future partner or spouse. An apple would be peeled in one long strip, then the peel tossed over the shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.[196] [197] Two hazelnuts would be roasted near a fire; one named for the person roasting them and the other for the person they desire. If the nuts jump away from the heat, it is a bad sign, but if the nuts roast quietly it foretells a good match.[198] [199] A salty oatmeal bannock would be baked; the person would eat it in three bites and then go to bed in silence without anything to drink. This is said to result in a dream in which their future spouse offers them a drink to quench their thirst.[200] Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror.[201] The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards[202] from the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Another popular Irish game was known as púicíní ("blindfolds"); a person would be blindfolded and then would choose between several saucers. The item in the saucer would provide a hint as to their future: a ring would mean that they would marry soon; clay, that they would die soon, perhaps within the year; water, that they would emigrate; rosary beads, that they would take Holy Orders (become a nun, priest, monk, etc.); a coin, that they would become rich; a bean, that they would be poor.[203] [204] [205] [206] The game features prominently in the James Joyce short story "Clay" (1914).[207] [208] [209]

In Ireland and Scotland, items would be hidden in food – usually a cake, barmbrack, cranachan, champ or colcannon – and portions of it served out at random. A person's future would be foretold by the item they happened to find; for example, a ring meant marriage and a coin meant wealth.[210]

Up until the 19th century, the Halloween bonfires were also used for divination in parts of Scotland, Wales and Brittany. When the fire died down, a ring of stones would be laid in the ashes, one for each person. In the morning, if any stone was mislaid it was said that the person it represented would not live out the year.[101] In Mexico, children create altars to invite the spirits of deceased children to return (angelitos).[211]

Telling ghost stories, listening to Halloween-themed songs and watching horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before Halloween, while new horror films are often released before Halloween to take advantage of the holiday.

Haunted attractions

See main article: Haunted attraction (simulated).

Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses that may include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides,[212] and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown.

The first recorded purpose-built haunted attraction was the Orton and Spooner Ghost House, which opened in 1915 in Liphook, England. This attraction actually most closely resembles a carnival fun house, powered by steam.[213] [214] The House still exists, in the Hollycombe Steam Collection.

It was during the 1930s, about the same time as trick-or-treating, that Halloween-themed haunted houses first began to appear in America. It was in the late 1950s that haunted houses as a major attraction began to appear, focusing first on California. Sponsored by the Children's Health Home Junior Auxiliary, the San Mateo Haunted House opened in 1957. The San Bernardino Assistance League Haunted House opened in 1958. Home haunts began appearing across the country during 1962 and 1963. In 1964, the San Manteo Haunted House opened, as well as the Children's Museum Haunted House in Indianapolis.[215]

The haunted house as an American cultural icon can be attributed to the opening of The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland on 12 August 1969.[216] Knott's Berry Farm began hosting its own Halloween night attraction, Knott's Scary Farm, which opened in 1973.[217] Evangelical Christians adopted a form of these attractions by opening one of the first "hell houses" in 1972.[218]

The first Halloween haunted house run by a nonprofit organization was produced in 1970 by the Sycamore-Deer Park Jaycees in Clifton, Ohio. It was cosponsored by WSAI, an AM radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was last produced in 1982.[219] Other Jaycees followed suit with their own versions after the success of the Ohio house. The March of Dimes copyrighted a "Mini haunted house for the March of Dimes" in 1976 and began fundraising through their local chapters by conducting haunted houses soon after. Although they apparently quit supporting this type of event nationally sometime in the 1980s, some March of Dimes haunted houses have persisted until today.[220]

On the evening of 11 May 1984, in Jackson Township, New Jersey, the Haunted Castle at Six Flags Great Adventure caught fire. As a result of the fire, eight teenagers perished.[221] The backlash to the tragedy was a tightening of regulations relating to safety, building codes and the frequency of inspections of attractions nationwide. The smaller venues, especially the nonprofit attractions, were unable to compete financially, and the better funded commercial enterprises filled the vacuum.[222] [223] Facilities that were once able to avoid regulation because they were considered to be temporary installations now had to adhere to the stricter codes required of permanent attractions.[224] [225] [226]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, theme parks became a notable figure in the Halloween business. Six Flags Fright Fest began in 1986 and Universal Studios Florida began Halloween Horror Nights in 1991. Knott's Scary Farm experienced a surge in attendance in the 1990s as a result of America's obsession with Halloween as a cultural event. Theme parks have played a major role in globalizing the holiday. Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Japan both participate, while Disney now mounts Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party events at its parks in Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo, as well as in the United States.[227] The theme park haunts are by far the largest, both in scale and attendance.[228]

Food

On All Hallows' Eve, many Western Christian denominations encourage abstinence from meat, giving rise to a variety of vegetarian foods associated with this day.[229]

Because in the Northern Hemisphere Halloween comes in the wake of the yearly apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America), caramel apples or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts.

At one time, candy apples were commonly given to trick-or-treating children, but the practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples in the United States.[230] While there is evidence of such incidents,[231] relative to the degree of reporting of such cases, actual cases involving malicious acts are extremely rare and have never resulted in serious injury. Nonetheless, many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of the mass media. At the peak of the hysteria, some hospitals offered free X-rays of children's Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned their own children's candy.[232]

One custom that persists in modern-day Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays, the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish: báirín breac), which is a light fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin, and other charms are placed before baking.[233] It is considered fortunate to be the lucky one who finds it.[233] It has also been said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year. This is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany. Halloween-themed foods are also produced by companies in the lead up to the night, for example Cadbury releasing Goo Heads (similar to Creme Eggs) in spooky wrapping.[234] Foods such as cakes will often be decorated with Halloween colors (typically black, orange, and purple) and motifs for parties and events. Popular themes include pumpkins, spiders, and body parts.[235] [236] [237]

List of foods associated with Halloween:

Christian observances

On Hallowe'en (All Hallows' Eve), in Poland, believers were once taught to pray out loud as they walk through the forests in order that the souls of the dead might find comfort; in Spain, Christian priests in tiny villages toll their church bells in order to remind their congregants to remember the dead on All Hallows' Eve.[238] In Ireland, and among immigrants in Canada, a custom includes the Christian practice of abstinence, keeping All Hallows' Eve as a meat-free day and serving pancakes or colcannon instead.[239]

The Christian Church traditionally observed Hallowe'en through a vigil. Worshippers prepared themselves for feasting on the following All Saints' Day with prayers and fasting.[240] This church service is known as the Vigil of All Hallows or the Vigil of All Saints;[241] [242] an initiative known as Night of Light seeks to further spread the Vigil of All Hallows throughout Christendom.[243] [244] After the service, "suitable festivities and entertainments" often follow, as well as a visit to the graveyard or cemetery, where flowers and candles are often placed in preparation for All Hallows' Day.[245] [246] In England, Light Parties are organized by churches after worship services on Halloween with the focus on Jesus as the Light of the World.[247] In Finland, because so many people visit the cemeteries on All Hallows' Eve to light votive candles there, they "are known as valomeri, or seas of light".[248]

Today, Christian attitudes towards Halloween are diverse. In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions associated with All Hallow's Eve.[249] [250] Some of these practices include praying, fasting and attending worship services.[251]

Other Protestant Christians also celebrate All Hallows' Eve as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation, alongside All Hallow's Eve or independently from it.[252] This is because Martin Luther is said to have nailed his Ninety-five Theses to All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on All Hallows' Eve.[253] Often, "Harvest Festivals" or "Reformation Festivals" are held on All Hallows' Eve, in which children dress up as Bible characters or Reformers.[254] In addition to distributing candy to children who are trick-or-treating on Hallowe'en, many Christians also provide gospel tracts to them. One organization, the American Tract Society, stated that around 3 million gospel tracts are ordered from them alone for Hallowe'en celebrations.[255] Others order Halloween-themed Scripture Candy to pass out to children on this day.[256] [257]

Some Christians feel concerned about the modern celebration of Halloween because they feel it trivializes – or celebrates – paganism, the occult, or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs.[258] Father Gabriele Amorth, an exorcist in Rome, has said, "if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that."[259] In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on Halloween.[260] Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy for free. To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage.[261] Christian minister Sam Portaro wrote that Halloween is about using "humor and ridicule to confront the power of death".[262]

In the Roman Catholic Church, Halloween's Christian connection is acknowledged, and Halloween celebrations are common in many Catholic parochial schools, such as in the United States,[263] [264] while schools throughout Ireland also close for the Halloween break.[265] [266] Many fundamentalist and evangelical churches use "Hell houses" and comic-style tracts in order to make use of Halloween's popularity as an opportunity for evangelism.[267] Others consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith due to its putative origins in the Festival of the Dead celebration.[268] Indeed, even though Eastern Orthodox Christians observe All Hallows' Day on the First Sunday after Pentecost, the Eastern Orthodox Church recommends the observance of Vespers or a Paraklesis on the Western observance of All Hallows' Eve, out of the pastoral need to provide an alternative to popular celebrations.[269]

Analogous celebrations and perspectives

Judaism

See main article: Jews and Halloween. According to Alfred J. Kolatch in the Second Jewish Book of Why, in Judaism, Halloween is not permitted by Jewish Halakha because it violates Leviticus 18:3, which forbids Jews from partaking in gentile customs. Many Jews observe Yizkor communally four times a year, which is vaguely similar to the observance of Allhallowtide in Christianity, in the sense that prayers are said for both "martyrs and for one's own family".[270] Nevertheless, many American Jews celebrate Halloween, disconnected from its Christian origins.[271] Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser has said that "There is no religious reason why contemporary Jews should not celebrate Halloween" while Orthodox Rabbi Michael Broyde has argued against Jews' observing the holiday.[272] Purim has sometimes been compared to Halloween, in part due to some observants wearing costumes, especially of Biblical figures described in the Purim narrative.[273]

Islam

Sheikh Idris Palmer, author of A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam, has ruled that Muslims should not participate in Halloween, stating that "participation in Halloween is worse than participation in Christmas, Easter, ... it is more sinful than congratulating the Christians for their prostration to the crucifix". It has also been ruled to be haram by the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia because of its alleged pagan roots stating "Halloween is celebrated using a humorous theme mixed with horror to entertain and resist the spirit of death that influence humans".[274] [275] Dar Al-Ifta Al-Missriyyah disagrees provided the celebration is not referred to as an 'eid' and that behaviour remains in line with Islamic principles.[276]

Hinduism

Hindus remember the dead during the festival of Pitru Paksha, during which Hindus pay homage to and perform a ceremony "to keep the souls of their ancestors at rest". It is celebrated in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, usually in mid-September. The celebration of the Hindu festival Diwali sometimes conflicts with the date of Halloween; but some Hindus choose to participate in the popular customs of Halloween. Other Hindus, such as Soumya Dasgupta, have opposed the celebration on the grounds that Western holidays like Halloween have "begun to adversely affect our indigenous festivals".

Neopaganism

There is no consistent rule or view on Halloween amongst those who describe themselves as Neopagans or Wiccans. Some Neopagans do not observe Halloween, but instead observe Samhain on 1 November,[277] some neopagans do enjoy Halloween festivities, stating that one can observe both "the solemnity of Samhain in addition to the fun of Halloween". Some neopagans are opposed to the celebration of Hallowe'en, stating that it "trivializes Samhain",[278] and "avoid Halloween, because of the interruptions from trick or treaters".[279] The Manitoban writes that "Wiccans don't officially celebrate Halloween, despite the fact that 31 Oct. will still have a star beside it in any good Wiccan's day planner. Starting at sundown, Wiccans celebrate a holiday known as Samhain. Samhain actually comes from old Celtic traditions and is not exclusive to Neopagan religions like Wicca. While the traditions of this holiday originate in Celtic countries, modern day Wiccans don't try to historically replicate Samhain celebrations. Some traditional Samhain rituals are still practised, but at its core, the period is treated as a time to celebrate darkness and the deada possible reason why Samhain can be confused with Halloween celebrations."[277]

Geography

See main article: Geography of Halloween. The traditions and importance of Halloween vary greatly among countries that observe it. In Scotland and Ireland, traditional Halloween customs include children dressing up in costume going "guising", holding parties, while other practices in Ireland include lighting bonfires, and having firework displays.[166] [280] [281] In Brittany children would play practical jokes by setting candles inside skulls in graveyards to frighten visitors.[282] Mass transatlantic immigration in the 19th century popularized Halloween in North America, and celebration in the United States and Canada has had a significant impact on how the event is observed in other nations.[166] This larger North American influence, particularly in iconic and commercial elements, has extended to places such as Brazil, Ecuador, Chile,[283] Australia,[284] New Zealand,[285] (most) continental Europe, Finland,[286] Japan, and other parts of East Asia.[287]

Cost

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend $12.2 billion on Halloween in 2023, up from $10.6 billion in 2022. Of this amount, $3.9 billion is projected to be spent on home decorations, up from $2.7 billion in 2019. The popularity of Halloween decorations has been growing in recent years, with retailers offering a wider range of increasingly elaborate and oversized decorations.[288]

See also

Further reading

See also: Bibliography of Halloween.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Halloween . Anglican Diocese of Worcester. 2 November 2023 . en . 20 October 2020 . the word Halloween means ‘holy evening’ and comes from All Hallow’s Eve? Traditionally it is the fast day before the feast days of All Saints (1 Nov) and All Souls (2 Nov) which are opportunities to celebrate the saints and remember those who have departed this life..
  2. Book: Service for All Hallows' Eve . The Book of Occasional Services 2003 . [{{google books|3FZGE2CAdfUC|page=108|plainurl=yes}} 108] . Church Publishing, Inc.. This service may be used on the evening of October 31, known as All Hallows' Eve. Suitable festivities and entertainments may take place before or after this service, and a visit may be made to a cemetery or burial place.. 2004. 978-0-89869-409-3 .
  3. Book: The Anglican Family Prayer Book. Anne E. Kitch. Church Publishing, Inc.. All Hallow's Eve, which later became known as Halloween, is celebrated on the night before All Saints' Day, November 1. Use this simple prayer service in conjunction with Halloween festivities to mark the Christian roots of this festival.. 2004. 31 October 2011. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170125175435/https://books.google.com/books?id=idekF-9uIAIC&pg=PA148&dq=prayer+for+all+hallows+eve+Anglican. 25 January 2017. 978-0-8192-2565-8.
  4. Book: The Paulist Liturgy Planning Guide. Paulist Press. Rather than compete, liturgy planners would do well to consider ways of including children in the celebration of these vigil Masses. For example, children might be encouraged to wear Halloween costumes representing their patron saint or their favorite saint, clearly adding a new level of meaning to the Halloween celebrations and the celebration of All Saints' Day.. 2006. 31 October 2011. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171031175805/https://books.google.com/books?id=34_o1HJOrzoC&pg=PA251. 31 October 2017. 978-0-8091-4414-3.
  5. Web site: Hallowe'en is a spooktacular event for the Goodfellows. 25 November 2023. 30 October 2023. Saugeen Times. Lindsay. Sandy.
  6. Web site: Local haunted houses to explore this Hallowe'en. 25 November 2023. 26 October 2023. The Wetaskiwin Times. Max. Christina.
  7. Book: Palmer, Abram Smythe. Folk-etymology. 1882. Johnson Reprint. 6.
  8. Book: Elwell, Walter A.. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. 2001. Baker Academic. en. 978-0-8010-2075-9. 533. Halloween (All Hallows Eve). The name given to October 31, the eve of the Christian festival of All Saints Day (November 1)..
  9. 1973. NEDCO Producers' Guide. Northeast Dairy Cooperative Federation. 31–33. Originally celebrated as the night before All Saints' Day, Christians chose November first to honor their many saints. The night before was called All Saints' Eve or hallowed eve meaning holy evening..
  10. Web site: Tudor Hallowtide . 2012 . . Hallowtide covers the three days – 31 October (All-Hallows Eve or Hallowe'en), 1 November (All Saints) and 2 November (All Souls). . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006071731/https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/little-moreton-hall/things-to-see-and-do/view-page/item994753/ . 6 October 2014 .
  11. News: Hughes . Rebekkah . 29 October 2014 . Happy Hallowe'en Surrey! . The Stag . . 1 . 31 October 2015 . Halloween or Hallowe'en, is the yearly celebration on October 31st that signifies the first day of Allhallowtide, being the time to remember the dead, including martyrs, saints and all faithful departed Christians. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151119032631/http://www.ussu.co.uk/stagmedia/Documents/Issues/The%20Stag%20-%20Issue%2076%20(Small%20File%20Size).pdf . 19 November 2015 .
  12. Book: Davis . Kenneth C. . Don't Know Much About Mythology: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned . 29 December 2009 . . 978-0-06-192575-7 . 231 . en.
  13. Web site: All Faithful Departed, Commemoration of. 1 November 2022. 1 November 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221101095459/https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/all-faithful-departed-commemoration-of/. live.
  14. Web site: The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls' Day) - November 02, 2021 - Liturgical Calendar. Catholic Culture . 1 November 2022. 1 November 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221101095459/https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-11-02. live.
  15. Book: Smith, Bonnie G.. Women's History in Global Perspective. 14 December 2015 . 2004. University of Illinois Press. 978-0-252-02931-8. 66. The pre-Christian observance obviously influenced the Christian celebration of All Hallows' Eve, just as the Taoist festival affected the newer Buddhist Ullambana festival. Although the Christian version of All Saints' and All Souls' Days came to emphasize prayers for the dead, visits to graves, and the role of the living assuring the safe passage to heaven of their departed loved ones, older notions never disappeared..
  16. Book: Nicholas Rogers. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Halloween and the Day of the Dead share a common origin in the Christian commemoration of the dead on All Saints' and All Souls' Day. But both are thought to embody strong pre-Christian beliefs. In the case of Halloween, the Celtic celebration of Samhain is critical to its pagan legacy, a claim that has been foregrounded in recent years by both new-age enthusiasts and the evangelical Right.. Oxford University Press. 2002. 31 October 2011. 978-0-19-516896-9.
  17. Book: Austrian information. The feasts of Hallowe'en, or All Hallows Eve and the devotions to the dead on All Saints' and All Souls' Day are both mixtures of old Celtic, Druid and other pagan customs intertwined with Christian practice.. 1965. 31 October 2011.
  18. Book: Merriam-Webster's Encyclopædia of World Religions. registration. 408. Merriam-Webster. Halloween, also called All Hallows' Eve, holy or hallowed evening observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day. The Irish pre-Christian observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows' Eve, celebrated on the same date.. 1999. 31 October 2011. 978-0-87779-044-0.
  19. Book: Roberts, Brian K.. The Making of the English Village: A Study in Historical Geography. 14 December 2015. 1987. Longman Scientific & Technical. 978-0-582-30143-6. Time out of time', when the barriers between this world and the next were down, the dead returned from the grave, and gods and strangers from the underworld walked abroad was a twice- yearly reality, on dates Christianised as All Hallows' Eve and All Hallows' Day..
  20. Book: O’Donnell . Hugh . Foley . Malcolm . Treat or Trick? Halloween in a Globalising World . 18 December 2008 . Cambridge Scholars Publishing . 978-1-4438-0265-9 . 91–92 . en . Hutton (1996, 363) identifies Rhys as a key figure who, along with another Oxbridge academic, James Frazer, romanticised the notion of Samhain and exaggerated its influence on Halloween. Hutton argues that Rhys had no substantiated documentary evidence for claiming that Halloween was the Celtic new year, but inferred it from contemporary folklore in Wales and Ireland. Moreover, he argues that Rhys: "thought that [he] was vindicated when he paid a subsequent visit to the Isle of Man and found its people sometimes called 31 October New Year's Night (Hog-unnaa) and practised customs which were usually associated with 31 December. In fact the flimsy nature of all this evidence ought to have been apparent from the start. The divinatory and purificatory rituals on 31 October could be explained by a connection to the most eerie of Christian feasts (All Saints) or by the fact that they ushered in the most dreaded of seasons. The many "Hog-unnaa" customs were also widely practised on the conventional New Year's Eve, and Rhys was uncomfortably aware that they might simply have been transferred, in recent years, from then Hallowe'en, to increase merriment and fundraising on the latter. He got round this problem by asserting that in his opinion (based upon no evidence at all) the transfer had been the other way round." ... Hutton points out that Rhy's unsubstantiated notions were further popularised by Frazer who used them to support an idea of his own, that Samhain, as well as being the origin of Halloween, had also been a pagan Celtic feast of the dead—a notion used to account for the element of ghosts, witches and other unworldly spirits commonly featured within Halloween. ... Halloween's preoccupation with the netherworld and with the supernatural owes more to the Christian festival of All Saints or All Souls, rather than vice versa..
  21. News: Barr . Beth Allison . Guess what? Halloween is more Christian than Pagan . subscription . . 15 October 2020 . en . 28 October 2016 . It is the medieval Christian festivals of All Saints’ and All Souls’ that provide our firmest foundation for Halloween. From emphasizing dead souls (both good and evil), to decorating skeletons, lighting candles for processions, building bonfires to ward off evil spirits, organizing community feasts, and even encouraging carnival practices like costumes, the medieval and early modern traditions of "Hallowtide" fit well with our modern holiday. So what does this all mean? It means that when we celebrate Halloween, we are definitely participating in a tradition with deep historical roots. But, while those roots are firmly situated in the medieval Christian past, their historical connection to "paganism" is rather more tenuous. . 2 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211102060351/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/10/28/guess-what-halloween-is-more-christian-than-pagan/ . live .
    • Web site: Kein 'Trick or Treat' bei Salzburgs Kelten. Moser. Stefan. 29 October 2010. Salzburger Nachrichten. de. 11 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20140317122059/http://search.salzburg.com/display/SNZ41-2922809130.10.2010. 17 March 2014. Die Kelten haben gar nichts mit Halloween zu tun", entkräftet Stefan Moser, Direktor des Keltenmuseums Hallein, einen weit verbreiteten Mythos. Moser sieht die Ursprünge von Halloween insgesamt in einem christlichen Brauch, nicht in einem keltischen..
      • Book: Hörandner, Editha. Halloween in der Steiermark und anderswo. 2005. LIT Verlag Münster. de. 978-3-8258-8889-3. 8, 12, 30. Der Wunsch nach einer Tradition, deren Anfänge sich in grauer Vorzeit verlieren, ist bei Dachleuten wie laien gleichmäßig verbreitet. ... Abgesehen von Irrtümern wie die Herleitung des Fests in ungebrochener Tradition ("seit 2000 Jahren") ist eine mangelnde vertrautheit mit der heimischen Folklore festzustellen. Allerheiligen war lange vor der Halloween invasion ein wichtiger Brauchtermin und ist das ncoh heute. ... So wie viele heimische Bräuche generell als fruchtbarkeitsbringend und dämonenaustreibend interpretiert werden, was trottz aller Aufklärungsarbeit nicht auszurotten ist, begegnet uns Halloween als ...heidnisches Fest. Aber es wird nicht als solches inszeniert..
    • Web site: Süßes, Saures – olle Kamellen? Ist Halloween schon wieder out?. Döring. Volkskundler Alois. 2011. Westdeutscher Rundfunk. de. 12 November 2015 . 14 June 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110614110611/http://www.wdr.de/themen/freizeit/brauchtum/halloween_10/interview_doering.jhtml?rubrikenstyle=freizeit. Dr. Alois Döring ist wissenschaftlicher Referent für Volkskunde beim LVR-Institut für Landeskunde und Regionalgeschichte Bonn. Er schrieb zahlreiche Bücher über Bräuche im Rheinland, darunter das Nachschlagewerk "Rheinische Bräuche durch das Jahr". Darin widerspricht Döring der These, Halloween sei ursprünglich ein keltisch-heidnisches Totenfest. Vielmehr stamme Halloween von den britischen Inseln, der Begriff leite sich ab von "All Hallows eve", Abend vor Allerheiligen. Irische Einwanderer hätten das Fest nach Amerika gebracht, so Döring, von wo aus es als "amerikanischer" Brauch nach Europa zurückkehrte..
  23. Web site: All Hallows' Eve . . 29 October 2020 . en . 20 October 2011 . However, there are supporters of the view that Hallowe'en, as the eve of All Saints' Day, originated entirely independently of Samhain and some question the existence of a specific pan-Celtic religious festival which took place on 31st October/1st November. . 28 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211028184759/https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/halloween_1.shtml . live .
  24. Brunvand, Jan (editor). American Folklore: An Encyclopedia. Routledge, 2006. p.749
  25. Colavito, Jason. Knowing Fear: Science, Knowledge and the Development of the Horror Genre. McFarland, 2007. pp.151–152
  26. Book: Paul Fieldhouse. Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions. 17 April 2017. ABC-CLIO. 256. 978-1-61069-412-4.
  27. Book: Skog, Jason. Teens in Finland. 2008. Capstone. 978-0-7565-3405-9. 31. Most funerals are Lutheran, and nearly 98 percent of all funerals take place in a church. It is customary to take pictures of funerals or even videotape them. To Finns, death is a part of the cycle of life, and a funeral is another special occasion worth remembering. In fact, during All Hallow's Eve and Christmas Eve, cemeteries are known as valomeri, or seas of light. Finns visit cemeteries and light candles in remembrance of the deceased..
  28. Web site: All Hallows Eve Service. 31 October 2012. Duke University. 31 May 2014. About All Hallows Eve: Tonight is the eve of All Saints Day, the festival in the Church that recalls the faith and witness of the men and women who have come before us. The service celebrates our continuing communion with them, and memorializes the recently deceased. The early church followed the Jewish custom that a new day began at sundown; thus, feasts and festivals in the church were observed beginning the night before.. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131005183350/https://chapel.duke.edu/sites/default/files/AllHallows2012.pdf. 5 October 2013.
  29. 5 May 2009. The Christian Observances of Halloween. National Republic. 15. 33. Among the European nations the beautiful custom of lighting candles for the dead was always a part of the "All Hallow's Eve" festival..
  30. Book: Hynes, Mary Ellen. Companion to the Calendar. 1993. Liturgy Training Publications. 978-1-56854-011-5. 160. In most of Europe, Halloween is strictly a religious event. Sometimes in North America the church's traditions are lost or confused..
  31. Web site: Kernan . Joe . 30 October 2013 . Not so spooky after all: The roots of Halloween are tamer than you think . . 31 October 2015 . By the early 20th century, Halloween, like Christmas, was commercialized. Pre-made costumes, decorations and special candy all became available. The Christian origins of the holiday were downplayed. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151126163657/http://cranstononline.com/stories/not-so-spooky-after-all-the-roots-of-halloween-are-tamer-than-you-think,86934?print=1 . 26 November 2015 .
  32. Book: Braden. Donna R.. Village. Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield. Leisure and entertainment in America. registration. 2 June 2014. 1988. Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. 978-0-933728-32-5. Halloween, a holiday with religious origins but increasingly secularized as celebrated in America, came to assume major proportions as a children's festivity..
  33. Santino, p. 85
  34. All Hallows' Eve (Diana Swift), Anglican Journal
  35. Book: Mahon, Bríd. Land of Milk and Honey: The Story of Traditional Irish Food & Drink. 1991. Poolbeg Press. en. 978-1-85371-142-8. 138. The vigil of the feast is Halloween, the night when charms and incantations were powerful, when people looked into the future, and when feasting and merriment were ordained. Up to recent time this was a day of abstinence, when according to church ruling no flesh meat was allowed. Colcannon, apple cake and barm brack, as well as apples and nuts were part of the festive fare..
  36. Book: Fieldhouse, Paul. Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions. 13 August 2017. 17 April 2017. ABC-CLIO. en. 978-1-61069-412-4. 254. In Ireland, dishes based on potatoes and other vegetables were associated with Halloween, as meat was forbidden during the Catholic vigil and fast leading up to All Saint's Day.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171031175805/https://books.google.com/books?id=P-FqDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA254. 31 October 2017.
  37. Encyclopedia: Luck. Steve. All Saints' Day. The American Desk Encyclopedia. 22. 1998. Oxford University Press. en. 978-0-19-521465-9.
  38. The A to Z of Anglicanism (Colin Buchanan), Scarecrow Press, p. 8
  39. .
  40. Book: A History of the Scottish People from the Earliest Times: From the Union of the kingdoms, 1706, to the present time. Blackie. Thomas . Thomson . Charles . Annandale. Of the stated rustic festivals peculiar to Scotland the most important was Hallowe'en, a contraction for All-hallow Evening, or the evening of All-Saints Day, the annual return of which was a season for joy and festivity.. 1896. 31 October 2011.
  41. Encyclopedia: Scottish National Dictionary (1700–) . snd8629 . III = . E'EN, Een . 1952 .
  42. Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 22, 27. .
  43. New Proclamation Commentary on Feasts, Holy Days, and Other Celebrations (Bill Doggett, Gordon W. Lathrop), Fortress Press, p. 92
  44. Book: Benham . William . The Dictionary of Religion: An Encyclopedia of Christian and Other Religious Doctrines, Denominations, Sects, Heresies, Ecclesiastical Terms, History, Biography, Etc.. 1887 . Cassell . 1085 . English . Vigils were kept at least till midnight before the feasts of martyrs, and those of Easter Eve and Christmas Eve were prolonged till cock-crow..
  45. Book: Hopwood . James A. . Keeping Christmas: Finding Joy in a Season of Excess and Strife . 2019 . . 978-1-5326-9537-7 . 47 . English . The name "Halloween," of course, is a contraction of "All Hallow's Eve." That's the eve of All Saints Day, or All Hallows Day, as it was popularly known in Britain. As with Christmas Eve and the Easter vigil, the celebration of All Saints Day began with a service the night before, on All Hallow's Eve. With All Souls Day on November 2, it formed the feast of Allhallowtide. All Saints Day began in fourth-century Rome as a festival honoring Christian martyrs. By the eighth century, it was expanded to all those remembered as saints, and the date of its observance was moved from May 13 to November 1. That move, of course, put it smack dab on top of Samhain in Britain. But the decision to move the date was not made in Britain; it was made in Rome, where there was no Samhain or anything like it. There is no evidence that any Samhain customs rubbed off on Halloween anywhere because there is no evidence of any Samhain customs at all..
  46. Book: Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints. Church Publishing, Inc.. 978-0-89869-678-3. 662. 2010.
  47. Web site: Saunders. William. All Saints and All Souls. Catholic Education Resource Center. 19 September 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160918155355/http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/all-saints-and-all-souls.html. 18 September 2016.
  48. Melton, J Gordon (editor). Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO, 2011. p.22
  49. All Saints, Festival of.
  50. "All Saints' Day", The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd edition, ed. E. A. Livingstone. Oxford University Press, 1997. pp.41–42
  51. McClendon, Charles. "Old Saint Peter's and the Iconoclastic Controversy", in Old Saint Peter's, Rome. Cambridge University Press, 2013. pp. 215–216. Quote: "Soon after his election in 731, Gregory III summoned a synod to gather on 1 November in the basilica of Saint Peter's in order to respond to the policy of iconoclasm that he believed was being promoted by the Byzantine Emperor [...] Six months later, in April of the following year, 732, the pope assembled another synod in the basilica to consecrate a new oratory dedicated to the Saviour, the Virgin Mary, and all the saints".
  52. Ó Carragáin, Éamonn. Ritual and the Rood: Liturgical Images and the Old English Poems of the Dream of the Rood Tradition. University of Toronto Press, 2005. p. 258. Quote: "Gregory III began his reign with a synod in St Peter's (1 November 731) which formally condemned iconoclasm [...] on the Sunday before Easter, 12 April 732, Gregory convoked yet another synod [...] and at the synod inaugurated an oratory [...] Dedicated to all saints, this oratory was designed to hold 'relics of the holy apostles and all the holy martyrs and confessors'".
  53. Farmer, David. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Fifth Edition, Revised). Oxford University Press, 2011. p. 14
  54. Hutton, p. 364
  55. Book: New Catholic Encyclopedia . 2003 . 0-7876-4004-2 . 242–243 . Second.
  56. MacCulloch, John Arnott (1911). The Religion of the Ancient Celts. Chapter 10: The Cult of the Dead .
  57. Burns, Paul (editor). Butler's Saint for the Day. Liturgical Press, 2007. p. 516
  58. The World Review – Volume 4, University of Minnesota, p. 255
  59. Book: Rogers, Nicholas . Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night . limited . Oxford University Press . 2001 . 28–30 . 978-0-19-514691-2 .
  60. Hutton, pp. 374–375
  61. Book: DeMello, Margo. A Cultural Encyclopedia of the Human Face. Trick-or-treating began as souling an English and Irish tradition in which the poor, wearing masks, would go door to door and beg for soul cakes in exchange for people's dead relatives.. 2012. ABC-CLIO. 978-1-59884-617-1. 167.
  62. Cleene, Marcel. Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe. Man & Culture, 2002. p. 108. Quote: "Soul cakes were small cakes baked as food for the deceased or offered for the salvation of their souls. They were therefore offered at funerals and feasts of the dead, laid on graves, or given to the poor as representatives of the dead. The baking of these soul cakes is a universal practice".
  63. Book: Levene, Alysa. Cake: A Slice of History. 2016. Pegasus Books. en. 978-1-68177-108-3. 44. Like the perennial favourites, hot cross buns; they were often marked with a cross to indicate that they were baked as alms..
  64. The Two Gentlemen of Verona Act 2, Scene 1.
  65. Book: Pulliam. June. Fonseca. Anthony J.. Ghosts in Popular Culture and Legend. 2016. ABC-CLIO. en. 978-1-4408-3491-2. 145. Since the 16th century, costumes have become a central part of Halloween traditions. Perhaps the most common traditional Halloween costume is that of the ghost. This is likely because ... when Halloween customs began to be influenced by Catholicism, the incorporation of the themes of All Hallows' and All Souls' Day would have emphasized visitations from the spirit world over the motifs of spirits and fairies. ... The baking and sharing of souls cakes was introduced around the 15th century: in some cultures, the poor would go door to door to collect them in exchange for praying for the dead (a practice called souling), often carrying lanterns made of hollowed-out turnips. Around the 16th century, the practice of going house to house in disguise (a practice called guising) to ask for food began and was often accompanied by recitation of traditional verses (a practice called mumming). Wearing costumes, another tradition, has many possible explanations, such as it was done to confuse the spirits or souls who visited the earth or who rose from local graveyards to engage in what was called a Danse Macabre, basically a large party among the dead..
  66. Rogers, p. 57
  67. Book: Guiley . Rosemary . The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca . 2008 . . 978-1-4381-2684-5 . 183 . English. According to most legends, the jack-o'-lantern is a wandering soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell. ... In Ireland, children who are caught outdoors after dark are told to wear their jackets inside-out in order not to be lured astray by a jack-o'-lantern. In Sweden, the spirit is believed to be the soul of an unbaptized child, who tries to lead travelers to water in hopes of receiving baptism. ... In American lore, the jack-o'-lantern is associated with withces and the Halloween custom of trick-or-treating. It is customary for trick-or-treaters to carry pumpkin jack-o'-lanterns to frighten away evil spirits..
  68. Santino, The Hallowed Eve, p. 95
  69. [James George Frazer|Frazer, James George]
  70. Ruth Hutchison and Ruth Constance Adams (1951). Every Day's a Holiday. Harper, 1951. pp.236
  71. Book: Prince Sorie Conteh. Traditionalists, Muslims, and Christians in Africa: Interreligious Encounters and Dialogue. Cambria Press. 2009. 31 October 2011. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171031175805/https://books.google.com/books?id=HpAuyiMRTDcC&pg=PA132. 31 October 2017. 978-1-60497-596-3.
  72. Book: Bannatyne, Lesley. Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History. 1998. Pelican Publishing Company. en . 978-1-4556-0553-8. 19. Villagers were also encouraged to masquerade on this day, not to frighten unwelcome spirits, but to honor Christian saints. On All Saints' Day, churches throughout Europe and the British Isles displayed relics of their patron saints. Poor churches could not afford genuine relics and instead had processions in which parishioners dressed as saints, angels and devils. It served the new church by giving an acceptable Christian basis to the custom of dressing up on Halloween..
  73. Book: Morrow, Ed. The Halloween Handbook. 2001. Kensington Publishing Corporation. en. 978-0-8065-2227-2. 19. Another contributor to the custom of dressing up at Halloween was the old Irish practice of marking All Hallows' Day with religious pageants that recounted biblical events. These were common during the Middle Ages all across Europe. The featured players dressed as saints and angels, but there were also plenty of roles for demons who had more fun, capering, acting devilish, and playing to the crows. The pageant began inside the church, then moved by procession to the churchyard, where it continued long into the night..
  74. "Eve of All Saints", Using Common Worship: Times and Seasons – All Saints to Candlemas (David Kennedy), Church House Publishing, p. 42
  75. [Lesley Bannatyne|Bannatyne, Lesley]
  76. Perry, Edward Baxter. Descriptive Analyses of Piano Works; For the Use of Teachers, Players, and Music Clubs. Theodore Presser Company, 1902. p. 276
  77. Book: Allmand, Christopher. The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 7, c. 1415–c. 1500. 19 October 2015. 1998. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-38296-0. 210. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160423072407/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qzc8OeuSXFMC&pg=PA210. 23 April 2016.
  78. Book: Reimer . Margaret Loewen . Approaching the Divine: Signs and Symbols of the Christian Faith . 2018 . . 978-1-5326-5675-0 . 85 . English . Christians in Europe envisioned a danse macabre, a hideous dance by the spirits of the dead who arose from the churchyards for a wild carnival each year. This dance, commonly depicted on the walls of cathedrals, monasteries and cemeteries, may well be the origin of the macabre costumes we don on Halloween..
  79. Book: DeSpelder . Lynne Ann . Strickland . Albert Lee . The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying . 2009 . McGraw-Hill Education . 978-0-07-340546-9 . 107 . English . More subtly, images associated with the danse macabre persist in the form of skeletons and other scary regalia found on children's Halloween costumes..
  80. Book: Books & Culture: A Christian Review. 1999. Christianity Today. 12. Sometimes enacted as at village pageants, the danse macabre was also performed as court masques, the courtiers dressing up as corpses from various strata of society...both the name and the observance began liturgically as All Hallows' Eve.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160423113526/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOVEAQAAIAAJ. 23 April 2016.
  81. Hutton, p. 372
  82. Book: Santino . Jack . The Hallowed Eve: Dimensions of Culture in a Calendar Festival in Northern Ireland . 21 October 2021 . . 978-0-8131-8458-6 . English.
  83. The Episcopal Church, its teaching and worship (Latta Griswold), E.S. Gorham, p. 110
  84. [Margaret Aston|Aston, Margaret]
  85. Medieval Celebrations: Your Guide to Planning and Hosting Spectacular Feasts, Parties, Weddings, and Renaissance Fairs (Daniel Diehl, Mark Donnelly), Stackpole Books, p. 17
  86. Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 37–38. .
  87. Book: Hutton, Ronald. Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. 2001. Oxford University Press. en . 978-0-19-157842-7. Fires were indeed lit in England on All Saints' Day, notably in Lancashire, and may well ultimately have descended from the same rites, but were essentially party of a Christian ceremony ... families still assembled at the midnight before All Saints' Day in the early nineteenth century. Each did so on a hill near its homestead, one person holding a large bunch of burning straw on the end of a fork. The rest in a circle around and prayed for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames burned out. The author who recorded this custom added that it gradually died out in the latter part of the century, but that before it had been very common and at nearby Whittingham such fires could be seen all around the horizon at Hallowe'en. He went on to say that the name 'Purgatory Field', found across northern Lancashire, testified to an even wider distribution and that the rite itself was called 'Teen'lay'.. 369, 373.
  88. O'Donnell, Hugh and Foley, Malcolm. "Treat or Trick? Halloween in a Globalising World" . Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008. p.35
  89. Book: The Catholic World, Vol. 138: A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science. 138. 1934. Paulist Press. en. There is proof that this shifting of customs from one day to another really took place. For until the end of the eighteenth century, children in some Derbyshire parishes, instead of lighting bonfires with the rest of England on November 5th, lit their furze fires called 'tindles' on All Souls night. And even then, the educated folk of the districts concerned, declared that these fires were a relic of papistical days when they were lit at night to guide the poor souls back to earth..
  90. Book: Morton . Lisa . Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween . 15 September 2013 . Reaktion Books . 978-1-78023-055-9 . 129 . English.
  91. Morton, Lisa. The Halloween Encyclopedia. McFarland, 2003. p. 9
  92. Book: Fieldhouse . Paul . Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions [2 volumes] . 17 April 2017 . . 978-1-61069-412-4 . 19 . English.
  93. Book: . A Handbook for Travellers in Spain . 1855 . . 208 . English.
  94. Boenig, Robert. Anglo-Saxon Spirituality: Selected Writings. Paulist Press, 2000. p. 7
  95. Santino, Jack. The Hallowed Eve: Dimensions of Culture in a Calendar Festival of Northern Ireland. University Press of Kentucky, 1998. p. 95
  96. Rogers, Nicholas. "Samhain and the Celtic Origins of Halloween". Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 11–21. .
  97. How Halloween Traditions Are Rooted in the Ancient Pagan Festival of Samhain . Time . en . 4 December 2019.
  98. A Pocket Guide To Superstitions of the British Isles (Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; Reprint edition: 4 November 2004)
  99. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/halloween_1.shtml All Hallows' Eve
  100. [Dáithí Ó hÓgáin|Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí]
  101. [Ronald Hutton|Hutton, Ronald]
  102. Monaghan, Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Infobase Publishing, 2004. p. 407
  103. Hutton, p. 361
  104. Monaghan, p. 41
  105. O'Halpin, Andy. Ireland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide. Oxford University Press, 2006. p. 236
  106. Book: Monaghan . Patricia . The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore . 2014 . Infobase publishing . 167.
  107. Book: Monaghan, Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. 19 October 2015. 1 January 2009. Infobase Publishing. 978-1-4381-1037-0. 167. They were both respected and feared. "Their backs towards us, their faces away from us, and may God and Mary save us from harm," was a prayer spoken whenever one ventured near their dwellings.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160423051036/https://books.google.com/books?id=nd9R6GQBB_0C&pg=PA167. 23 April 2016.
  108. Santino, p. 105
  109. [Kevin Danaher|Danaher, Kevin]
  110. [Walter Evans-Wentz|Evans-Wentz, Walter]
  111. [F. Marian McNeill|McNeill, F. Marian]
  112. "Halloween". Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 21 September 2012.
  113. McNeill, The Silver Bough, Volume 3, pp. 11–46
  114. Miles, Clement A. (1912). Christmas in Ritual and Tradition. Chapter 7: All Hallow Tide to Martinmas .
  115. Hutton, p. 379
  116. Hutton, p. 380
  117. [Kevin Danaher|Danaher, Kevin]
  118. [James George Frazer|Frazer, James George]
  119. MacCulloch, John Arnott (1911). The Religion of the Ancient Celts. Chapter 18: Festivals .
  120. Book: Carter. Albert Howard . Petro. Jane Arbuckle. Rising from the Flames: The Experience of the Severely Burned. 1998. University of Pennsylvania Press. en. 978-0-8122-1517-5. 100. Halloween, incorporated into the Christian year as the eve of All Saints Day, marked the return of the souls of the departed and the release of devils who could move freely on that night. Fires lit on that night served to prevent the influence of such spirits and to provide omens for the future. Modern children go from house to house at Halloween with flashlights powered by electric batteries, while jack o'lanterns (perhaps with an actual candle, but often with a lightbulb) glow from windows and porches..
  121. Hutton, pp. 366, 380
  122. Web site: Halloween traditions. 2016. Welsh Government. 2 October 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20171002215831/http://cymraeg.gov.wales/news/index/calan-gaeaf?lang=en. 2 October 2017.
  123. Book: Rosinsky, Natalie M.. Halloween. 2002. Capstone Publishers. 978-0-7565-0392-5. 8. Christian leaders made old Celtic and Roman customs into new Christian ones. Bonfires were once lighted against evil spirits. Now, they kept away the devil..
  124. [F. Marian McNeill|McNeill, F. Marian]
  125. Hutton, pp. 379–383
  126. [Christina Hole|Hole, Christina]
  127. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Volume 2. 1855. pp. 308–309
  128. Palmer, Kingsley. Oral folk-tales of Wessex. David & Charles, 1973. pp. 87–88
  129. Wilson, David Scofield. Rooted in America: Foodlore of Popular Fruits and Vegetables. Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1999. p. 154
  130. Ott, Cindy. Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon. University of Washington Press, 2012. p. 42
  131. Bannatyne, p. 45
  132. Encyclopaedia Londinensis, or, Universal dictionary of arts, sciences, and literature, Volume 21 (John Wilkes), R. G. Gunnell and Co., p. 544
  133. Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 49–50. .
  134. Santino, Jack. All Around the Year: Holidays and Celebrations in American Life. University of Illinois Press, 1995. p.153
  135. Book: Morton, Lisa. The Halloween Encyclopedia. 2003. McFarland. 978-0-7864-1524-3.
  136. Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 74. .
  137. Web site: Is Halloween celebrated in Asia? . 2022-10-31 . Asia Media Centre New Zealand . 29 October 2020 . 31 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221031123243/https://www.asiamediacentre.org.nz/features/is-halloween-celebrated-in-asia/ . live .
  138. The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca, Infobase Publishing, p. 183
  139. Dante's "Commedia" and the Poetics of Christian Catabasis (Lee Foust), ProQuest, p. 15
  140. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits (Rosemary Guiley), Guinness World Records Limited, p. 178
  141. https://web.archive.org/web/20200921184122/https://books.google.com/books?id=AN7WAAAAMAAJ&q=candlelit+lanterns+were+carved+from+large+turnips&dq=candlelit+lanterns+were+carved+from+large+turnips&ct=result&resnum=1 The Oxford companion to American food and drink
  142. Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Great Carbuncle", in Twice-Told Tales, 1837: Hide it [the great carbuncle] under thy cloak, say'st thou? Why, it will gleam through the holes, and make thee look like a jack-o'-lantern!
  143. As late as 1900, an article on Thanksgiving entertaining recommended a lit jack-o'-lantern as part of the festivities. "The Day We Celebrate: Thanksgiving Treated Gastronomically and Socially", The New York Times, 24 November 1895, p. 27. "Odd Ornaments for Table", The New York Times, 21 October 1900, p. 12.
  144. The Rhetoric of Vision: Essays on Charles Williams (Charles Adolph Huttar, Peter J. Schakel), Bucknell University Press, p. 155
  145. Rogers, Nicholas (2002). "Halloween Goes to Hollywood". Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, pp. 103–124. New York: Oxford University Press. .
  146. A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art (Gertrude Grace Sill), Simon & Schuster, p. 64
  147. In flagrante collecto (Marilynn Gelfman Karp), Abrams, p. 299
  148. School Year, Church Year (Peter Mazar), Liturgy Training Publications, p. 115
  149. Web site: Mayne . John . Halloween . PoetryExplorer . 24 November 2022 . 24 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221124003446/https://www.poetryexplorer.net/poem.php?id=10105857 . live .
  150. Thomas Crawford Burns: a study of the poems and songs Book: Burns: A Study of the Poems and Songs . 978-0-8047-0055-9 . 27 November 2018 . 23 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160423113435/https://books.google.com/books?id=BDCsAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA125&dq=scottish+halloween+traditions+-+burns+poem&ct=result&resnum=8 . bot: unknown . Crawford . Thomas . 1960 . Stanford University Press . Stanford University Press, 1960
  151. Simpson, Jacqueline "All Saints' Day" in Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, Howarth, G. and Leeman, O. (2001) London Routledge, p. 14 "Halloween is closely associated in folklore with death and the supernatural".
  152. Book: Herberholz . Donald . Herberholz . Barbara . Artworks for Elementary Teachers: Developing Artistic and Perceptual Awareness . 1990 . W.C. Brown . 16.
  153. Encyclopedia: Halloween. Encyclopædia Britannica. 25 October 2012. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20121030150155/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/252875/Halloween. 30 October 2012.
  154. Faces Around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the Human Face (Margo DeMello), ABC-CLIO, p. 225
  155. A Student's Guide to A2 Performance Studies for the OCR Specification (John Pymm), Rhinegold Publishing Ltd, p. 28
  156. Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music, and Art, Volume 1 (Thomas Green), ABC-CLIO p. 566
  157. Interacting communities: studies on some aspects of migration and urban ethnology (Zsuzsa Szarvas), Hungarian Ethnographic Society, p. 314
  158. The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature (David Scott Kastan), Oxford University Press, p. 47
  159. "Mumming Play", Encyclopædia Britannica
  160. Book: Carmichael, Sherman. Legends and Lore of South Carolina. 2012. The History Press. 978-1-60949-748-4. 70. The practice of dressing up and going door to door for treats dates back to the middle ages and the practice of souling..
  161. Book: Hood, Karen Jean Matsko. Halloween Delights. 1 January 2014. Whispering Pine Press International. 978-1-59434-181-6. 33. The tradition continued in some areas of northern England as late as the 1930s, with children going from door to door "souling" for cakes or money by singing a song..
  162. Book: Mosteller, Angie . Christian Origins of Halloween . 2 July 2014. Rose Publishing . 978-1-59636-535-3. In Protestant regions souling remained an important occasion for soliciting food and money from rich neighbors in preparation for the coming cold and dark months..
  163. Book: St. Nicholas Magazine. Mary Mapes Dodge. Mary Mapes Dodge. 1883. Scribner & Company. 93. 'Soul-cakes,' which the rich gave to the poor at the Halloween season, in return for which the recipients prayed for the souls of the givers and their friends. And this custom became so favored in popular esteem that, for a long time, it was a regular observance in the country towns of England for small companies to go from parish to parish, begging soul-cakes by singing under the windows some such verse as this: 'Soul, souls, for a soul-cake; Pray you good mistress, a soul-cake!'. St. Nicholas Magazine.
  164. Book: Frank Leslie's popular monthly, Volume 40, November 1895, pp. 540–543 . 5 February 2009 . 23 October 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110511203141/http://books.google.com/books?id=x7_QAAAAMAAJ&dq=Frank%20Leslie's%20popular%20monthly%201895%20Halloween&pg=PA540 . 11 May 2011 . Leslie . Frank .
  165. Encyclopedia: Definition of "guising" . Collins English Dictionary. (in Scotland and N England) the practice or custom of disguising oneself in fancy dress, often with a mask, and visiting people's houses, esp at Halloween.
  166. News: Ten trick-or-treating facts for impressive bonfire chats . 31 October 2014 . . Scotland and Ireland started tricking: A few decades later a practice called ‘guising’ was in full swing in Scotland and Ireland. Short for ‘disguising’, children would go out from door to door dressed in costume and rather than pledging to pray, they would tell a joke, sing a song or perform another sort of "trick" in exchange for food or money. The expression trick or treat has only been used at front doors for the last 10 to 15 years. Before that "Help the Halloween Party" seems to have been the most popular phrase to holler. . 28 October 2020 . 27 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210127175333/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/ten-trick-or-treating-facts-for-impressive-bonfire-chats-1.1983165 . live .
  167. Rogers, Nicholas. (2002) "Coming Over:Halloween in North America". Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. p. 76. Oxford University Press, 2002,
  168. Kelley, Ruth Edna. The Book of Hallowe'en, Boston: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Co., 1919, chapter 15, p. 127. "Hallowe'en in America" .
  169. Web site: Kelley . Ruth Edna . Hallowe'en in America . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131014132714/http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/boh/boh17.htm . 14 October 2013 .
  170. Theo. E. Wright, "A Halloween Story", St. Nicholas, October 1915, p. 1144. Mae McGuire Telford, "What Shall We Do Halloween?" Ladies Home Journal, October 1920, p. 135.
  171. "'Trick or Treat' Is Demand", Herald (Lethbridge, Alberta), 4 November 1927, p. 5, dateline Blackie, Alberta, 3 November
  172. For examples, see the websites Postcard & Greeting Card Museum: Halloween Gallery, Antique Hallowe'en Postcards, Vintage Halloween Postcards .
  173. "Halloween Pranks Keep Police on Hop", Oregon Journal (Portland, Oregon), 1 November 1934; and "The Gangsters of Tomorrow", The Helena Independent (Helena, Montana), 2 November 1934, p. 4. The Chicago Tribune also mentioned door-to-door begging in Aurora, Illinois, on Halloween in 1934, although not by the term 'trick-or-treating'. "Front Views and Profiles" (column), Chicago Tribune, 3 November 1934, p. 17.
  174. Moss, Doris Hudson. "A Victim of the Window-Soaping Brigade?" The American Home, November 1939, p. 48.
  175. Bluff Park (Heather Jones Skaggs), Arcadia Publishing, p. 117
  176. "Trunk-or-Treat", The Chicago Tribune
  177. Suggested Themes for "Trunks" for Trunk or Treat (Dail R. Faircloth), First Baptist Church of Royal Palm Beach
  178. "Trunk or Treat focuses on fun, children's safety", Desert Valley Times
  179. "Trunk or Treat! Halloween Tailgating Grows" (Fernanda Santos), The New York Times
  180. News: Michael. Bradley. A very Derry Halloween: a carnival of frights, fireworks and parade. 25 October 2018. 24 October 2018. The Guardian. 24 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181024230342/https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/oct/24/derry-halloween-europe-largest-carnival-of-frights-fireworks-parades. live.
  181. Web site: DOST: Hallow Evin . Dsl.ac.uk . 13 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140429162756/http://www.dsl.ac.uk/getent4.php?plen=12718&startset=16840203&query=HALLOW&fhit=hallow&dregion=form&dtext=snd. 29 April 2014.
  182. News: Halloween Jollity Within Reason Need. Miller. Marian. 31 October 1932. The Morning Oregonian. 8. Quote: "Trick or treat?" the youthful mischief-maker will say this evening, probably, as he rings the doorbell of a neighbor."
  183. School Year, Church Year (Peter Mazar), Liturgy Training Publications, p. 114
  184. Memento Mori, Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri
  185. News: Genevieve . Beauchemin . CTV.ca News Staff . UNICEF to end Halloween 'orange box' program . https://web.archive.org/web/20071016235444/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060530/unicef_orange_060530?s_name=&no_ads= . dead . 16 October 2007 . CTV . 31 May 2006 . 29 October 2006 .
  186. Web site: History of the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Campaign . https://web.archive.org/web/20090604032837/http://www.trickortreatforunicef.ca/tot_history.html . 4 June 2009 . UNICEF Canada . 2008 . 25 October 2009.
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  188. News: Fadel . Leila . Cultural Appropriation, A Perennial Issue On Halloween . 14 November 2020 . NPR . 29 October 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191029234515/https://www.npr.org/2019/10/29/773615928/cultural-appropriation-a-perennial-issue-on-halloween . 29 October 2019 .
  189. News: Escobar . Sam . Robin . Marci . 15 Offensive Halloween Costumes That Shouldn't Exist . 16 October 2020 . Good Housekeeping . 5 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201013215149/https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/halloween-ideas/a40778/most-offensive-halloween-costumes/ . 13 October 2020.
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  191. News: Keshner . Andrew . Instagram-loving pets owners will spend nearly $500M on animal costumes this Halloween . . 17 October 2018 . 17 October 2018 . 16 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181016224309/https://www.marketwatch.com/story/instagram-loving-pets-owners-will-spend-nearly-500m-on-animal-costumes-this-halloween-2018-10-16 . live .
  192. Book: Diehl. Daniel. Donnelly. Mark P.. Medieval Celebrations: Your Guide to Planning and Hosting Spectacular Feasts, Parties, Weddings, and Renaissance Fairs. 13 April 2011. Stackpole Books. en. 978-0-8117-4430-0. 17. All Hallows' Eve. A time of spiritual unrest, when the souls of the dead, along with ghosts and evil spirits, were believed to walk the land. Church bells were run and fires lit to guide these souls on their way and deflect them from haunting honest Christian folk. Barns and homes were blessed to protect people and livestock from the effects of witches, who were believed to accompany the malignant spirits as they traveld the earth. Although a rare few continued to divine the future, cast spells, and tell ghost stories in rural communities, woe to anyone who was denounced to the church for engaging in such activities. These may seem like innocent fun today, but it was deadly serious stuff during the Middle Ages..
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  211. Book: Day . Frances A. . Latina and Latino Voices in Literature: Lives and Works, Updated and Expanded . 30 May 2003 . Bloomsbury Publishing USA . 978-0-313-05851-6 . 72 . en. On October 31, All Hallows Eve, the children make a children's altar, to invite angelitos (spirits of dead children) to come back for a visit. November 1 is All Saints Day, and the adult spirits will come to visit. November 2 is All Souls Day, when the families go to the cemetery to decorate the graves and tombs of their relatives..
  212. Web site: A Model of Mayhem . 6 October 2008 . Greg Ryan . 17 September 2008 . Hudson Valley Magazine . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110511195707/http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazine/October-2008/A-Model-of-Mayhem/ . 11 May 2011 .
  213. Web site: The History of Haunted Houses: A Fight for Frights as Tastes Change . Adam . Warner . 27 October 2014 . NBC Bay Area . https://web.archive.org/web/20141027203902/http://www.nbcbayarea.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/The-History-of-Haunted-Houses-How-Fears-Have-Fueled-an-Industry-280063892.html . 27 October 2014 . dead . 21 July 2017 .
  214. Web site: The History of Haunted Houses! . Bekah . McKendry . March 2014 . America Haunts . https://web.archive.org/web/20140308075305/http://www.americahaunts.com/ah/2014/03/the-history-of-haunted-houses/ . 8 March 2014 . dead . 21 July 2014 .
  215. Book: Morton . Lisa . Lisa Morton . 28 September 2012 . Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween . paperback . United Kingdom . Reaktion Books . 978-1-78023-047-4.
  216. Book: Surrell, Jason . Jason Surrell . 11 August 2009 . Haunted Mansion: From The Magic Kingdom To The Movies . paperback . Disney Editions . 978-1-4231-1895-4 .
  217. Web site: Knott's Scary Farm remains the ideal Southern California Halloween theme park event for the 2016 season . Mike . Celestino . 28 September 2016 . Inside The Magic . Distant Creations Group, LLC . https://web.archive.org/web/20160930164337/http://www.insidethemagic.net/2016/09/review-knotts-scary-farm-remains-the-ideal-southern-california-halloween-theme-park-event-for-the-2016-season/ . 30 September 2016 . dead . 22 July 2017 .
  218. News: These evangelical haunted houses are designed to show sinners that they're going to hell . Kathryn Gin . Lum . 30 October 2014 . The Washington Post . https://web.archive.org/web/20141031144940/https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/30/these-evangelical-haunted-houses-are-designed-to-show-sinners-that-theyre-going-to-hell/ . 31 October 2014 . live . 22 July 2017.
  219. Web site: Classic Haunts From Cincinnati's Past . . 2012 . House of Doom . https://web.archive.org/web/20120425130229/http://www.houseofdoom.net/vintage . 25 April 2012 . dead . 8 August 2017 .
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  222. Web site: Fires in History: The Haunted Castle. 9 August 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170325224708/http://www.femoranfp.com/fires-in-history-haunted-castle/ . 25 March 2017 .
  223. News: 8 Killed by Smoky Fire in Park's 'Haunted Castle'. https://web.archive.org/web/20170813145408/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/05/12/8-killed-by-smoky-fire-in-parks-haunted-castle/19dd0404-29a6-4c73-a156-370621228c87/. dead. 13 August 2017. 12 May 1984. The Washington Post.
  224. Web site: The Haunted Castle, Revisited – NFPA Journal. nfpa.org. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170813181603/http://www.nfpa.org/news-and-research/publications/nfpa-journal/2014/may-june-2014/features/the-haunted-castle-revisited. 13 August 2017. 9 August 2017.
  225. Web site: Spooky and Safe. nfpa.org. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170813145912/http://www.nfpa.org/news-and-research/publications/nfpa-journal/2014/may-june-2014/features/the-haunted-castle-revisited/spooky-and-safe. 13 August 2017. 9 August 2017.
  226. Web site: Horror in a Haunted Castle . 29 September 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150215194802/http://www.fireengineering.com/content/dam/fe/online-articles/documents/2014/FE081984HauntedCastleFire.pdf . 15 February 2015 .
  227. News: The Real Scare Is Not Being Scary. Barnes. Brooks. 25 October 2011. The New York Times. 12 July 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170730000332/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/movies/at-universal-orlando-halloween-fright-is-a-full-time-job.html. 30 July 2017. dmy-all.
  228. Web site: Halloween Is Raking in Scary Profits for Theme Parks. Munarriz. Rick Aristotle. 23 October 2014. AOL.com/Finance. 3 November 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107013349/https://www.aol.com/article/finance/2014/10/23/halloween-is-raking-in-scary-profits-for-theme-parks/20982309/. 7 November 2017. dmy-all.
  229. Web site: Mader . Isabel . 30 September 2014 . Halloween Colcannon . Simmer Magazine . 3 October 2014 . All Hallow's Eve was a Western (Anglo) Christian holiday that revolved around commemorating the dead using humor to intimidate death itself. Like all holidays, All Hallow's Eve involved traditional treats. The church encouraged an abstinence from meat, which created many vegetarian dishes. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141005201753/http://www.simmermagazine.com/2014/09/30/halloween-colcannon-recipe/ . 5 October 2014 .
  230. Rogers, Nicholas (2002). "Razor in the Apple: Struggle for Safe and Sane Halloween, c. 1920–1990", Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, pp. 78–102. New York: Oxford University Press. .
  231. Web site: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Pins and Needles in Halloween Candy . Snopes.com . 2 November 2000 . 31 October 2008 . 29 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211029222107/http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.asp . live .
  232. Web site: Poisoned Halloween Candy: Trick, Treat or Myth? . Nixon. Robin. 27 October 2010. LiveScience . 23 January 2011. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20120111081950/http://www.livescience.com/8839-poisoned-halloween-candy-trick-treat-myth.html. 11 January 2012.
  233. News: Top ten Irish Halloween traditions and memories you may share. 23 October 2018. Ireland Central. 24 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181024035306/https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/craic/top-irish-halloween-memories-traditions. live.
  234. News: Spooky twist on classic Cadbury Creme Egg in time for Halloween . 25 August 2023 . Derby Telegraph.
  235. Book: Crocker, B. . Betty Crocker Halloween Cookbook . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . 2012 . 978-0-544-17814-4 . Betty Crocker Cooking . 132.
  236. Book: Hood, K.J.M. . Halloween Delights Cookbook: A Collection of Halloween Recipes . Whispering Pine Press International, Incorporated . 2014 . 978-1-59434-181-6 . Cookbook Delights Holiday Series . 119–138.
  237. Web site: McCrum . Kirstie . October 14, 2015 . Trick or treat? Halloween cakes look horrifying but are they devilishly tasty? . February 6, 2016 . Irish Mirror.
  238. Book: Bannatyne, Lesley Pratt. Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History. 1 November 2012. 1 August 1998. Pelican Publishing. 978-1-56554-346-1. 12. Polish Catholics taught their children to pray out loud as they walked through the woods so that the souls of the dead could hear them and be comforted. Priests in tiny Spanish villages still ring their church bells to remind parishioners to honor the dead on All Hallows Eve.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171031175805/https://books.google.com/books?id=rNAXt9jLXWwC&pg=PA12. 31 October 2017.
  239. Feasting and Fasting: Canada's Heritage Celebrations (Dorothy Duncan), Dundurn, p. 249
  240. Web site: BBC – Religions – Christianity: All Hallows' Eve. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). All Hallows' Eve falls on 31st October each year, and is the day before All Hallows' Day, also known as All Saints' Day in the Christian calendar. The Church traditionally held a vigil on All Hallows' Eve when worshippers would prepare themselves with prayers and fasting prior to the feast day itself.. 2010. 1 November 2011. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20111103105817/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/halloween_1.shtml. 3 November 2011.
  241. Web site: 'All Hallows' Eve'. The Patriot Post. Andrew James Harvey. "The vigil of the hallows" refers to the prayer service the evening before the celebration of All Hallows or Saints Day. Or "Halloween" for short – a fixture on the liturgical calendar of the Christian West since the seventh century.. 31 October 2012. 1 November 2011. dead. https://archive.today/20130421185016/http://www.patriotpost.us/commentary/15253. 21 April 2013.
  242. Web site: Vigil of All Saints. Catholic News Agency. The Vigil is based on the monastic office of Vigils (or Matins), when the monks would arise in the middle of the night to pray. On major feast days, they would have an extended service of readings (scriptural, patristic, and from lives of the saints) in addition to chanting the psalms. This all would be done in the dark, of course, and was an opportunity to listen carefully to the Word of God as well as the words of the Church Fathers and great saints. The Vigil of All Saints is an adaptation of this ancient practice, using the canonical office of Compline at the end.. 31 October 2012. 1 November 2011. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20130524132950/http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/saints/feast-days/vigil-of-all-saints/. 24 May 2013.
  243. Web site: Night of Light Beginnings. Cor et Lumen Christi Community. 2 November 2012. In its first year – 2000 AD – over 1000 people participated from several countries. This included special All Saints Vigil masses, extended periods of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and parties for children. In our second year 10,000 participated. Since these modest beginnings, the Night of Light has been adopted in many countries around the world with vast numbers involved each year from a Cathedral in India to a convent in New Zealand; from Churches in the US and Europe to Africa; in Schools, churches, homes and church halls all ages have got involved. Although it began in the Catholic Church it has been taken up by other Christians who while keeping its essentials have adapted it to suit their own traditions.. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131023062312/http://www.nightoflight.org/nofl2000.htm. 23 October 2013.
  244. News: Here's to the Soulcakers going about their mysterious mummery. The Telegraph. 6 November 2012. One that has grown over the past decade is the so-called Night of Light, on All Hallows' Eve, October 31. It was invented in 2000, in leafy Chertsey, Surrey, when perhaps 1,000 people took part. Now it is a worldwide movement, popular in Africa and the United States.

    The heart of the Night of Light is an all-night vigil of prayer, but there is room for children's fun too: sweets, perhaps a bonfire and dressing up as St George or St Lucy. The minimum gesture is to put a lighted candle in the window, which is in itself too exciting for some proponents of health and safety. The inventor of the Night of Light is Damian Stayne, the founder of a year-round religious community called Cor et Lumen Christi – heart and light of Christ. This new movement is Catholic, orthodox and charismatic – emphasising the work of the Holy Spirit.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20130403094908/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/8114025/Heres-to-the-Soulcakers-going-about-their-mysterious-mummery.html. 3 April 2013. 6 November 2010.
  245. Book: Armentrout. Donald S.. Slocum. Robert Boak. An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church. 1 November 2012. 1999. Church Publishing, Inc.. 978-0-89869-211-2. 7. The BOS notes that "suitable festivities and entertainments" may precede of follow the service, and there may be a visit to a cemetery or burial place.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160730202753/https://books.google.com/books?id=y_RpbmWNfHcC. 30 July 2016.
  246. Book: Infeld. Joanna. In-Formation. 1 November 2012. 1 December 2008. D & J Holdings LLC. 978-0-9760512-4-4. 150. My folks are Polish and they celebrate Halloween in a different way. It is time to remember your dead and visit the cemetery and graves of your loved ones..
  247. Web site: Doward . Jamie . Halloween light parties put a Christian spin on haunted celebrations . . October 28, 2017.
  248. Teens in Finland (Jason Skog), Capstone, p. 61
  249. Web site: Bishop Challenges Supermarkets to Lighten up Halloween . The Church of England . Christianity needs to make clear its positive message for young people. It's high time we reclaimed the Christian aspects of Halloween," says the Bishop, explaining the background to his letter. . 28 October 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120518215103/http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2006/9/18/Bishop_challenges_supermarkets_to_lighten_up_Halloween . 18 May 2012 .
  250. Web site: Halloween and All Saints Day . 22 October 2006 . n.d. . newadvent.org . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20061016020938/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm . 16 October 2006 . dmy-all .
  251. Web site: BBC – Religions – Christianity: All Hallows' Eve. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It is widely believed that many Hallowe'en traditions have evolved from an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain which was Christianised by the early Church.... All Hallows' Eve falls on 31st October each year, and is the day before All Hallows' Day, also known as All Saints' Day in the Christian calendar. The Church traditionally held a vigil on All Hallows' Eve when worshippers would prepare themselves with prayers and fasting prior to the feast day itself. The name derives from the Old English 'hallowed' meaning holy or sanctified and is now usually contracted to the more familiar word Hallowe'en. ...However, there are supporters of the view that Hallowe'en, as the eve of All Saints' Day, originated entirely independently of Samhain .... 2010. 1 November 2011. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20111103105817/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/halloween_1.shtml. 3 November 2011.
  252. Web site: Reformation Day: What, Why, and Resources for Worship . https://web.archive.org/web/20070223075856/http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=15084&loc_id=9,612,32,52 . 23 February 2007 . 22 October 2006 . 21 October 2005 . The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church.
  253. Halloween, Hallowed Is Thy Name (Smith), p. 29
  254. Web site: Allen . Travis . 2011 . Christians and Halloween . Church Publishing, Inc. . 31 October 2011 . Other Christians will opt for Halloween alternatives called 'Harvest Festivals', 'Hallelujah Night' or 'Reformation Festivals' – the kids dress up as farmers, Bible characters, or Reformation heroes. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111028075853/http://www.gty.org/resources/Articles/A123 . 28 October 2011 .
  255. Halloween tracts serve as tool to spread gospel to children (Curry), Baptist Press
  256. Book: Woods, Robert. Evangelical Christians and Popular Culture. 2013. ABC-CLIO. 978-0-313-38654-1. 239. Evangelicals have found opportunities with both Christmas and Easter to use Christian candy to re-inject religion into these traditionally Christian holidays and boldly reclaim them as their own. They have increasingly begun to use Halloween, the most candy-centric holiday, as an opportunity for evangelism. Contained in small packages featuring Bible verses, Scripture Candy's "Harvest Seeds" – candy corn in everything but name – are among many candies created for this purpose..
  257. Web site: D'Augostine. Lori. Suffer Not the Trick-or-Treaters. CBN. 23 October 2013. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184839/http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/devotions/daugostine_halloween.aspx. 29 October 2013. 20 September 2013.
  258. Halloween: What's a Christian to Do? (1998) by Steve Russo.
  259. Gyles Brandreth, "The Devil is gaining ground" The Sunday Telegraph (London), 11 March 2000.
  260. Web site: Salem 'Saint Fest' restores Christian message to Halloween . 22 October 2006 . n.d. . rcab.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20060929155738/http://www.rcab.org/Pilot/2004/ps041105/saintfest.html . 29 September 2006 . dead .
  261. Web site: Feast of Samhain/Celtic New Year/Celebration of All Celtic Saints 1 November . 22 November 2006 . n.d. . All Saints Parish . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061120171225/http://www.allsaintsbrookline.org/celtic/samhain.html . 20 November 2006 . dmy-all .
  262. Book: Portaro, Sam . A Companion to the Lesser Feasts and Fasts. 25 January 1998. Cowley Publications. 978-1-4616-6051-4. 199. All Saints' Day is the centerpiece of an autumn triduum. In the carnival celebrations of All Hallows' Eve our ancestors used the most powerful weapon in the human arsenal, the power of humor and ridicule to confront the power of death. The following day, in the commemoration of All Saints, we gave witness to the victory of incarnate goodness embodied in remarkable deeds and doers triumphing over the misanthropy of darkness and devils. And in the commemoration of All Souls we proclaimed the hope of common mortality expressed in our aspirations and expectations of a shared eternity..
  263. https://web.archive.org/web/20071024173709/http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Halloween/ "Halloween's Christian Roots"
  264. Web site: Catholic Elementary Schools to Celebrate Halloween with Costume Parades on Friday, October 28 & Monday, October 31. Bucci. Rich. 2016. The Catholic Schools of Broome County. en. 2 October 2018. 3 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181003061841/https://broomecatholicschools.org/catholic-elementary-schools-to-celebrate-halloween-with-costume-parades-on-friday-october-28-monday-october-31/. live.
  265. News: School holidays . 26 September 2023 . Department of Education Northern Ireland.
  266. News: Schools 'must reopen' after Halloween break . 26 September 2023 . Irish News. Catholic school chiefs have insisted that the extended Halloween holiday must not be stretched out any further..
  267. Web site: Some Christians use 'Hell Houses' to reach out on Halloween. Suarez. Essdras. 29 October 2007. USA Today. 7 November 2015. While some Christians aren't certain what to make of Halloween – unsure whether to embrace or ignore all the goblins and ghoulishness – some evangelical churches use Oct. 31 as a day to evangelize. ...Some use trick-or-treating as an evangelistic opportunity, giving out Bible tracts with candy.. 28 April 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210428062255/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-10-26-hell-house_N.htm. live.
  268. Web site: 'Trick?' or 'Treat?' – Unmasking Halloween . 21 September 2007 . n.d. . The Restored Church of God . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120425093016/http://rcg.org/articles/totuh.html . 25 April 2012 . dmy-all .
  269. Do Orthodox Christians Observe Halloween? by Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church
  270. The Jewish Life Cycle: rites of passage from biblical to modern times (Ivan G. Marcus), University of Washington Press, p. 232
  271. Web site: Jews and Halloween . Jewishvirtuallibrary.org . 5 March 2013 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120713045152/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Halloween.html . 13 July 2012 .
  272. http://www.jewishjournal.com/beyondthebimah/item/a_jewish_exploration_of_halloween_the_sermon A Jewish exploration of halloween
  273. News: Pitofsky . Marina . March 15, 2022 . What day is Purim? Here's what you need to know about the Jewish holiday . USA Today . October 31, 2022 . 31 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221031044253/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/03/15/purim-dates-2022-heres-what-know-jewish-holiday/7041902001/ . live .
  274. Web site: 29 October 2014. Halloween is 'haram,' declares Malaysia fatwa council. 15 October 2020. Al Arabiya English. en.
  275. Web site: Tuesday. 28 October 2014 11:41 AM MYT. Trick or treat? Fatwa Council bars Muslims from celebrating Halloween Malay Mail. 15 October 2020. www.malaymail.com. 28 October 2014. en. 16 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201016163738/https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2014/10/28/trick-or-treat-fatwa-council-bars-muslims-from-celebrating-halloween/771879. live.
  276. Web site: Fatawa – Is it forbidden for Muslims to celebrate days such as valentine's day and halloween?. 15 October 2020. Dar al-Ifta al Misriyyah. 19 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201019210102/https://www.dar-alifta.org/foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=4843. live.
  277. Web site: Real-life witches that don't celebrate Halloween. George. Stephanie. 25 October 2010. The Manitoban. 29 May 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140529233121/http://www.themanitoban.com/2010/10/real-life-witches-that-dont-celebrate-halloween/1513/. 29 May 2014.
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