Halloween

 

                                              (Mel and I on the  Eastern Shore of Maryland, 2013)

Halloween, for me, was always a wonderful and fun time of the year. I love Fall, and my birthday falls the day before Halloween. So, as a child growing up, my birthday was often intertwined with the holiday, which made it a very fun and enjoyable day for me. It still is a time of the year I enjoy very much, and I always include vacation days for this time of the year because our anniversary is 1 November.

I always associated Halloween with candy and pretending. Later, as I became older, it was a "party" time of the year. I never thought about the origin of the holiday or any meanings attached other than what I enjoyed. Others have whispered that it is "The Devil's holiday" and the "night the devil marries his bride." So, I started researching the holiday.

It is true that Halloween started as a pagan holiday about 2,000 years ago.  However, the day had nothing to do with devil worship. It began as a Celtic festival called Samhain. The holiday was celebrated from October 31 to November 1 as a way to welcome the harvest and usher in the winter, which was seen as a time of death. Those who had passed away were celebrated, and the Celtics felt that the "veil" was thin at this time and the dead could communicate with them. The Celtics also would dress as animals to scare off monsters and fairies who were rumored to kidnap people.

Later, in 43AD, the Romans tried to end Samhain by combining two of their holidays during the same time as Samhain- Feralia, which commemorated the passing of the dead and Pomoma. The second holiday fell on 1 November and celebrated the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. Later, Pope Boniface IV moved the Catholic holiday, All Souls Day, from May 13 to November 1 as he attempted to replace Samhain. This new holiday also included dress up as part of the celebration.

In America, the holiday was limited in the New England area because of religious beliefs. However, in Maryland and other Southern states, Halloween was celebrated, and ghost stories started to be told as the colonists Americanized the holiday. Of course, as the holiday morphed and changed over the years, Halloween slasher movies and stories of the devil were added for fun and to scare people. Today, Halloween is a fun holiday full of candy, make-believe, movies, and adult imbibing. If you would like to read more in-depth about Halloween, I am including a link to the History Channel, where I obtained my information on the holiday.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your coffee,

   Larry

https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween