Broedel, a medieval historian and professor at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., said the holiday actually originated among European Catholics during the fifth century, about A.D. 500.
Purgatory, according to the Catholic faith, is the middle realm where souls work off their sins to ascend to heaven. Broedel said people in the Middle Ages believed God would give the dead, particularly those stuck in purgatory, a sort of day pass to warn their families or to bemoan their current situation.
"All Souls' Day is a day when the dead show up," he said. "And it's a day when prayer for the dead is very beneficial."
He said families prayed on All Souls' Day or Nov. 2 for their relatives' souls to ascend to heaven. He said children began going door to door and asking people if they would like them to pray for the souls of their dead relatives and friends.
"As a reward, you give the kids treats," he said.
He said that would include "soul cakes," a sort of pastry. To drum up more "treats," he said, some of the children began to dress like spirits or use parlor "tricks" like blowing embers through a key hole to scare people into giving up the goods.
Mexico still celebrates El Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead every Nov. 2. But Broedel said, at some point, All Souls' celebrations migrated to Oct. 31.
Nov. 1 has traditionally been known as All Saints' Day or All Hallows' Day, a day to honor the saints. And so Oct. 31, similar to Christmas Eve, became known as All Hallows' Eve, which was shortened to the familiar Halloween.
Broedel said Samhain, a Celtic pagan holiday, is not the origin of Halloween. He said Samhain's connection did not show up in old Irish texts until A.D. 1200, or 700 years after Christianity -and more importantly, Catholicism -- was established in Ireland.
Before that, Samhain had been more of a winter holiday, Broedel said. There is nothing, he said, linking Halloween to a Celtic pagan past.
"It's either made up," he said, "or it's bad history."
Broedel said that while Wiccans (modern-day pagans or witches) may celebrate Samhain or similar traditions on Oct. 31, their celebrations are not directly linked to Halloween.
Last year, a Texas school district banned Halloween because the typical green-faced warty witch costumes might offend Wiccans. Again, Broedel said such political correctness is unnecessary.
"Halloween doesn't have anything to do with witches," he said. "It's been more of a ghostly celebration than a witch one."
So where does all this Halloween hostility come from?
"It's really a Protestant resistance to a holiday that has been a solely Catholic holiday," he said.
He said that resistance began in England shortly after Henry VIII converted the country to Protestantism.
He said there was strong resistance to Catholic holidays, including Halloween and even Christmas. He said even the Puritans didn't celebrate Halloween or Christmas.
But as new faces appeared in America so did their traditions. And so, Halloween found its way to America by the 19th century as a children's holiday.
"I really think of it as a quintessential American holiday," he said.
He said America's Halloween tradition has little to do with religion of any sort. But he said it's still a good holiday for kids, giving them a chance to deal with things that are scary to them.
"I think if you play with something, it becomes less frightening," he said.
More importantly, Halloween is fun. It's the one day of the year when kids can do everything their parents have told them not to do.
Bobby can eat as much candy as he wants. Suzie can scare grandma as much as she wants. And Jimmy can make as many faces as he wants.
The only ghosts you need to worry about on Halloween, or any other day for that matter, are the little ones in designer sheets. Zombies are in search of candy not brains.
But people just don't seem to care about such time-honored traditions. Each year, newspapers across the country get calls about when Halloween is going to be held. It's Oct. 31, every year.
Halloween is not the Saturday before Halloween. It's not when the mall or city is giving out candy. And it's not whatever lame autumn-related facsimile the church or neighborhood slaps together.
Halloween candy does not consist of fruit. Treats are not pretzels, chips or granola bars. There is no such thing as Halloween pennies or toothbrushes.
We are losing Halloween. But it's not too late.
Today is your chance to take back America's holiday, our holiday.
Today is when Harry Potter or Dora the Explorer will come to your home looking for a handout. Today is when you should stagger around the office in your best Frankenstein boots. Today is when you rent a good scary movie, hide behind a door to scare a friend or invite the Boogeyman in for tea.
Lurker
0 likes
