Halloween, a beloved and fun holiday to most, began long ago. Now commonly referred to simply as Halloween, it used to be known as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, and All Saints’ Eve. It began as the event before the Western Christian feast on November 1st or All Saints’ Day.
Individuals who followed the Latin Church of the Catholic Church and its denominations took the time to remember the dead. This included saints, or hallows, martyrs, or those violently killed for following Christianity, and all other religious believers who have since passed.
While remembering these people, the traditional focus is to celebrate using humor. Even though it has a Christian basis, it is celebrated in countries all over. Different countries have different Halloween traditions.
In the Philippines, for example, Halloween is celebrated as All Saints day and trick-or-treating is common, similar to in the US. Here, trick-or-treating originated by singing a song door to door in exchange for money or food. Imagine if you could trick-or-treat for cash! That would be nice.
The words “trick-or-treat” slide off the tongue so naturally without thinking about what this actually means. Trick refers to a threat to act mischievously if no treat is given upon knocking on the door. This stems back to the poor begging for soul cakes, small round cakes made specifically for this holiday, during the feast days in exchange for praying for souls of the givers and their loved ones. Now, we just ask for candy and feel lucky if we get a king-sized candy bar.
Here in the US, many people of non-Christian faiths or unobservant Christians celebrate Halloween for the great fun it brings. It is interesting to think about the hundreds of thousands of children all trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns, and dressing up with their friends all around the same time.
While you pick your costume for this year’s Halloween, keep in mind that Halloween costumes are traditionally supernatural beings, such as monsters, witches, ghosts, vampires, and the like. In college, students usually stay away from these because they are so traditional and difficult to party in, but cats and cowgirls are so common!
Hope you enjoyed your daily dose of history. Happy Halloween, Collegiettes!
