History of Halloween
H
dead in pagan, and catholic history. The tradialloween is a time of celebration and su- tion of dressing up may go back to the practice
perstition, thought to originate with Celtic festi- of “mumming” and “guising” in which people
val of Samhain witch was when people had would disguise themselves and go door to door,
“bonfires and wore costumes toward off roam- asking for food. Early costumes were made of
ing ghosts”. The day marked the end of summer straw and people wore costumes to perform in
and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, time skits and plays.
of year associated with human death. Hallow- Jack o’ lanterns are a lantern made from a holeen can be traced back to the Druids, Celtic cul- lowed out pumpkin and holes are cut into them
ture in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe.
to make faces or what ever you carve into them.
Halloween was thought to be a night when mis- The name comes from an Irish folktale, originatchievous and evil spirits roamed freely. Mischie- ed in Ireland. Irish immigrants brought the tradivous spirits could play tricks on the living so it tion to America and became part of Halloween.
was thought that if you wore masks and costumes you could hide from them. The idea of
trick-or-treating is related to the ghosts of the
20 | The Growler
-Joseph Vonmoos