4 Things You Didn't Know About the History of Halloween

Written By Guest User
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Jackie Yuan (ISB G11)

Stationary writer at Buddy!, Jackie is an inquisitive individual who wondered of the secret history of our beloved holiday, Halloween.

Jackie writes her first Buddy! article “4 Things You Didn’t Know About Halloween,” on the shockingly romantic past of apple bobbing and the somber origin of trick or treating.

The mystical and otherworldly Halloween festival nowadays often involves children ranging from kindergarteners to teenagers running from house to house for candies on a chilly night of October 31st, yet barely anyone remembers the past of Halloween that was truly “otherworldly” to the point that it used to not even be an event directed to children. Let’s take a deep dive into the passage of time and find out about the outlandish past of Halloween.

(From The wild geese.irish)

(From The wild geese.irish)

1. Halloween was developed from the mythical Celtic festival “Samhain”

The Celts, a group of tribes that habituated Central Europe ever since 1200 B.C, believed that on October 31st, the boundaries between the world of the dead and the living faded. Ghosts were expected to return to earth on this day. The Celtics would burn animals and crops as sacrifices in a huge bon fire to their deities since the returning spirits apparently aided the validity of the prophecy. This event later developed into Halloween over time as religious aspects gradually diminished and the festival morphed into a typical day for social gathering. “Hallow” as in holy, “ween” as in the night before. Aren’t you glad we discarded the act of animal sacrificing from our modern Halloween celebration?

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(From Wikimedia.org)

2. Trick-or-Treating used to not involve candies and was more frightening than fun

The practice of Trick-or-Treating originated from the All Saints day parade in England, where poor people would beg for “soul cakes” — small round cakes made from flour, butter, sugar and mixed spices — from families and in turn promise that they would pray for the families’ dead loved ones. Another origin for trick-or-treating stems from the Celtic traditions of people leaving out treats on their front porches to please the passing spirits as the spirits were considered to be dangerous. Eventually both activities evolved to the event we know now that involves only kids and candies, rather than ghosts and cakes.

(From he Graphics Fairy)

(From The Graphics Fairy)

3. Bobbing for apples and plain eating food were prophetic matchmaking events

Everyone has probably played the good-ol game of “apple bobbing” at a friend’s Halloween party in elementary school. It’s all fun and games in current times, yet this act used to hold way deeper meanings. The Old European version of apple bobbing used to involve every woman marking an apple for apple-bobbing, and a man taking out an apple using his mouth. Ultimately, the owner of his apple’s mark would be his future wife. The first woman who had their apple taken out was also the first one expected to marry amongst the group. Another interesting tradition was that these women would also throw apple peels over their shoulders, and the apple peels were supposed to fall into the shapes of their future husband’s initials. Mashed potatoes were also way more than just a bowl of staple food. In 18th-century Ireland, women would put a ring into the big bowl of mashed potatoes, and the man who found it was meant to be her true love. Throughout the passage of time, these traditions eventually disappeared, and all that remained was the yummy food, which really isn’t a bad thing at all.

(From Edge Effects)

(From Edge Effects)

4. The symbol of Jack-O-Lanterns was derived from a miserable tale

The omnipresent symbol of jack-o-lanterns during Halloween originated from a creepy Irish folklore. Once upon a time, there was a fraudulent degenerate called Jack who spent his days with bottles of wine. One day, he decided to trap Satan in a tree by binding it to the tree with a mark. Jack only let him down after he made Satan promise to never take his soul. Jack then proceeded to live his life in conniving and immoral ways. Once he passed away, he was refused a spot in heaven, and since Satan also upheld his deal, Jack had nowhere to go. Despondent and aimless, Jack placed a piece of burning coal into a turnip as a lantern, and wandered off into the world, searching for a resting place to this day. Irish and Scottish people started to carve scary faces into pumpkins and turnips to scare Jack away, which later evolved into the jack-o-lanterns seen on the porch of almost everyone’s house.

Uncanny events of animal sacrifices and concepts of “the border diminishing between the underworld and the living” evolved to a fun night spent with friends and families. What was more a philanthropic event for beggars and the rich morphed into candy hunting for little children. Apple bobbing ceased to shed insight for the future love lives of the game players; nowadays, Jack-O-Lanterns are regarded simply as pumpkin decorations with its past known to only few.
It is important to learn about the past of a holiday that we all appreciate, cherish, and celebrate every year with our loved ones. It brings us into perspective of how cultures can shift throughout the passage of time. A lot of these Halloween traditions no longer exist as modern parents urged reforms for a friendlier version of Halloween. What are your thoughts on these changes?

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