More About Halloween
Halloween is a feast for the saints, started in 609 A.D. Pope Boniface IV, and declared to be November 1st by Pope Gregory III around 700 A.D. However, the roots of the holiday celebration are based upon the Celtic celebration of Samhain (pronounced “sow-win”), an ancient Celtic festival dating back thousands of years to honor the harvest and the dead. Celtic celebrants believed the barriers between the living and the dead would lower at this holiday and would light bonfires to ward off witches and spirits. Various monsters and creatures were associated with Samhain, including one called Pukah who received harvest tributes, and a headless woman Lady Gwynn, as well as the impish Dulhallan. In the Middle Ages carved turnips first appeared called Jack O Lanterns, hung from sticks with strings and embedded with coal. Gregory III moved All Saints Day from May to November 1st to reframe the Celtic celebration as a Christian holiday. However, to this day, the mythology of monsters and connection to the dead persists. Trick or treating itself derives from Scottish and Irish customs leading up to Samhain. In Ireland people would go door to door singing songs for the dead in a practice known as mumming and would be paid with cakes. So now, if you are eating too much candy, at least you know why. Happy and safe Halloweening, everyone! (source: History.com) -ProDentalFx, LLC
