Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble, something wicked this way comes!
But what are the origins of Halloween and why do we celebrate it?
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Where does Halloween come from?
The origins of Halloween are rooted in the festival ‘Samhain’, a pagan festival that is celebrated at the beginning of harvest at the end of summer where costumes are worn to scare off ghosts.
It was Pope Gregory the III who officiated the 1st of November as a celebration of saints, declaring it ‘All Saints Day’ – the evening before initiated as ‘All Hallows Eve’, later renamed ‘Halloween’. Samhain was a time in which the living and the dead spheres became obscured, with the dead said to walk amongst the living.
Why do we carve pumpkins?
The tradition of pumpkin carving or ‘Jack O’ Lanterns’ as our friends across the pond would say has been a practice of Halloween for centuries.
According to the myth, it may have originated from the story of ‘Stingy Jack’, who tricked the Devil into paying for a drink at a bar by turning him into a coin, but put a cross next to him so he couldn’t turn back into his true form. The following year, he got the Devil to climb a tree for him and pick a piece of fruit. However, he etched a cross into the tree and from there the Devil was trapped for ten years. Upon his death, because of his deeds to both God and the Devil, Jack was sent off with a burning coal which he would put into a carved-out turnip to help him light his path.
These carvings were said to ward away Jack’s wandering soul.
When Irish immigrants moved to America, they interchanged turnip carving with pumpkins which were central to the region.
What about trick-or-treating?
It is said that in the 16th century, those who were too poor to celebrate would go begging as a custom. Children are therefore said to take over the custom, with soul cakes giving in acceptance for prayers.
Fun Fact: in Scotland, where we at Luath Press are based, call ‘trick-or-treating’, ‘guising’, due to children dressing up in costumes to ward off spirits or ‘disguise’ themselves when walking the streets.
Whatever you’re up to this Halloween, we hope it is spooktacular!
