The
American Halloween tradition of “trick-or-treating” probably dates back
to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. During the festivities,
poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries
called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the
family’s dead relatives. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged
by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food
and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as
“going a-souling” was eventually taken up by children who would visit
the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.
The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European
and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and
frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people
afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant
worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the
earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they
left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people
would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the
ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep
ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside
their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to
enter.
Halloween
has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic and superstition.
It began as a Celtic end-of-summer festival during which people felt
especially close to deceased relatives and friends. For these friendly
spirits, they set places at the dinner table, left treats on doorsteps
and along the side of the road and lit candles to help loved ones find
their way back to the spirit world. Today’s Halloween ghosts are often
depicted as more fearsome and malevolent, and our customs and
superstitions are scarier too. We avoid crossing paths with black cats,
afraid that they might bring us bad luck. This idea has its roots in the Middle
Ages, when many people believed that witches avoided
detection by turning themselves into cats. We try not to walk under
ladders for the same reason. This superstition may have come from the
ancient Egyptians, who believed that triangles were sacred; it also may
have something to do with the fact that walking under a leaning ladder
tends to be fairly unsafe. And around Halloween, especially, we try to
avoid breaking mirrors, stepping on cracks in the road or spilling salt.
But what about the Halloween traditions and beliefs that today’s
trick-or-treaters have forgotten all about? Many of these obsolete
rituals focused on the future instead of the past and the living
instead of the dead. In particular, many had to do with helping young
women identify their future husbands and reassuring them that they
would someday—with luck, by next Halloween—be married. In 18th-century
Ireland, a matchmaking cook might bury a ring in her mashed potatoes on
Halloween night, hoping to bring true love to the diner who found it.
In Scotland, fortune-tellers recommended that an eligible young woman
name a hazelnut for each of her suitors and then toss the nuts into the
fireplace. The nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or
exploding, the story went, represented the girl’s future husband. (In
some versions of this legend, confusingly, the opposite was true: The
nut that burned away symbolized a love that would not last.) Another
tale had it that if a young woman ate a sugary concoction made out of
walnuts, hazelnuts and nutmeg before bed on Halloween night she would
dream about her future husband. Young women tossed apple-peels over
their shoulders, hoping that the peels would fall on the floor in the
shape of their future husbands’ initials; tried to learn about their
futures by peering at egg yolks floating in a bowl of water; and stood
in front of mirrors in darkened rooms, holding candles and looking over
their shoulders for their husbands’ faces. Other rituals were more
competitive. At some Halloween parties, the first guest to find a burr
on a chestnut-hunt would be the first to marry; at others, the first
successful apple-bobber would be the first down the aisle.
Of course, whether we’re asking for romantic advice or trying to avoid seven years of bad luck, each one of these Halloween superstitions relies on the good will of the very same “spirits” whose presence the early Celts felt so keenly.