Halloween was most likely started as the Celtic holiday of Samhain. The Celts used the day to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. They believed the transition between seasons was a bridge to the world of the dead. The holiday was a somber pagan ritual, which didn’t involve costumes or candy, and certainly not trick or treating.
Some Christian scholars maintain it was independent of Samhain and has solely Christian roots. This way they can allow the celebration of Halloween without supporting a pagan ritual. Personally I believe the Celtic version of history, although their beliefs were nonsense of course. All pagan rituals are baloney.
According to Wikipedia, Christians aren’t buying any of this pagan nonsense. They observe Halloween as a celebration of All Hallows Eve or All Saints Eve. It is observed throughout many countries on the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows day which initiates the triduum of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead.
The ritual of trick or treat got started in the middle, or dark ages, when the Catholic Church approved the act of “souling”. I don’t remember, I was too young. Souling allowed beggars to go around asking for food. The last time I gave food to a beggar in Los Angeles he threw it back at me. Darn, it was my lunch. I guess he wasn’t hungry after all, just thirsty.
I mention “souling” because this year a very nice thing happened on Halloween night. It was called Trick or Treat for Canned Food, sponsored by CCHS FFA, Thespian Society and National Honor Society.
Students from Churchill County High School went trick or treating for canned food for both the Out of Egypt and Epworth Community food pantries for the upcoming holiday season. What a great idea. I hope they do it every year.
The money spent on Halloween these days goes to candy and costume makers and stores that sell them. This Halloween season $2 billion will be spent on candy alone. Halloween costumes and parties will cost another $4.7 billion, To that you should add $300 million just for peoples’ pets’ costumes! Imagine Fido as a Ninja Turtle or Snow White. Halloween, Christian or pagan, is a money maker.
I had more than 80 trick or treaters come to my door on Halloween. That’s a record for me. Never in my life in California, or in Fallon have I had that many come to my door. Fallon wins the prize. You can’t imagine how difficult it is for a diabetic to pass out 160 small snickers bars and not get a taste. Mercy.
Although I turned down teenagers, I was not a victim of any trickery. My son thought I was cheap, but darn it, trick or treating is for youngsters. I had teens as old as 16 come to my door. Sorry. At one time trick or treating was banned in many places because the “trickery” led to acts of vandalism.
The last time I went trick or treating I was 11. I was accompanied by my sort of girlfriend, Susan, as we went door to door in Los Angeles where the houses are very close together. We walked for nearly three hours, and I filled half a pillow case full of candy, fruit and even toys. Pillow cases are great for trick or treating.
In the past there have been a few occasions where children were given fruit laced with razor blades or poison, planted there by some sadistic devil celebrating his/her version of a pagan holiday. That’s why you don’t see fruit given out anymore. The same goes for baked goods, like cake or cookies. I haven’t heard of many instances of foul play recently, certainly not here in Fallon.
Here’s some advice for parents. Always accompany your children when they trick or treat. Walk on the sidewalks if available, streets can be dangerous. Always inspect every piece of candy to make sure the wrapper hasn’t been undone and resealed. Never allow your children to accept fruit, baked goods or any unwrapped foods of any kind. Tell your teenagers not to trick or treat, or the Goblins will get them.
Have you ever wondered what a Goblin is, as in “the Goblins will get you if you don‘t watch out?” A Goblin is a legendary evil and mischievous grotesque dwarf-like creature.
So you had better watch out.
Glen McAdoo, a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glynn@phonewave,net.