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Who really started Halloween?

Origins of the annual celebration debatable, continues to evolve

Each year as Halloween approaches children (and sometimes adults) ask: Why do we dress up, collect treats, carve pumpkins, decorate our homes in themes of death and the supernatural and concoct elaborate pranks?

There is no definitive “right” answer, but there is some very interesting cultural history to this annual holiday.

While today we generally think of it as a children’s holiday, folklore tells us the origins may date back as far as to the pagan Irish Festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-een) – a celebration of the end of summer, which included bonfires, sacrificial offerings and homage to the dead who were believed to revisit Earth on this day.

Back then people opened their doors and offered food to the wandering dead.

Others attribute Halloween to the Catholic traditions dating back to the Middle Ages of celebrating All Hallows Eve, the eve before All Saints Day – Nov. 1 and All Souls Day Nov. 2. Traditions then included going door-to-door offering prayers for the dead in exchange for “soul cakes” and other treats.

Regardless, the holiday was brought to North America in the mid-1800s by Irish immigrants and today the holiday includes some distinctly Aboriginal elements. For example, the pumpkin was unknown to Europeans before the 15th century, but it was part of a sacred trinity of native foods – squash, beans and maize.

Today, we see these in the form of candy corn and corn shocks, which some use to decorate porches.

Some other possible connections include England’s Guy Fawkes Day – a celebration of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 – where children go around asking for “a penny for the guy” and playing pranks.

Others associate Halloween with harvest festivals that historically include apple bobbing.

Finally, the gay community has used the dress-up and masquerade elements of Halloween as an opportunity for personal liberation.

Whatever your personal opinions of the origins of Halloween, it is an ever-changing cultural ritual that continues throughout our neighbourhoods and communities.

Penny Kelly is a writer, personal consultant and spiritual mentor.