Halloween: it's all pagan - Halloween used to be more than just a weird holiday with costumes and candy

To most college students, Halloween means dressing up in the stupidest costume possible, staying out late and getting hammered. This year, when you wake up with a hangover and realize you're still dressed up as a ballerina, you'll probably think about why it happened. Why do we dress up in weird costumes and bob for apples? Why do we go around to strangers' doorsteps, saying "trick or treat?" Finally, what is the connection between underage drinking and this strange holiday? Believe it or not, there's a reason for everything on Halloween.

Basically, the Halloween that we know today is the by-product of not only the traditions of several cultures, but just like a story that has been passed through generations of people, it has changed very much from the way it originally was. It has survived through countless wars and even the eight Halloween movies that, even though laughably horrible, have not tarnished the good name of the holiday.

According to http://www.historychannel.com, The furthest traced origin of Halloween is the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced "sow-in"). The Celts, who lived in what is now Ireland, celebrated their new year on November 1. Their new year, however, involved no giant dropping ball or "Auld Lang Syne." It was the end of the harvest and the beginning of a harsh winter. It was a time of doubt, infertility and death. By now, you're probably getting the connection between Samhain and Halloween.

On the night of October 31st, the Celts believed that the boundary between the world of the living and the dead became blurred. Thus, they believed that on this night, the dead were able to return to the earth. In addition, because of the presence of the dead, they believed that their priests would be able to better predict the future.

So did they tell their kids to dress up as Spongebob Squarepants and Powerpuff Girls? We're talking pagans here, people. They built huge sacred bonfires, where they would burn crops and animals as sacrifices. Their costumes consisted of real animal heads and skins, and they would not only listen to the priests' foretelling of the future, but would also attempt to tell each other's fortunes. Finally, they would relight their hearth fires with the sacred fire in order to protect themselves from the harsh winter.

So how did Halloween survive the end of the pagan culture? By A.D. 43, the Romans had conquered most of the Celtic territory. Yet, the Romans were good sports, and during the four hundred years of Roman rule of the Celts, two Roman holidays were combined with the festival of Samhain. One was Feralia, a day in late October during which they celebrated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, and you guessed it, that's probably why we bob for apples today. Why we bob for anything is still a mystery, but at least you now know why it's for apples.

Then came the Christians. Pope Boniface IV marked November 1 "All Saints' Day," a time to honor martyrs and of course, saints. Many believe that this was an attempt to start a church-sanctioned holiday to replace the ancient pagan festival. Yet it is through this attempt that we now have the name Halloween. The name Halloween is actually derived from the Middle English Alholowmesse, meaning "All Saints' Day." The celebration was thus called All-hallows or All-hallowmas. The night before the celebration, which was still the evening of Samhain, was thus called All-hallows Eve, and eventually, just Halloween. Later, the church started All Souls' Day, which was celebrated in a similar style to Samhain and was held after All Saints' Day. The three festivals were collectively called Hallowmas.

So where does the candy come in? It doesn't sound much fun without a pillowcase full of chocolate bars. The practice of trick-or-treating most likely dates back to All Souls' Day parades in England, when poor citizens would beg for food. Families would give them pastries called "soul cakes," and in return, the poor citizens would pray for the families' relatives. Children eventually took up this practice, which was actually endorsed by the church because it replaced the ancient practice of leaving food for roaming ghosts. Yet, since it was before the advent of the Mars bar, the children were given beer, food and money. Ah, for the life of an English child ?

Dressing up for Halloween didn't just evolve from the early pagan wearing of animal heads. Since Europeans and Celtics believed that Halloween was a time for the dead to rise up, they would avoid the ghosts by wearing masks at home after dark so the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits.

Eventually, Halloween crossed the Atlantic and came to America. Yet, due to strict Protestant regulations, it was very limited in the New England area and was much more common in Maryland and the south. The American version of Halloween included "play parties," which were public events to celebrate the harvest. During the parties, neighbors would dance, sing, tell fortunes and tell stories of the dead. Mischief-making also began as a common practice associated with Halloween in the colonies. During the 1800s, there was a strong movement to make the holiday a community celebration instead of a day of mischief and witchcraft. Thus, much of the grotesqueness and superstition about Halloween was lost during the 20th century.

Despite the best efforts of the communities, during the early and mid-20th century, celebrations were marked by vandalism. The celebrations moved from the town civic centers to homes, where families would give out treats to children in order to prevent them from vandalizing the town. Thus, the term "trick-or-treat" was born.

So this year, as the bouncer at the local bar rejects your crappy fake ID, just tell him the story of the origins of Halloween, and remind him that children were given ale for trick-or-treating. Perhaps you may just be able to waltz into the bar, decked out in animal skins.