In exchange, they would offer to pray for the souls of their neighbors' recently departed loved ones. The first "trick-or-treaters" were actually poor children that suddenly had an excuse to go door-to-door begging for food and money during the festival. They would also leave food out for the dead as distractions and gifts. That way if an actual demon crossed their path they wouldn't think they were living. In order to protect themselves and "blend in" they would dress up as demons or animals using animals bones and skins.
So it was believed that on the night of October 31st, as we moved from year to the next, the living and the dead would "overlap". The Celtic calendar began its new year on November 1st. People would gather and light bonfires and make sacrifices to pay homage to the dead and to fend off souls with not-so-nice intentions.
On the night of October 31st, the pre-Christian Celts observed the festival of "Samhain", which they believed was the night that the spirits of the dead returned to Earth. Not the friendly, little kids dressing up as Dora The Explorer that we know today.įor starters, the tradition of Halloween began in Europe more than 2,000 years ago in the Celtic lands that are now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. Totally unbeknownst to me, it had some pretty dark and twisted roots.
I got to wondering how exactly trick-or-treating became a thing so I did some digging. This week Eddie and Chief did one on the origin history of Halloween monsters - werewolves, vampires, and witches.Īs is the Halloween story. But the fellas do an unreal job of dissecting obscure topics and conveying useful information in an interesting way.
If you don't listen to either of them you're really missing out.
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