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Lakewood Times

    The Origins of All Hallows Eve

    Night+landscape+of+sky+and+super+moon+with+bright+moonlight+behind+silhouette+of+tree+branch.+Serenity+nature+background.+Outdoors+at+nighttime.+Selective+focus
    zef art – stock.adobe.com
    Night landscape of sky and super moon with bright moonlight behind silhouette of tree branch. Serenity nature background. Outdoors at nighttime. Selective focus

    Every year, we gather in parties and travel house to house saying the all too memorable phrase “Trick or Treat.”

    Come October 31st, we expect the yearly ritual to be carried out, ending the night with cavity-causing treats; this year however, let’s take a look at how historically Halloween has been celebrated and what its origins are.

    Halloween is not a new tradition. According to History.com, almost 2,000 years ago, the Celts believed that the dead would rise. They also used the day to make sacrifices to large bonfires so that their priests or Druids could predict farther into the future. This tradition took a turn when the Celts were conquered by the Romans who also used a day in late October to honor their dead so smashing their two holidays together. The Celts during their celebration would also wear costumes, quite possibly the origin for why we do so today.

    Of course though, there was more change to the holiday over time. According to History.com at about 1000 A.D. November 2nd was established by the Christian church as All Souls Day, a day made to honor the dead. The word Halloween or All Hallows Eve comes from the fact that the Celtic Tradition came only a few days before the Chrisitan holiday.

    The famous trick-or-treats origins are a little less known, according to History.com it is believed that its revival in 1950 was based on the idea that by providing kids with candy you could prevent vandalism to your home.

    To see what LHS students thought about these origins I  asked sophomore Belle Orlando for a comment:

    Q: What do you think about Halloween being an almost 2,000 year old tradition?

    Belle: “I think that’s pretty strange but the real question is what was candy back then?”

    To answer Belle’s question, it was likely some type of sweets like we have today as candy was an invention before the tradition of trick-or-treat which is rumored to have begun in the 1800s.

    So this Halloween think back on the tradition that began long ago and be thankful we don’t wear pig heads for costumes! 

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