Judy Lakey, age 11, Winston‑Salem,
How did Halloween originate?
Halloween is a happy bodge‑podge of harum scarum nonsense gathered from the dim distant past, Some of our customs come down to us from ancient Rome, some from the Druids who ruled Europe before the days of Caesar and some from merry England of the Middle Ages.
The date, an everyone knows, is October 31 and there is a good reason for a celebration at this time of year. The heavy harvest work is done and country people feel in need of rest and festivity, We celebrate the harvest season on Thanksgiving day, whether we live in the country or the city. In the distant past, city life was closer to country life and almost everybody helped with the busy harvest season: Everyone also joined in the harvest festival, thought different peoples celebrated it in different ways.
The Romans rejoiced with a feast to Pomona, goddess of fruits and gardens. They lit blazing bonfires and roasted nuts and apples in her honor. We borrowed our bonfire custom partly from ancient Rome and, chances area nuts and apples will also be part of our festivities.
The druids had a three day fall festival and they lit bonfires but for another reason, They believed that the spirits of the dead hovered in the night air at this season and the bonfires were lit to drive them away. The scary customs in our Halloween festivities date back to these pagan days when people were really terrified of witches, goblins and ghosties.
We know, of course, that such scary business is a lot of nonsense, or at least we should know it. But no Halloween is complete without a host of witches, ghosties, black cats and such. If you have a lurking fear of these things, there is a sure cure. Dress up in a flapping sheet and go scare your friends and relatives, give them a scare which begins with a shriek and ends with a merry laugh. One way to get over being scared of a ghost is to have a Halloween party, that is the proper time to play the role.
Merry England of the middle men celebrated Halloween with guisers young people disguised with masks or face paint, They also hollowed out turnips cut holes and gut candles inside them. Our Halloween masks and lighted pumpkins are borrowed from these gay goings.‑on.
With the Christian Eras people gave‑ up their pagan ,goddesses and lost their fear of ghosties. In place of the ancient terrors November j. was set aside as All Saints Day and the eve before this holy day became known as Halloween. In our podge‑podge of Halloween customs we beep the fun and frolic without the fear and panic of the ancient celebrations,