Trick-or-Treat! Smell my feet!

Learning about Jack-o'-Lanterns made me curious about other Halloween traditions. I mean seriously, why do we dress up in costumes? Apparently people used to wear masks to confuse evil spirits. That way they wouldn't be cursed with disease or famine or other misfortune. Obviously, since there were so many evil spirtits out on Hallowe'en night, a costume was a must.There are differing opinions regarding the history of Trick-or-Treating. Maybe they are all true. Some sources tell of a huge feast on the night of "Samhain." The party planning committee would go around from house to house asking for donations of food or money to help with the festivities. I guess this was before "pot luck."

In parts of England, the poor would go from house to house begging for soul cakes or money. They would promise to say prayers for your soul depending on how many cakes you gave them. This was a good deal because no matter who said the prayers, (even strangers) the more prayers you had said for you, the faster you got into heaven.

I don't know if any of you have ever seen the movie, "Meet me in St. Louis"? There is a part where the kids go around on Halloween and when someone answers the door, they throw flour in his face making him a ghost. I don't know what that is all about. Anyone?

Anyway, until recently, children would dress up and try to scare their neighbors on Hallowe'en Night. Eventually, the tradition of offering a treat to visitors developed and it seems to have combined with the idea of begging at the door, because now, the children in the costumes have become the beggars. Pretty interesting, huh?

Also, I found out that the tradition of bobbing for apples dates back to Roman times to honor a goddess. I don't know which one, but I'm guessing Aphrodite because it seems kind of like a pagan fertility type of thing. I'm sure Dave will know...

Ok, so enough of my Hallowe'en know-it-all-ness...

Happy Hallowe'en, Everyone!