Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy.  Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas."  The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them, in Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white.

So you see...Halloween has been around longer than Canada and America! 

Have a fabulous day!

7 comments:

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Now that is interesting...

Happy Halloween...
I hope to see the Little Prince wearing his costume.
Have fun trick or treating.

highheeledlife said...

Loved your post!

It is so wonderful to see that someone actually recalls the meaning/origin behind the act of going door to door on Halloween.

All Saints Day ... is truly a day for celebration of all those that are no longer with us ... for we were privilged to have them in our life , and now they are Angels protecting us. XO HHL

P.S. Can't wait to see pics of Little Prince...

Town and Country House said...

You are a veritable wealth of Halloween knowledge! Have fun with the Little Prince today!

Wendy said...

I love hearing about the traditions we swiped and turned into an excuse to hit our neighbours up for candy and toilet paper their houses if they don't comply! A great book to read at this time of year is The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury. It's a fantastic story with an anthropology lesson as an added bonus.
Happy Halloween!

Bethany said...

I never knew this! Thanks for the story. Hope you had a fantastic day!

Confessions of a Mother, Lawyer & Crazy Woman said...

Cool! I love random bits of trivia, thanks for the info.

PS Just tried knocking on my neighbors' door (NOV 1) and asking for a sandwich. It worked last night, what a difference one day makes ...

CanadianPrep said...

Wow, I had no idea. Thanks for sharing your incredible knowledge!

And yes, Joe fresh had super cute shifts last year. The head designer of Joe Fresh was actually the man who started Club Monaco (and then sold it to Ralph Lauren), so the company puts out some great and affordable pieces every once and a while. Although I would definitely check out the line before driving so far away to find the actual merchandise.

And I'd love to meet up for coffee with you! I don't travel west of Kingston very often but I would most definitely love to meet the next time I do!