Trick Or Treat, Smell My…

Halloween is my husband’s favorite holiday.  We decorate the house, go to the orchards and hit all of the Halloween Super Stores in search of that perfect addition to our decoration collection.  But what is my favorite part of Halloween?  To hear my girls run up to the houses in our neighborhood screaming “Trick or Treat!”.

Many of us have said that same phrase, or maybe some variation of it, from the first time we ever put on a costume. My kids over the years have picked up cute little rhymes and put them to good use to get the nights loot from our neighbors. However, do we ever give thought to how we came to this tradition of candy grabbing overload?

The Celts celebrated Samhain, which is where trick or treating began.  The pagans celebrated mother nature and her gifts. It was believed that on Hallows Eve the boundaries between life and death faltered, and that the dead once again walked the earth.

Offerings of food and drink would be left on doorsteps, and it was believed that this would appease the spirits and protect the crops for another year. This is also where a tradition called “souling” was started.

The act of souling was comprised of food in exchange for prayer.  The village poor would go door to door begging for food during this celebration.  If the beggars agreed to pray for the souls of the givers dead loved ones, food would be given to them.

As the years passed the tradition became food left on doorsteps for the village’s less fortunate who who would continue to pray for the souls of the dead. Eventually, the adults began sending children door to door to collect food or money for their family.

In some countries, the wearing of masks and receiving of gifts is still called “souling.” Small food items or money are still received by children. Trick or treating is a thoroughly modern and American tradition.

When it first started, trick or treating was exactly that. If a neighbor didn’t provide treats, the costumed person would perform some trick. This could range from innocent pranks to their house being egged. There are some countries that believed this was mischievous spirits. If the spirit didn’t receive food, they were likely to do something to the person of the house.

Today, our children go from house to house, saying “Trick or Treat” and receiving a load of sweet treats. Families travel from neighborhood to neighborhood for sweet treasures. Tricks tend to run more towards the fun rather than an attack on anyone in particular.  To signal that a home is not participating, they simply turn off their porch light so that it signals children know to move past that home.

As with anything, there are still the occasional trouble makers that egg houses, toilet paper trees, etc.  However, with the increase of police patrols working overtime on Halloween night, it seems most neighborhoods go without incident these days.  Today even the adults get into the Halloween spirit by way of fog machines, costumes and elaborate scenes for the kids to traverse through to get to the prize of a few sweet bits.

No matter how you choose to celebrate Halloween, remember to take a moment and tell your kids the origin of where this fun tradition started.  Then you can start them on their way to search for the mother load of sugary treasure that awaits them, just watch out for those mischievous souls that may still be wandering.

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