The Paw Print

Trick or Treat


by Julia

What is Halloween? Is it merely a holiday of candy and costumes? Some may think so, but Halloween is so much more than asking for a cavity and scaring little kids—it is a celebration.

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, celebrated their New Year on November 1, a time of year that was often associated with human death because of the dark, cold winter. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain—, when it it wwasas believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. Some religions refer to this as The Day of the Dead. The night before the nnew yyear, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became become blurred, and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.

The festival would frequently involve bonfires. It was believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which attracted bats to the area. In addition, masks and consumescostumes were worn (typically consisting of animal heads and skins) in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them, and. The Celts also triedattempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires from the sacred bonfire , which they had extinguished earlier that evening, to help protect them during the coming winter.

Trick-or-treating may have developed in America independent of any Irish or British antecedent. There is little primary Halloween history documentation of masking or costuming on Halloween in Ireland, the UK, or America before 1900. The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in North America occurs occurred in 1911.

It was normal for the smaller children to go to the street visiting shops and neighbors and to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs. The "trick" part of "trick or treat" is a threat to play a trick on the homeowner or his property if no treat is given. Trick-or-treating is one of the main traditions of Halloween. It does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930’s.

It has become socially expected that if one lives in a neighborhood with children, one should purchase candies in preparation for trick-or-treaters, but the horses don’t want to be left out either!.

Mrs. Dowd said, “I love Halloween because you can act like a kid. I don’t ever want to grow up. I went to a kid’s Halloween party and watched my grandson act like a Wild Thing while his baby brother, Everett, who was dressed as Max, sipped on his bottle. Everett is two months. Graham also loved watching his best friend who was dressed as Cinderella. She wore shoes that lit up.”

Halloween is a time for families, fun, and laughing at the kids as they hunt for the best house with candy and carved pumpkins.