The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have come from a
ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day,
everyone would walk through the villages asking for "soul cakes". These were
pieces of bread with currants in them. For each soul cake, a prayer was
promised for a dead relative of the donor for it was believed, at that time,
the dead stayed in limbo and each prayer could speed a soul's passage to
heaven.
Halloween Costumes -- Druids build large fires to ward off evil, demons and witches. They took
some of the burning straw and waved them on their pitchforks. When that
didn't work, they put on frightening costumes so the evil spirits would
think they were one of them and would not hurt them.
Jack-o'-Lantern The legend tells us that a blacksmith named Jack made a
pact with the Devil, giving his soul in return for the mastery of his trade.
One day, a saint named Peter came to Jack and offered him three wishes,
hoping that he would choose wisely and save his soul. But somehow, Jack used
the three wishes to trick the devil. When his time on Earth was up, neither
God nor the Devil would have anything to do with him. So Jack scooped up
some burning coal from the fires of the Hell and placed them in the turnip
that he was carrying. He used the lantern to light his way, and roams the
Earth until his Judgment Day.
The Jack-O'-Lantern once took the form of a carved turnip, the favored
vegetable in Europe. The traditon was brought to America in the 1840s by
Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. Because of a lack of
turnips in America and plenty of pumpkins, the pumpkin was used instead.
Halloween can be
very scary for some chilren. Such fears are normal and this would be a good
time to deal with them. They could have fears about the dark,
ghosts/monsters or death. It is so important to be sensitive about these
fears and not to make fun of them...THEY ARE REAL to the child. Let them
express their fear and let them know Halloween can be fun and they could
dress up as a princess or a fairy. At our parish Halloween party for the
children, everyone dresses up as their favorite saint and tells a story
about the saint. The kids love it, plus it helps them learn the stories and
about the lives of saints.
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