Halloween is once again upon us and children of all ages are looking forward to it with delight. Most of us have fond memories of dressing up and trick or treating. The first hurdle was finding that unique costume, one that not every other kid might choose to wear. The second was getting out at a decent time so that you had a chance to fill your pillowcase with goodies. The third was getting up the courage to trick or treat at all the creepy houses. Every community had a home or two that was supposedly haunted, or an abode with a scary crone (in reality a nice but lonely old lady) handing out candy. As kids, we would dare each other to go to those places and be thrilled when we lived to tell the tale.
Once we got home many of us had a “candy fight”. You know the one: the one where your mother screened the candy for anything suspect (tossing perfectly good candy away left and right because it may have been tainted or tampered with, something that was unnecessary and capricious in their children’s opinion) and where you had to share your haul with siblings too young to go out on their own all the while your dad was eating the candy you worked so hard for hand over fist. The next day at school you tried to trade the despicable brands of candy with a gullible classmate or with the weird kid, the one with dubious taste. That was my experience growing up.
To ancient people though, Halloween was neither fun nor games. It was a deadly serious night where your very soul was at stake. The origin of dressing up on Halloween began with the belief that one night a year spirits were allowed to roam the earth haunting people and stealing their souls. That’s why one dressed up – as a witch, a ghost or a ghoul – so you could blend in and be safe from eternal damnation. The people of the past would never have dreamed of dressing up as a super hero or a princess etc. because that wouldn’t have fooled the demons.
Black cats are considered unlucky for a similar reason. It was believed that black cats were “familiars” – the companions of witches or even demons themselves trying to disguise their appearance in order to sneak up on the unsuspecting and steal their souls. If a black cat crossed your path it meant something terrifying and evil wasn’t far behind.
The number 13 is considered bad luck for an anatomical reason. A person has two hands and ten fingers for a total of 12, likewise with feet and toes. Therefore, the number 13 represented physical deformity and was therefore considered unlucky.
The popular myths of mummies, vampires, werewolves and Frankenstein have their basis in reality. First, there are vampires in the world. They are bats but if vampires exist in the animal kingdom why not in humans as well? Blood is the elixir of life so it wasn’t so far fetched to believe that drinking it had some regenerative effect on a person. When coffins were opened, the living saw that the dead had some hair and nail growth and they were no longer rigid leading credence to the idea of the “undead”. There are also the criminally insane among us who do unspeakable things, surely they were under some kind of evil curse that caused their behavior, at least that was the thinking of the time.
The curse of the mummy got started when several members of the expedition exploring King Tut’s tomb died in mysterious and unique ways. The myth is a mummy taken from its tomb will lie in peace if displayed in a pyramid container, if it is not it will go on a murderous rampage trying to get back home. Many museums still exhibit mummies in a pyramid case although they claim it is to simulate the Giza experience rather than from any superstition.
Werewolves had their basis in fact as well. First of all, there are wolves in the world and a bite from a rabid wolf caused the person to behave irrationally. There is also a genetic defect in humans called hypertrichosis that causes hair growth all over the body, which also seemed to suggest that werewolfism wasn’t just in the imagination. There also have been studies that tried to correlate the full moon with more criminal behavior in people. Perhaps it is just easier to see at night with a full moon but nonetheless…
Frankenstein is a fictional character created by Mary Shelley. However, grave robbing used to be a full time job. Grave robbers would raid graves to get cadavers for medical students to study and practice on. That’s something we continue to this day, using cadavers for study not grave robbing. In addition we now do genetic research, alter DNA, engage in cloning and other activities that aren’t all that far away from the premise of Shelley’s novel.
When I was a kid, bobbing for apples was a staple of every Halloween party. Apple bobbing is a fertility practice associated with celebrations of the Roman goddess Pomona, a goddess of orchards and the harvest. If a young maiden eats an apple in front of a mirror, the first young man she sees in that mirror will be her husband. For young men seeking a mate a different method would be used. Those males looking for love were blindfolded and placed before three bowls; one filled with dirty water, one filled with clean water and an empty bowl. If the guy put his hand in the empty bowl he would remain a bachelor. If he placed his hand in the dirty bowl unhappiness in love and divorce were his fate. If the young man placed his hand in the clean bowl he would marry a virgin and stay with her for life.
There is a Cornish Prayer that goes like this: “From ghoulies and ghosties and long leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us.” Have a safe and happy Halloween!