Halloween is a holiday that is always celebrated on October 31st. The tradition originated with an old Celtic festival called Samhain, when people would light bonfires and dress up in costumes to ward off ghosts. Soon after Pope Gregory III proclaimed that November 1st was a day to honor all Saints. After that, the day before All Saints Day would be known as All Hallows Eve with the blurry idea of the one night the worlds of the living and dead would mingle.
The symbolic meaning of Halloween is linked to Christianity, century old practices and many celebrations. Halloween symbolizes the end of the harvest and sharing what is left of your harvest with your community. It was a time when families would go door to door actually asking for food or money that would eventually change to trick or treating for candy! The history of Halloween has changed dramatically over the years!
Today Halloween is the day when children of all ages get dressed up and with excitement run from home to home saying the familiar jingle, “Trick or Treat?” Did you know that one quarter of all candy sold in the USA is purchased for Halloween? Did you also know that more people are buying costumes for their pets? Americans spent $490 million dollars on costumes for their pets in 2019! That is more than double then what was spent in 2010! Let’s face it, animals dressed up in Halloween costumes just make you smile! They’re so cute!
As we get older the idea of Halloween is just strange, at least I think so! Dress your kids up so no one can recognize them, let them go knock on doors of strangers (people you would never let them talk to on any other day), then ask for candy!!! Yikes!! Are you kidding me!! That is the old me talking! The young me says, Halloween is a fun day to see neighborhood kids you haven’t seen in a while, it’s a great community builder and its just downhome fun! Still check all of the kids candy before the eat any, that’s just common sense! LOL!
My family and I have wonderful Halloween memories and I hope this year you make some new Halloween memories for you and your family! Have fun and be safe! Happy Halloween!
When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, may luck be yours on Halloween!
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