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Halloween: how 'Stingy Jack' turned into a $5 billion icon
Brittany Strickland
Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: News
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Halloween is one of the world's oldest holidays, dating back to pagan times. In the United States, it can be seen celebrated with perverse costumes, gag humor and binges of candy, alcohol and immaturity. Ironically, the concept of the holiday has changed significantly since its origin. The modern name Halloween comes from "All Hallows Evening," a day for reverence and respect.
The history of Halloween was not written for many centuries, so some of it is still sketchy and subject to debate. The most plausible theory suggests Halloween originated in the British Isles and grew out of the pagan Celtic celebration of Samhain, which dates back to the fifth century. It was believed spirits rose from the dead and mingled with the living on this day. The Celts left food at their doors to encourage good spirits, and they wore masks to scare off the bad spirits.
The history behind witches can be traced to a legend that on All Hallows Eve a priest was walking by a country road when he saw bonfires burning on a hill. He witnessed people dancing around the fire in costumes with shafts and torches in their hands. In the moonlight, the people appeared to be flying in the air. He ran back to his village to tell residents that witches were flying and evil was among them.
Trick-or-treating also began during Celtic times and evolved in the medieval era. It was believed fairies - who were not evil, but not necessarily good - ran free on this day. They liked rewarding good deeds and did not like to be crossed by people. On Samhain, they liked to disguise themselves as beggars and go door-to-door asking for handouts; those who gave them food were rewarded while those who did not were subjected to unpleasantness. Hence the phrase, "trick-or-treat."
Another tradition of Halloween are jack-o'-lanterns, though they were not always made from pumpkins.
According to folklore, they were used to ward off the spirit of Stingy Jack on Halloween. Stingy Jack was a wicked drunk too heinous for heaven, yet too conniving for even the devil's standards. After Stingy Jack twice tricked the devil out of his own damnation, he was rejected from hell and left to roam the earth without a resting place. As Jack left the gates of hell, the devil threw him a hot ember to light his way in the dark. He placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip, and the tradition of carving turnips and putting candles inside was born.
The history of Halloween was not written for many centuries, so some of it is still sketchy and subject to debate. The most plausible theory suggests Halloween originated in the British Isles and grew out of the pagan Celtic celebration of Samhain, which dates back to the fifth century. It was believed spirits rose from the dead and mingled with the living on this day. The Celts left food at their doors to encourage good spirits, and they wore masks to scare off the bad spirits.
The history behind witches can be traced to a legend that on All Hallows Eve a priest was walking by a country road when he saw bonfires burning on a hill. He witnessed people dancing around the fire in costumes with shafts and torches in their hands. In the moonlight, the people appeared to be flying in the air. He ran back to his village to tell residents that witches were flying and evil was among them.
Trick-or-treating also began during Celtic times and evolved in the medieval era. It was believed fairies - who were not evil, but not necessarily good - ran free on this day. They liked rewarding good deeds and did not like to be crossed by people. On Samhain, they liked to disguise themselves as beggars and go door-to-door asking for handouts; those who gave them food were rewarded while those who did not were subjected to unpleasantness. Hence the phrase, "trick-or-treat."
Another tradition of Halloween are jack-o'-lanterns, though they were not always made from pumpkins.
According to folklore, they were used to ward off the spirit of Stingy Jack on Halloween. Stingy Jack was a wicked drunk too heinous for heaven, yet too conniving for even the devil's standards. After Stingy Jack twice tricked the devil out of his own damnation, he was rejected from hell and left to roam the earth without a resting place. As Jack left the gates of hell, the devil threw him a hot ember to light his way in the dark. He placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip, and the tradition of carving turnips and putting candles inside was born.
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