2008 Woodie Awards
History buff investigates roots of candy, costumes
Douglas Burns
Katharine Martin
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
For a bunch of college students, Halloween certainly has an entirely different meaning than it originally did. Indeed, probably very few college students have probably heard of the Celtic festival of Samhain.
During this festival, the ancient Celts would dress up, dance around a giant bonfire and attempt to foretell each others' futures. This was a good way to have some fun and relieve the stress of the impending winter that weighed on every northern Europeans' mind at the time. Besides, who wouldn't want to act ridiculous and spin tall-tales for everyone's enjoyment?
But, of course, having fun is dangerous, is it not? Such revelry threatened the cohesion of the Roman Empire after Gaul (modern France) was conquered in 43 CE; to ease the tensions, Samhain was incorporated into other, already sanctioned, Roman holidays. The first holiday was Feralia, when the Romans honored their dead, and the second was Pomona, when the Romans honored the goddess of fruit and trees, whose name was Pomona.
Even when the Catholic Church asserted its power, the influence of superstition and carousing lingered - so much so that by ca. 1000 CE, the Church had sanctioned three festivities collectively called Hallowmas that honored the dead and allowed for costumes and other parading and storytelling.
And to think that such a tradition almost didn't survive the passage across the Atlantic! The religious founder of colonial New England did not approve of such ungodly devilries. The authorities tried to stamp out the practice - and they almost did. But the continuous influx of Europeans to the Americas kept the holiday alive, if only as an undercurrent. Eventually, Halloween adopted a community-based purpose, where kids could dress up and parents could socialize. Halloween is now so popular that an entire industry has grown up around it.
But that is strictly in economic terms. Why do we, as college students, continue this tradition with glee?
Well, I lay the blame on the stress element. We're not exactly concerned about our stores of grain in the dorm, but we do have the impending doom of midterms, essays and presentations always in the back of our minds. In order to remain sane, we need to remove ourselves from our daily routine and act like we normally can't (or shouldn't, but sometimes do).
Besides, it's a mark of honor to see how creative and original we can be with an extremely constrained budget, in which we usually have to resort to office supplies or the cheapest possible denominator.
The whole spectacle of Halloween is simply to have fun, and to compete with your suite to see who can manage to snag the most chocolate possible (which will then keep you wired enough to write that essay you procrastinated, right?).
During this festival, the ancient Celts would dress up, dance around a giant bonfire and attempt to foretell each others' futures. This was a good way to have some fun and relieve the stress of the impending winter that weighed on every northern Europeans' mind at the time. Besides, who wouldn't want to act ridiculous and spin tall-tales for everyone's enjoyment?
But, of course, having fun is dangerous, is it not? Such revelry threatened the cohesion of the Roman Empire after Gaul (modern France) was conquered in 43 CE; to ease the tensions, Samhain was incorporated into other, already sanctioned, Roman holidays. The first holiday was Feralia, when the Romans honored their dead, and the second was Pomona, when the Romans honored the goddess of fruit and trees, whose name was Pomona.
Even when the Catholic Church asserted its power, the influence of superstition and carousing lingered - so much so that by ca. 1000 CE, the Church had sanctioned three festivities collectively called Hallowmas that honored the dead and allowed for costumes and other parading and storytelling.
And to think that such a tradition almost didn't survive the passage across the Atlantic! The religious founder of colonial New England did not approve of such ungodly devilries. The authorities tried to stamp out the practice - and they almost did. But the continuous influx of Europeans to the Americas kept the holiday alive, if only as an undercurrent. Eventually, Halloween adopted a community-based purpose, where kids could dress up and parents could socialize. Halloween is now so popular that an entire industry has grown up around it.
But that is strictly in economic terms. Why do we, as college students, continue this tradition with glee?
Well, I lay the blame on the stress element. We're not exactly concerned about our stores of grain in the dorm, but we do have the impending doom of midterms, essays and presentations always in the back of our minds. In order to remain sane, we need to remove ourselves from our daily routine and act like we normally can't (or shouldn't, but sometimes do).
Besides, it's a mark of honor to see how creative and original we can be with an extremely constrained budget, in which we usually have to resort to office supplies or the cheapest possible denominator.
The whole spectacle of Halloween is simply to have fun, and to compete with your suite to see who can manage to snag the most chocolate possible (which will then keep you wired enough to write that essay you procrastinated, right?).
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