Two Story Library

"By the pricking of my thumbs,

Something wicked this way comes!"

- Macbeth Act 4, Scene 1

Halloween is, hands down, my favorite holiday. And it's not just the free candy and costumes that make it so great (though that is a large part of it.) Halloween has a long and interesting history that not many people are aware of.

Standing Stones of Callanish by Richard Mudhar

It all started with the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (Sah-win). This was a celebration of the end of the harvest season. The Celts believed that on this night, the veil between the land of the living and the spirit world was at its thinnest, and that those who had recently died were able to walk among them; whether they were friendly or not.

They were afraid that the spirits visiting them would continue to haunt them and possibly cause the deaths of others in their families. In the hopes that they could appease the visiting spirits and prevent them from sticking around, the Celts would give offerings in the form of food. Candy anyone?

They also offered up animal sacrifices, thanking mother earth for providing them with their harvest. The Druids would read the burnt entrails of the animals and use that to predict things such as who would prosper and who would die within the next year. Since the veil was so thin, Samhain was considered the best night to do this. They would also build bonfires and pray to their gods for the return of the sun. These bonfires would have likely attracted bugs which would in turn attract some of our popular Halloween symbols like bats and owls.

No story about ancient Ireland would be complete without the fairies! The Celts believed that fairies roamed the earth on Samhain with the intent to cause mischief. Much like our trick or treaters today! Though the Celts were not the only ancient people to have a hand in creating our modern, beloved Halloween.

Pomona Tapestry designed by
William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones in 1885

The Ancient Romans worshiped the goddess, Pomona. She was the goddess of fruit and nut trees and gardens. They held a festival around November 1st where they would give apples to thank her for a bountiful harvest. This can be contributed to our tradition of apple bobbing.

As the Romans conquered more of northern Europe, the Pomona festival slowly began to merge with Samhain, creating a tradition of both honoring the dead and the harvest.

This Pagan tradition, and in fact Paganism as a whole, would soon face extreme opposition with the arrival of Christianity in the 1st Century. The Christians were highly against worshiping any other being that was not God and viewed them as demonic. They believed that the Pagans had been deceived by Satan into believing in all of these other Gods and Goddesses.

In the early 4th century, Constantine, a Roman Pagan emperor had a vision of Christ during a battle and converted to Christianity. In 325 AD, he summoned a council of Christian Bishops, which became the First Council of Nicaea, who laid out the Christian Doctrine. This inspired missionaries to go out and convert and 'save' the Pagans. Eventually, the missionaries realized that, because the Pagan tradition was so deeply rooted, converting them would be extremely difficult.

Pope Greggory I understood that Christianity was still new and that the Pagans would not just turn around and accept it at once. At the time, the general population was not interested in the Christian beliefs. Around 600 AD, he attempted to give the Pagan traditions a Christian twist in an effort to make Christianity seem more appealing.

However, by the time Pope Greggory III came along, he got fed up with trying to accommodate the Pagans. He took one of their most important holidays and claimed November 1st as All Saints Day or All Hallows Day. This day was to commemorate all of the saints who did not already have their own day. The day before was called All Hallows Evening.

This is where the name Halloween comes from. All Hallows Evening became All Hallows Eve, the word eventually slurred to become Hallowe'en. There were many pagans who continued to practice their traditions, but under the name Hallowe'en instead.

Realizing this, the church took it one notch higher and declared November 2nd as All Souls Day. This day was to remember everyone who had died in the last year, whether they were a saint or not. This practice was directly taken from Samhain, but it was not enough to convince the Pagans to give up their ancient traditions.

Another practice that bothered the Church was what the Old English called Wise Ones or Wiccans. To the Christians, they were known as Witches and represented the worst parts of Paganism. These were usually women who, they believed, were unruly and violent and who delved into the darker aspects of Halloween. Witches were considered the Devil's accomplices and often depicted as ugly, deformed, violent hags. Even animals associated with witches became a demonic symbol. Specifically, the black cat was believed to be a witch in animal form.

Burning of three witches in Baden, Switzerland (1585), by Johann Jakob Wick

By the 1400's things were starting to get, well, hot. Witch hunts were sweeping all across Europe. Church extremists hunted these people down and punished them, cruelly. Punishments included a series of torture techniques, burning, drowning, stoning and other grisly acts of violence.

In 1486, Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal bull called Summis desiderantes affectibus that claimed a direct link between Witchcraft and the Devil and gave his permission to practice witch hunting. It was a response to the request of the Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer, asking for the authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany.

Halloween is seen in different cultures all across the world. In Mexico, the Day of the Dead is an ancient festival on All Souls Day that celebrates the dead instead of deaminizing it. Families would have picnics at the grave sites of loved ones and build alters to fondly remember them.

Martin Luther posted his Thesis on Halloween in 1517. He launched the protestant reformation and rejected All Saints Day among other things. Technically, this rejected All Hallows Eve as well; however the Protestants used the day to exploit their fight with the Catholics. Guy Fawkes was arrested on November 5 for attempting to blow up the House of Lords, which was heavily dominated by Protestants. This day became a popular English holiday but is often merged with Halloween because the dates are so close.

"The Trial of George Jacobs, August 5, 1692"
by Thompkins H. Matteson

In the Colonies, the Puritans hated Halloween. They believed that it was too Pagan and yet, too Catholic as well. The whole reason they left was because of the Catholic Church. They wanted nothing to do with Catholicism and Halloween became a part of that.

1692 brought about a bloody climax in the form of the Salem Witch Trials. Dozens of people were falsely accused of witchcraft. 19 people were hung (5 of which were on my birthday!) and one man named Giles Corey was pressed to death with rocks because he refused to confess. Many others died in prison.

Thankfully it was not the same all over America. All of the colonies believed in witchcraft and the occult but not all of them took it the same way as the Puritans. In Virginia and other southern colonies there was a heavy Catholic and Anglican population and Halloween thrived. Divination games were extremely popular, especially if it predicted ones romantic future. They held parties that involved bobbing for apples, carved pumpkins and ghost stories, all of which are still present today.

Vintage Halloween Postcard

By the late 19th century, ghost stories and customs from rural Ireland became extremely popular with
the arrival of Irish immigrants. Those customs that didn't quite work out were adapted to fit their new home. Carving turnips like they did in Ireland was much harder than the American pumpkin and is just one example of how Victorian America attempted to tame Halloween. By the end of the 19th century, the witchcraft and evil that had been previously associated with the holiday were almost gone and children began to take over.

When WWI broke out, America began to grow up. People were no longer interested in seeing recipes and crafts in newspapers. Instead they became more educational, and the people became more practical. Adults stopped participating in Halloween parties and sent their children out to have fun instead. The problem with letting children roam the streets was that there was a reappearance of mischief and harmful pranks. Communities tried many things in order to reign the children in, including the first ever Halloween parade.

WWII dampened America's festive mood. Resources were scarce and kids were more focused on collecting scrap metal for the war than dressing up and begging for sweets. Halloween activities in most cities were canceled. However, once the war was over, Halloween came back with a vengeance. Communities still focused on keeping it safe for children. There were organized Halloween costume parties and trick or treating to help keep mischief at bay.

Trick 'r Treat by Michael Dougherty, 2007

Popular culture did not help. Movies, like some of my own, personal favorites, Trick r Treat, the Addams Family and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, used these rumors and fears to their advantage. The Mainstream was filled with everything from psychopathic murderers to comical monsters and the holiday once again showed it's darker side.

Intro from Abott and Costello Meet Franenstein

Intro from Abbott and Costello
Meet Frankenstein

Today, Halloween is now a multi billion dollar industry. There are movies, TV shows, songs, dolls, toys, and games that all have roots in Halloween. Most people now, instead of making costumes, will spend anywhere from $30 to several hundred on costumes and props.

Essentially, Halloween has become a mix of terror and mockery of everything that frightens us.

And it is still the best holiday out of the entire year!

Happy Halloween!

References

'A sickly female invalid sits covered up on a balcony overloo' by Richard Tennant Cooper.
Credit: Wellcome Collection.

I have always been fascinated by 19th century views on Tuberculosis. The effects it had on Victorian society is astounding. It truly was the White Plague of the 19th Century.

Oftentimes heavily romanticized, Tuberculosis or Consumption as it was known then, became associated with having a creative and a deeply spiritual mind. In the 19th century, Consumption was the most stylish and graceful way to die. Suffers of Tuberculosis were pale, thin, weak, and waif-like, as though they were slowly fading away. This was seen by many as physically attractive and desirable, conveniently forgetting that sufferers still ended up dead. Symptoms of Tuberculosis included pale skin, flushed cheeks, bright eyes, fever, loss of appetite, night sweats, and coughing up blood.

For the last several centuries, it was fashionable to have pale skin because it was a sign of wealth and beauty, and women would do anything to achieve this look; from using white powders that contained lead and arsenic to applying blood sucking leaches, the loss of blood making their skin desirably paler. As Tuberculosis made you extremely pale, this was considered aesthetically pleasing and it became fashionable to look like you were wasting away from this disease. For bright eyes, women would sometimes use eye drops that contained belladonna. As you can imagine, the ingredients in these products usually lead to permanent disfigurement and even death. Ironic how someone could end up killing themselves by trying to look as though they had a fatal disease.

Tuberculosis claimed the lives of many a famous poet, artist and writer; Including Chopin, John Keats, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Even the 19th century poet, George Gordon Byron, on his return to Athens, reportedly looked into a mirror saying, "How pale I look! I should like, I think, to die of Consumption." When his friend asked why that was, Byron replied, "Because then the woman would all say 'See that poor Byron, how interesting he looks in dying!'." Tuberculosis also created a romantic and tragic death for heroins in operas and plays and sufferers were often used as models in many famous paintings.

By the early 1880's, however, people began to realize just how dangerous the disease was. Articles began to appear, warning the public of the dangers of Consumption and urged them to take various precautionary measures. Many doctors recommended moving to a more open location, as the fresh air was a popular treatment at the time. At this point, some victims were often shunned and hidden from society. Due to the Sanitoria Movement, instead of gracefully fading at home, many were sent to Sanatoriums in an effort to naturally cure and prevent the spread of the disease. The biggest problem with this was that only the upper class could really afford to send their family members to these hospitals. The poor were left to fend for themselves or, if they were lucky they would at least be able to afford a decent doctor.

Originally these buildings were known as Sanitariums. However, the name was eventually changed in the early 1900's because, while Sanitariums were health resorts, the National Anti-Tuberculosis Association wanted to differentiate between the general health resorts and the newly emerging Tuberculosis hospitals. Though both names are sometimes used interchangeably. Unfortunately it was difficult for the poor to be able to do this because of lack of funds and poor living conditions prevented public dispensaries from duplicating the model that Sanatoriums provided. While there were many attempts at cures, nothing reliable was discovered until the 20th century.

Polite constructive criticism is welcome. I would love to read your views on 19th Century Tuberculosis! Please leave a comment below.

Reference

The Works of George Gordon Byron: Letters, 1804-1813 by George Gordon Byron Byron
The Sanatorium Age "Sanatorium vs. Sanitarium" http://www.lung.ca/tb/tbhistory/sanatoriums/type.html
Spitting Blood: The History of Tuberculosis by Helen Bynum
The White Plague: Tuberculosis, Man and Society by Rene Jules Dubos and Jean Dubos
Fevered Lives: Tuberculosis in American Culture Since 1870 by Katherine Ott
Harvard University Library Open Collections Program, Contagion: Historical Views on Diseases and Epidemics, Tuberculosis in Europe and North America 1800-1922 http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/contagion/tuberculosis.html
At the Deathbed of Consumptive Art by David M. Morens http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2738548/
Culverwell, Robert James, 1802-1852. On Consumption, Coughs, Colds, Asthma, And Other Diseases of the Chest: Their Remedial And Avertive Treatment : Addressed In Popular Language to Non-medical Readers, With Copious Observations On the Diet And Regimen Necessary for Invalids : Also, an Appendix, Containing Two Hundred Formulae of the Latest And Most Approved Remedies. New York: Published by J.S. Redfield, Clinton Hall, corner of Nassau and Beekman streets, 1849. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.31822038208294

Two Story Library

Contents

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

The History of Halloween

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Tuberculosis in the 19th Century

Reference

Friday, October 25, 2013

Welcome!