
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, October 31, 1995                   TAG: 9510310064
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 3   EDITION: METRO    
SOURCE: STEVE URQUHART
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHAT IS HALLOWEEN?

Halloween is the Celtic New year. It is one of the ``the quarter days'' that, along with the firsts of February, May and August, divide the year into four parts. British military and school calendars are still divided into these quarters. They're the source of the quarters in a college year.

The Celts brought many of their customs from their original home in India. The Indian New Years' is Divali, meaning ``row of lights.'' On Nov. 1, Hindus honor the goddess of wealth, Laksmi. They exchange gifts and decorate their homes with little clay lamps because Laksmi blesses only those houses that are lit to greet her. This is the source of Europe's turnips and America's pumpkin Jack o' Lanterns. Trick-or-treat candy probably originally symbolized Lakshmi's fall harvest bounty. In Europe, it degenerated into gifts left to appease the little people - the fairies - who represented the powers of nature. At a much later date, other ``little people'' adopted the custom of collecting bribes not to play pranks on the grown-ups who stayed inside on the cold November eve.

Halloween, under various names, is still an important holiday for many cultures and is celebrated in similar party fashion around the globe. In Mexico, it is the Festival of the Dead. Spain has Todos los Santos and in France, it is called Toussaints (All Saints).

In England, Halloween was called Mischief Night until the 17th century when it was renamed Guy Fawkes Day and moved to Nov. 5. Fawkes was part of a plot to blow up King James while he was visiting Parliament. In Scotland and Ireland, the Gaelic name Samhain is still in use. Pronounced ``sowan,'' it means summer's end.

Keywords:
WITCH SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS

by CNB