Mary’s Ghost Demands Revenge

Mary’s Ghost Demands Revenge

On Halloween eve
Mary’s ghost
Went out to play
Showing up

At her son’s house
Demanding to be heard
Demanding to tell her tale

A ghostly figure
Filled with grievances
Hatred and fear

She said
She can not rest
In the other word
Until her grievances
Are heard

But in the meantime
She would take a Snickers bar
And a cup of Irish Joe.



"Halloween" is a contraction of "Hallow eve", meaning the "evening before Hallow" or, more fully, the evening before the feastday of "All Hallows". Hallows is an old word meaning saints. So Halloween means "the evening before the feast of All Saints."

All Saint's Day is a feast day in the Catholic and Orthodox churches that commemorates the deaths of saints and martyrs. The earliest attestation of it dates from the early fifth century, in the eastern church (this was back when there was just one Christian 'denomination'), when it was celebrated in the spring. In the Orthodox church, it still is celebrated on that day. By the mid eighth century, the feast had been moved, in the west, to November first, as it is still celebrated in the Roman Catholic church.

So where did the tradition of "trick or treat" come from? That doesn't seem to have much to do with the death of Christian martyrs!

That tradition stems from the pagan festival of Samhain , or "Summer's End", which was the beginning of the Celtic new year.

Some scholars -- though not all -- have argued that the western Church changed its celebration of All Saints Day to correspond to this pagan festival; the idea being (presumably) that since the pagan country folk were going to be celebrating anyway, and most probably cared more about parties than about the religion that justified them, why not give the day a new meaning? Whether this was the reason for the eighth century change or not, the effect was the same: some of those old traditions were preserved in the new context.

One of those traditions had to do with the Celtic belief that other-worldly spirits, fairies and gods were most active at this turning of the year, and liable to play tricks on mortals. Sacrifices and gifts would be offered in an attempt to appease these powers.

So, when a child dressed as some monster shows up on your doorstep asking for candy, the ancient origin of that "trick or treat" question means that, in their role of trickster spirit, they're asking for such appeasement. Just be glad that, unlike their Celtic precursors, they'll be happy with a Snickers bar rather than, say, slaughtering a cow!


For tomorrow, write a story or poem about not a fairy or child wanting candy, but the departed soul of someone the protagonist knows, arriving at the front door, a soul who demands appeasement in the form of righting some wrong done to or by them in their former, mortal life.

One of your genres should be SPIRITUAL.