The Hallow and the Hollow.

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Today is the feast of All Saints. A friend introduced me to a new saint - St. Fiacre, the patron of gardeners. He concocted potions for the infirm, I suppose. But that is not what I'd like to discuss, because on facebook, I was frightened by many a ghastly sight of macabre creatures, including pumpkins. Why has Halloween turned into a grisly night of trick or treat, I'd let the Western world actually explain it. But here's my supposition. Hallow means holy. In the Lord's Prayer, we say, in old English "hallowed be Thy Name." As the solemnity of saints falls on November 1st, the Christians did, by tradition, celebrate the eve, or the night before the feast. So, October 31st became a Hallow Evening, shortened to Hallow Eve, like Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve. As time passed by, the evening became an een, thus halloween. Then, the following day, the 2nd of November happens to be a day for the souls. The Christians probably wanted to hit two birds with one stone and celebrated the eve for the souls also on the 31st of October. As time passed by, the merry makers had probably thought that the Halloween means something hollow or empty, alluding to the empty tombs in the cemeteries because the souls were allowed to wander. Thus, the horrible and sinister depiction of a Halloween. Just trying to make things right again. Happy All Saints Day.