WHY THERE ARE KIDS ON YOUR PORCH ASKING FOR CANDY The History of Trick-or-Treating
As Halloween looms and you load up your grocery cart with candy, you may ask yourself, “Why do I provide these spooky gremlins with a sugar high every Oct. 31, anyway?” Well, when your doorbell starts ringing around 6 p.m. this All Hallows’ Eve, you can thank the Celts for this tradition of candy and costumes. Halloween itself is a kind of mishmash of four different cultural festivals of old: two Roman fêtes, which commemorated the dead and the goddess of fruit and trees (not at the same time); the Celtic Samuin or Samhain, a new year’s party thrown at the end of our summer; and the Catholic All Saint’s Day, designed to replace Samuin and divorce it from its pagan origins. Long before there were young’uns on your porch dressed as Thanos with candy-filled pillowcases in hand, the Celts believed that Samuin marked an overlapping of the realms of the living and the dead. To trick the spirits leaking into our world, young men donned flowing white costumes and black masks — a great disguise when ghosts were about.
By the 11th century, people were dressing up as saints, angels, and the occasional demon instead of spirits. Eventually, costumed children started tearing through town begging for food and money and singing a song or prayer in return — a practice called “souling.” But when did they start dressing up as Minions? Starting in the 19th century, souling turned to “guising,” which gave way to trick-or- treating in mid-20th-century America, and the costumes diversified. So put on some clown makeup and a big smile, scoop up a handful of sweets, and scare the living daylights out of ‘em — ‘tis the season!
The Catholic Church was never a big fan of these pagan traditions, so they renamed it “All Saints’ Day” and gussied it up in religious garb.
WANT TO TRY NEUROFEEDBACK THERAPY? Find a Certified Professional
Finding a Practitioner
As discussed on this month’s cover, neurofeedback therapy is a promising treatment that has successfully helped people of all ages manage or overcome a wide range of mental and physical health challenges. We’ve laid out a list of conditions neurofeedback therapy can help with as well as how to find a qualified neurofeedback therapist in your area. Neurofeedback Has Helped People With:
A quick Google search will show you that there are plenty of neurofeedback
practitioners throughout the state. Virginia does not require any form of medical licensing to use neurofeedback machines, meaning these listed
• Epilepsy • Autism • Attention deficit disorder • Addictions • Depression • Post-traumatic stress • Anxiety • Chronic pain • Anger management • Migraines • Incontinence • High blood pressure
locations may be anything from medical facilities to hobbyists. To ensure that you find a professional, you’ll need to do a little more research. The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating an industry standard of care among neurofeedback practitioners. When researching care facilities, look to see if they list a BCIA certification. You can also search the BCIA’s database of licensed professionals by visiting certify.bcia.org/4dcgi/resctr/search.html.
2 | GilletteLawGroup.com
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