The Book of Hallowe'en – Origin, Practices & Beliefs

by Ruth Edna Kelley

."..is intended to give the reader an account of the origin and history of Hallowe'en, [and] how it absorbed some customs belonging to other days of the year." --From Preface.

Genres: Halloween, History, Nonfiction, Folklore, Horror, Mythology, Holiday

93 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 26, 1918

Reviews

[Coos Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hace muchos años me enteré de la existencia de este libro y traté de conseguirlo en formato físico a toda costa. A poco de terminar este mes de Halloween, decidí finalmente leerlo y tener una probada de tradiciones reales, raíces celtas, hogueras, ofrendas, supersticiones y leyendas, entre otras cosas hermosas de ese estilo.

Lo disfruté un montón, y en definitiva son varias las cosas que me ha aportado este libro, pero me quedo con dos en particular: en principio, me encantó conocer a fondo los orígenes de mi celebración favorita. Además, entendí mucho mejor una de mis películas favoritas, que resulta ser The Wicker Man. Y por otro lado, también me encantó la parte literaria, sobre todo en poesía. Recomendadísimo a quienes amen Halloween.

[Vincentvanstop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Make sure and read the old publication and not the conservatively published version that literally admonishes the 1960s for ruining the view of history.They also didn't reprint the great photos.

I read the 1919 publication of this on archive.org and would have adored it as an elementary kid in the 80s. I just love the photographs of table centerpieces and illustrations, such as The Witch of the Walnut-tree.

Another suggested selection on that site is Games for Hallow-e'en by Mary F. Blain(1912), though they could lend a person to becoming too searching for meaning in the Hallowe'en party divinations, depending on their temper. I should also suggest Every Woman's Encyclopaedia (all 7 volumes! spelling is important for the search function on the site) on archive.org for more Edwardian zany reading.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Halloween is an ancient Gaelic Festival that marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the darker half of the year…

For them, it was the end of the year, what our New Year’s Eve would’ve been. For us, it’s October 31st.

When I was a kid, I remember how fun it was to pick out a costume, grab a pillowcase and go door-to-door for some free candy. Little did I know I was partaking of ancient customs that spanned across Great Britain, France, and other European countries.

Based on the festival of Samhain (SOW-in), Halloween was believed to be the time of the year when the veil between the spirit world and the natural world was at its thinnest. Many celebrated dead ancestors, appeased spirits, consulted witches, and hoped that a changeling didn’t replace their child in the crib.

I have abandoned my celebration of the ancient festival since those childhood years, and I’m wholly disheartened that many are attempting to use Christmas traditions to celebrate Halloween. From black wreaths, purple trees, and orange lights, it’s almost as if creativity has come to a close for Halloween and now we are just witnessing a darker, morbid Christmas!

As for this book by Ruth Edna Kelley, I loved learning the ancient customs behind the holiday, yet I disliked the way she wrote it. Almost every paragraph was interrupted from its narrative, for another excerpt of some Irish poem about the festival. Furthermore —

“Pale tapers glimmer in the sky, The dead and dying leaves go by;
Dimly across the faded green Strange shadows, stranger shades, are seen —
It is the mystic Hallowe'en.”
— A. F. Murray in Harper's Weekly, Oct. 30, 1909.

Regardless of the constant poems, here are some of the ancient customs behind Halloween:

— Halloween was never celebrated in America until immigrants from Ireland fleeing the Great Potato Famine came to America and launched campaigns to celebrate the festival.
— During Samhain, the veil between the spirit world and the natural world was at its thinnest. Many wore the skins of animals, disguising themselves to confuse and ward off potentially harmful spirits. This originated the idea of wearing costumes.
— Jack o’ lanterns were regarded as the spirits of murderers. Later, they were put on the steps to one’s home to tell others that you were aligned with a witch!
— “Trick or Treat!” Derives from what one would say when visiting the house of a known witch. Which, in turn, the witch would either show you a trick, or give you a treat. Just go ask Hansel and Gretel how that turned out!
— Witches flying on broomsticks originates from the idea that evil women would once fly off to consult with the gods. After the Church converted pagan populations, these evil women would consult with Satan.
— But most Halloween traditions involve divining one’s future spouse, or who would die within the year.
1. Pluck two roses and tie them together, if they turn deep red then your future spouse would love you.
2. Stare in a mirror while eating an apple, and soon, you’ll see the face of your future spouse.
3. Bob for apples at the same time as other young people, bite, and as you stand straight, you’ll notice your apple was tied to another’s apple. Get a good look because that was your future spouse.
4. Sit at a three way intersection and eventually you’ll hear the whispers of those would pass before the next Halloween…

[Aria Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, originally written in 1919, isn't very big but gives a lot of information about various traditions related to Halloween, most of them being still practised at the time the author wrote. Customs and folklore of Ireland and various parts of the UK are mentioned and the celtic origins of Halloween are adressed. But other influences and other related festivals are also discussed (like Roman festivals or Walpurgis Night).
The best thing about this book is that the author quotes A LOT of literature works (some of them of the 19th century, some of them much older) that examplify in a different, more poetic way the traditions and beliefs that the author just described.
Reading this book will give you a really good insight of 19th century folklore (in the British Isles mostly but also France, while a few other places are quickly mentioned) and will offer you some information about the pre-christian background of Halloween.

A really nice read for those interested in the history of Halloween and folklore (celtic in particular).

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book of Hallowe"en was originally published in 1919 by a Massachusetts Liberian Ruth Edna Kelley. These was the first attempt of gathering information on the history of Halloween. This book gives us an overview of the some of the cultural traditions from old Europe. The book gives a glimpse imto the 19th and 20th, both in Europe and in America on how Halloween was celebrated. This book opens a window to the past and helps us to understand the history a little better. This edition is missing illustrations that appear in other editions. This edition includes an introduction from a New Orleans Voodoo Priest, James Duvalier.

[Books&Thistle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Non posso dare meno di una stella. Il libro è, senza dubbio alcuno, tradotto con Google translate dalla versione inglese. No, non sto scherzando, se leggerete una qualsiasi pagina a caso ve ne accorgerete. L'ho letto a fatica fino alla fine solo per poter dire che è VERGOGNOSO.
Lo rileggerò in inglese, almeno capirò qualcosa. Delusissima.

[TraceyL · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very boring collection of facts. I was disappointed. It felt like I was just reading the Wikipedia page about Halloween.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a most outdated book to read but one that was quite interesting when you got past the mythoi. Like many other books founded on the legends and myths of other people Ruth had some of her deities incorrect, which is annoying but I guess it is what it is.

Otherwise the book was an interesting collection of history that spans back into pagan practices that were absorbed and adapted to the Christian religion. As such many of the first chapters explored various parts of Europe and the contributions that they had onto practices that continued still at the time of the writing of this book (with the gory centering of today's Halloween I think we have finally outgrown this quaint view).

There were some poems and rhymes scattered throughout that would have been somewhat helpful depending on their formatting. The ones that irritated me the most were the ones that were used to break up the sentence instead of just allowing the point to end then using it. Otherwise many helped to emphasize the point although a select few didn't seem like they were meant but were thrown in there to break the monotony up.

For those who like to learn about holidays and their origins or even some of the practices that have been used this would be a good start. Due to some of the practices that have interested me I have found a recipe for Lambs'-wool (couldn't find it with the actual milk being used) and Sowen (Soul Cakes) that I would like to give a try and who knows these could be for this upcoming Halloween.....

[Oliver Romano]

Come detto da un'altra persona, la "traduzione" italiana è un disastro. Il libro risulta frammentato ai limiti dell'illeggibile. Leggerò la versione originale disponibile online per completezza ma STATE ALLA LARGA DAL PRODOTTO VENDUTO IN ITALIA😅🥲

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eine gelungene Sammlung von verschiedensten Bräuchen und Traditionen rund um Halloween. Auch die Geschichte dieses Tages wird unter die Lupe genommen. Ich war verblüfft, welch unterschiedliche Arten zu feiern es gibt. Auch, dass der 31.10 mit Liebe und Partnerschaft assoziiert wird, war mir neu.

Kelley hat ausserdem viele Sagen und Mythen rum um Hallowe'en gesammelt und ebenfalls in ihrem Buch verarbeitet. Viele Geschichten eigenen sich sehr gut zum Gruseln. Auch hier zeigen sich Ähnlichkeiten, aber auch Unterschiede, in den verschiedenen Bräuchen, die weltweit gefeiert werden.

Wer also etwas mehr über die Geschichte dieses bekannten Festes wissen möchte, ist mit "The Book of Hallowe'en" nicht schlecht beraten.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3🌟

[Jessy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't anything like I thought it was going to be. I feel the title of the book is misleading. I felt like the book never really went into depth into anything. It feels like it's all skimmed over on Halloween and was more on stuff like superstitions to people getting married and what different countries did. If it wasn't talking about that it was on folklore on fairies, gnomes, little people and all those fairy tales characters.

It would have been more enjoyable if it was really going into the folklore and superstitions from all different countries about Halloween. Overall I feel very disappointed with this book.

[Lauren Patton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe this was referenced in another book as the first book about Halloween, specifically. It's mostly a collection of folklore, myths, traditions, and customs by their country of origin, predominantly Anglo-Saxon countries. Pretty interesting and there were a lot of older customs that I had never heard of because they probably didn't survive past the middle of the 20th century.

[Delanie Dooms · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book of Hallowe'en was written by Ruth Edna Kelley to inform the reader about the history and general customs of Hallowe'en throughout history. What we get is more a list of customs than an explanation for them, but these customs are invariably interesting to the reader who does not choose to imbibe them all in one sitting.

What our author's explanation is, however, is fairly simple. We see that many of the traditions of Hallowe'en are based on old, Pagan practices, particularly around the harvest and the "death" of the sun for the season. It is here that a link between happiness--from the harvest--and dire sadness and spiritual monstrosity--from the loss of that which gave us the harvest; often, from the defeat of it by supposed evil spirits--became evident in the traditional celebration of autumnal holidays, ultimately culminating in Hallowe'en. The most common trait of all Hallowe'en is the trait of divination, which Kelley denotes as deriving from pagan sacrifices. Just as our ancestors may have looked upon the burning body or corpse of a sinner or innocent to divine their guilt or suss out an omen of grand portent, we burn nuts in the fire and view how their burn as a means of showing us our futures.* This is ultimately also linked to Druidic fortune telling.

We see the influence of Samhain, of various November festivities, and much else, upon the history of Hallowe'en, and then we see that this history was upended and turned against itself by the influence of Christianity. We see the same fruits that were once burned in favor of the old gods now burned against them, those who practiced the ancient religions killed or demonized (finally, in the case of witches, to be traduced from merely pagan to devil-worshipper), and new holidays interposed by the Catholic state. (All Saint's Day and All Souls' Day being the two specified.)

Some of my favorite descriptions by our author must be the celebrations of Brittany--containing within their customs a sustained notion of inevitable death, of the dead acting akin to the fairies of Scotland or Ireland, etc.--and the whole section relating to Ireland and Scotland. America and the traditions of Scandinavia were also nice to read.

The best part of the book, probably, is the list of sources for the quotations, which are generally in poems or prose about Hallowe'en.

*The strength of this statement is even viewed incredulously by Kelley, yet, if I am not mistaken, she persists in thinking that these original sacrificial rituals, slowly made less extreme through time, eventually left behind only a hollow core of trite superstition as their wake.

[Adrienne Darrah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mid-1800s through early-1900s were a time of great change in the United States. The influx of immigrants brought with them their traditions and cultures. This included the Great Irish migration of the mid-1800s which brought with it semblances of old Celtic customs such as those that celebrated the ancient festival of Samhain. As the Romans expanded their power in Europe, the Church replaced these ancient festivals and customs with their own. The period between the evening of October 31 (the day Samhain was celebrated by the Celts) and November 2 was adopted as Allhallowtide, a time set aside to remember the dead. October 31 (All Hallow's Eve > Hallows Even > Hallowe'en > and, today, Halloween) became a time of preparation for November 1's All Saint's Day and November 2's All Soul's Day.

Ruth Edna Kelley documented this early history of Halloween including how it came to the United States. This book serves as one of our only windows into what Halloween was like during this time and how it evolved from a time to celebrate the waning Sun to a holiday akin to today's Valentine's Day. For an even earlier history of Halloween, readers should seek out Scottish poet Robert Burn's 1785 poem "Halloween," which Kelley does reference throughout her book.

[Madalina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book written to be studied rather than simply read, I think.
It is a history of Halloween, from the beginning to our days. A Celtic holiday that, in my opinion, represents or is represented by three main aspects of life: harvest, love/marriage and remembering the dear ones who are no more.
We learn of the use of fire by the Celts on October 31 as being the last day of the year, and thus the New Year's Eve. The night of this day was called Samhain Night. We learn about the superstitions according to which young people could find out on this night who they would marry and what they had to do for this. Finally, we learn about how people in the West remember their dead on November 1 and 2.
But not only the customs of Halloween (or Hallow'en) are presented here. We are also introduced to a series of supernatural creatures like gods, elves of different categories and fairies.
Last not least, we learn about how Christianity banned all these beliefs as being pagan, and demonized their gods. The priests of the temples were executed as witches and this is how this holiday, Halloween, got to be associated with witches.
One more thing, the book is pervaded with literary texts, prose and poetry, about Halloween. Many of them are written in the English of past centuries and sometimes they are a little bit hard to understand, but it is worth the effort.

[Andrew Hale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not an exciting read though it has some interesting topics to dive further into, especially as there is no source here for where this came from. A lot of traditions and superstitions presented here, from Ireland, to Scotland, to Wales, seem to be youthful fads where they try to divine who their spouse will be, or what career their spouse will have. Nothing exciting, but interesting things to read at least once. Some moments seemed like an out-of-nowhere bias painted as "miswisdom" towards Christianity which I'm sure was a fad criticism of its own, to sensationalize the otherwise lackluster material. I think comparative reading on Christianity and pagan cultures that adopted into it as a more hopeful avenue than the traditions that rule the land, is an engaging atmosphere to get in but this wasn't it.

[Jeremiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice historical summary of Halloween traditions. It is a brief read that spends more time than I thought necessary on party traditions about discovering a future spouse's identity but it was worth it to read about the more ancient European traditions. There are three poems in the end that have been reprinted in full, each with the title Hallowe'en. A fourth poem entitled Hallowe'en Failure by Carlyle Smith in 1910, was painful to read because it was written in an exaggerated vernacular of what I assume was meant to be superstitious African-American. All in all, I feel like it was a decent primer for a study of Halloween but left me hungry for delving into more myth and legend.

[Ceelee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fun and interesting book. I enjoyed reading about the customs at Halloween for different countries around the world, even in early America and the beginning of the 20th century. A lot of the rituals were about girls learning the name of their husbands and partying and food were always a part of the celebration. Ghosts and witches have always been present, whether In fun or religious celebrations. I liked the pictures and the poetry and stories the author included, although I
am pretty sure the modern ones were added in later.
I love history and I love Halloween. I recommend this book for anyone who loves the same.

[Ed Wagemann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Today Halloween is a Billion dollar industry.  Haunted attractions alone account for a half billion dollars annually.  But it wasn't always like that.  In 1919 American historian Ruth Edna Kelly wrote the first book length history of Halloween in America, titled The Book of Hallowe'en.  At that Halloween had not fully attained the status of a national holiday in America, eventhough many of the customs that we observe today are derived from that era.  Activities such as dressing up in costumes, bobbing for apples, telling horrific tales of death, and the practice of superstitions (for instance, it was believed that if an unmarried women, who was destined to become an old maid, were to look in a mirror on halloween that the image of a skull would appear) were all developed during that period.

Here are five noteworthy American authors from the 19th century who make for good reading during the Halloween season:   





Herman Melville (1819 - 1891) author of Moby-Dick, a novel that sold just over 3,000 copies during Melville's lifetime, portrays the scary and demented Captain Ahab's obsession with the white whale.  Melville himself was a tortured soul, tortured by his obsession to write, his own mortality and the idea that he was going to leave the Earth without leaving his mark.





Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) whose only completed novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket was highly influential on Herman Melville, is best known for his morbid short stories of horror and mystery such as "The Black Cat", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Pit and the Pendulum","The Premature Burial", "The Purloined Letter" and "The Tell-Tale Heart". 

Poe's own death has become a legendary mystery in itself.  As the story goes Poe was found wandering the streets of Baltimore just weeks before Halloween 1849 in a delirious state.  He was then taken to Washington College Hospital, where he died three days later.  All medical records, including his death certificate, have been lost and how Poe came to be in such a dire condition (and oddly enough wearing clothes that were not his own) has never been explained. The cause of his death remains a mystery.






Stephen Crane (1871 – 1900) the father of Naturalism died at the height of his popularity at just 28 years of age.  Crane's short story of "The Open Boat" is based on a personal experience he had as he was stranded at sea for thirty hours after the ship he was on, the SS Commodore, sank.  Crane's works are filled with themes of fear, isolation, and survival.






Ambrose Bierce (1842-?) who was best known duirng his lifetime for his stories about war became better known after his death due to the myserious circumstances surrounding his disappearance in 1913.  In fact Bierce's disappearance has been the subject of at least two popular films; Old Gringo (1989) and the vampire horror film From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000).

Bierce's own writing "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" has been the subject of several tv shows including the Twilight Zone, Lost and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, while his tale "Eyes of the Panther" was used for Shelley Duvall's Nightmare Classics series.





Washington Irving (1783 – 1859) who popularized the nickname "Gotham" for New York city is considered to be the first American to ever earn his living soley through his writing.  Irving who was solicited by Edgar Allan Poe as Poe wrote "The Fall of the House of Usher" is not as critically acclaimed as Poe has become, however Irving is the creator of two of America's most endearing tales, "Rip Van Winkle", and "The Legend of Sleepy Hallow".


©2011 Rockism 101. All Rights Reserved

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important historical book, but quite 'dry' to read.

There is no denying that Ruth Edna Kelley has done a superb job of chronicling the history of Halloween traditions, but that doesn't mean that these traditions are interesting.

Most of the Halloween traditions aimed at predicting your death, or (groan) when you would find your future husband.

What this book has achieved however, is that it has secured my belief that we have a much more fun and worthwhile holiday today.

An important book, but only worth reading for the sake of reading it.

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beyond ENB 2023
Friends of the Library Bingo 2023
Topic: Check out a Non-Fiction from the 300's. (394 Kelley)

This book takes the reader back in history and shows how the "Halloween" traditions have changed over the years.

From the Pagan Samhain to the American holiday of Halloween and how the religious wars and witch trials made a huge impact on how this is celebrated.

Some of the older traditions are still alive in some areas, but it is very changed from the original ways.

[Gabriela Silva · Rating 1 out of 5]

You'd learn more and truer things about Halloween by reading the Wikipedia page on it.

At some point the author states that "Beltaine" comes from "Baal's Fire", which… wtf. Wtff. I found this book in a cardboard box for free, and I'm gonna go put it back now. If Halloween is your favourite festivity, do yourself a favour and read a better source.

[Brannigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot. It gives a brief history of the holiday Halloween. It’s pagan roots and how Catholicism changed it to what we know today. Granted the book was written in the early 20th century so it’s still antiquated. It’s very brief and only deals with England and a bit of France and America.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

🖋️ Curiously assembled book on the origins of Halloween, including fantasies about paganism being absconded and blended into Christianity. Illustrated in black and white.
📙 This book was published in 1918.
🟢The e-book version can be found on Project Gutenberg.
🔷●▬●🔶●🔶●▬●🔷

[Miss Syreena]

Old collection of Halloween folklore, poems, customs, and superstitions. Although it’s certainly interesting to revisit this 100-year old book, modern readers may be offended by the outdated content.

[Christopher Nilsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The origins of Halloween plus some weird Halloween customs I had never heard of before. Overall a pretty good book. Especially the beginning of the book where the origins of Halloween in Celtic cultures of Ireland, Britain, and parts of France are recounted.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is often off-topic, discussing matters that have little or nothing to do with Halloween.

The narrative structure makes for an awkward read, and for the most part I struggled to concentrate.

Not very engaging.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about the origins of Halloween.

[Sarah Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting info, but presented in a strange order. I can also do without the racism. Only recommended for complete Halloween buffs like me.