Ancient traditions combine with modern fun as Southeast New Brunswick celebrates Halloween.

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Margaret Patricia Eaton

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For most of us, the word Halloween conjures images of carved pumpkin faces glowing in the dark and dressing up as witches and ghosts, going door to door, trick or treating, while Mom or Dad stood discreetly at the end of the neighbours' driveways.

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But Halloween is more than jack o'lanterns and a day-after sugar high. Depending on your point of view, it's a significant religious date, a cause for concern and extra policing, a huge commercial opportunity, and/or a chance for adults as well as kids to just have fun.

The date, October 31, marks the exact midpoint between the autumn equinox (September 21) and the winter solstice (December 21) and was known as Samhain to the ancient Celts who lived in Ireland and Scotland. This Celtic New Year was the end of autumn and the beginning of winter; the time to gather the harvest and bring cattle in from the fields.

In addition to Samhain being a harvest festival, the Celts believed the border between this world and the "other" world became thin, allowing spirits to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured with feasting around a bonfire, while harmful spirits were warded off by wearing costumes and masks as a disguise. More elaborate rituals were developed by the priests or Druids.

The early church accommodated the Celtic beliefs, turning their holidays into Christian ones around the year 600 A.D., so Samhain became All Saints Day on November 1, honouring departed saints and the evening before was therefore "hallowed"; hence Halloween. Nevertheless, some of the old ways persisted, recognizable in popular Halloween traditions.

In addition, there are practitioners of Wicca, who observe Samhain as a sacred event. According to the most recent 2001 Census, 65 Canadians identified their religion as Wiccan, but a source from Nova Scotia, herself a serious practitioner of Wicca, puts the number much higher, in the tens of thousands. Eager to dispel uneducated notions about Wicca, the woman, who doesn't wish to be identified, says she tells people, "No, we do not dance around nude, this IS Nova Scotia after all and it's cold and there's blackflies! We do not cast spells on people, so we won't make that slut leave your boyfriend alone. It's a religion, not a hobby. And we don't worship the devil, because we don't believe in him."

By mid-twentieth century, Halloween had evolved into an opportunity for mischief and vandalism. If anyone in 2009 refers to the "good old days of their youth" when Halloween was safer and calmer, Constable Ralph Currie, a 33-year veteran with the Fredericton Police Force, disagrees.

"Times have changed, for the better," he says. "In the 1970s and '80s, property damage and arson was much more prevalent. We put on an entire extra shift and patrolled with four officers to a car. They had to deal with some unpleasant events including roadblocks of burning tires and Molotov cocktails. Things are much better now."

Currie credits this change to a number of initiatives, including the Auxiliary Police, Neighbourhood Watch programs and crime prevention education programs in the schools.

"Often people do things not realizing the seriousness of their actions and the ensuing consequences. Our officers explain to young people that egging someone's property, or spraying painting it, is property damage, making it a criminal act for which they can be charged. All of these programs, along with assistance from HAM radio operators, has given us a tremendous advantage in ensuring a safe holiday for everyone."

It was also back in the 1970s and 80s that some truly evil things occurred, such as poison stirred into homemade fudge and razor blades inserted into apples. The media played a big role in public awareness, resulting in common sense rules most adults have grown up with and now tell their children. Don't eat anything unless it's sealed in its original wrapper and don't eat it if the wrapper has been tampered with.

Perhaps it was this that led to the commercialization of Halloween. No more homemade brown sugar fudge and no more caramel apples equals cartons of potato chips and cans of pop. The bottom line here is lots of money for McCain's, Coca Cola and all the other companies that help you stock up with goodies for the inevitable knock at the door, once dusk falls on October 31.

The Retail Council of Canada agrees that Halloween is big business and accounts for $1.5 billion in sales. That's a lot of pop and chips, wigs and makeup. British Columbians are the biggest spenders, totaling up to $77 per person, while we in Atlantic Canada come in at the low end with only $52 per person. Walmart Canada lists Halloween as the fourth busiest shopping season of the year, after Christmas, back-to-school, and Mother's Day. Two-thirds of young adults will don a costume and some will dress up their dogs as well, so pooch may appear as a flying winged monkey to accompany the Wicked Witch of the West, straight from the Land of Oz.

Halloween is also one of the busiest times of the year for Lloyd's of Moncton, New Brunswick's largest party supply and costume rental business, which draws customers from Fredericton and Saint John, and accounts for 10 per cent of their retail business.

Among the over 3,000 costumes in stock, there are, of course, a few witches and ghostie-goblins, but they are no longer the most sought after.

"People want superheroes, like Superman and Supergirl, Batman and Spiderman," owner-manager Brenda MacAulay explains. "Themed house parties are popular. We have clients looking to dress as pirates, cowboys, or flower children from the hippie generation. Then there's a demand for Hawaiian, Medieval, international, or movie themed costumes and we have them all."

Although Lloyds do stock some masks, including the Flintstones and David Letterman, MacAulay says, "Make-up is the best way to go. There are safety considerations with masks and since 9/1l, most downtown clubs won't allow you to enter if they can't see your face.

"It's the one day adults can dress up and be whatever they want to be," MacAulay says, "Personalities change, even the shyest people have fun."

From Celtic traditions to downtown party central, it sounds as if those ancient people recognized a good thing. With so much going on it's a challenge to fit it all in.

You can get started early in Fredericton by joining the Haunted Hike, a lantern-lit tour of old haunted neighbourhoods, leaving the Coach House, at 9:15 p.m. beginning Monday October 26 continuing to Halloween on Saturday. If you do it on a week night, you can still fit in Murder at Homecoming, a 1980s-themed prom murder mystery, dinner/dance at the Delta Fredericton on Friday, October 30 from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

This will leave Halloween night open, so you can take in An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion with David Copperfield, who has been hailed by critics and audiences alike as "the greatest illusionist of our time." He'll be doing two shows at The Moncton Coliseum, one at 6 p.m. and the other at 9 p.m.

If you go to the early Copperfield show, you'll just barely have time to hop on a broomstick and fly to the Saint John Marina where the Voyageur II 2nd Annual Halloween Haunted Cruise is leaving at 9 p.m. for a two hour cruise on the Saint John River. The menu will include witch's fingers bread stix, bone crunch meat balls, a platter of tasty eyeball confections and other ghastly gourmand delights, along with ghoul-aid from a Frankenstein punch bowl. For your entertainment, there'll be a live band, door prizes and games.

You'll be back in Saint John at 11 p.m., just in time to head on down to the club scene. Check [here] listings for more Halloween happenings in your city.