NOAA Teacher at Sea
Karolyn Braun
Onboard NOAA Ship Ka’imimoana
October 4 – 28, 2006
Mission: Tropical Atmosphere Ocean Buoy Array Maintenance
Geographical Area: American Samoa
Date: October 31, 2006
Plan of the Day: Transit to Kwajalein, RMI; Science Wrap-up meeting; Celebrate Halloween.
Did you know Halloween originated as a Pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain with Irish, Scots, Welsh and other immigrants transporting versions of the tradition to North America in the 19th century? Most other Western countries have embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late 20th century. The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe’en, is shortened from All-hallowsevening, as it is the evening before “All Hallows’ Day” (also known as “All Saints’ Day”). The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints Day to November 1.
Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when spirits can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent (e.g. Catalan mythology about witches, Irish tales of the Sídhe). The American tradition of “trick-or-treating” dates back to the All Souls’ Day parades in England. During this time, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes.” They gave them these cakes if they promised to pray for their dead family members.
Handing out soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as “going a-souling” was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money. Today, they receive candy instead. So there you have it!
So the day began as usual with breakfast, a work out, and helping the officers on board create their costumes. Then I went down to the galley and made Halloween cookies, cupcakes and caramel apples with Don and Carrie, the Stewards. During the afternoon, I packed some then Phoebe, Rebecca and I dressed up for dinner and a little fun of handing out candy to everyone onboard. A good time had by all!
