By Laurie Siblock
During
the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church competed with Samhain by launching a trio
of Christian holidays known as Hollowmas. October 31 became All Hallows’ Eve,
then later Halloween, November 1 became All Saint’s Day, and November 2, All
Souls’ Day, was named to honour the dead who were non-saints. Rather than
offering sacrifices for the dead as the Celts had done, the faithful were
encouraged to offer “soul cakes”. A soul
cake is a small round cake which was made for All Souls’ Day to
celebrate the dead. The cakes, referred to as “souls”, were given out to
“soulers” (mostly children and the poor) who went from door to door on All
Hallows’ Eve singing and saying prayers for the dead. Each cake eaten
represents a soul being freed from Purgatory. The practice of giving and eating
soul cakes is often seen as the origin of modern trick-or-treating.
To go
“A-Souling”, this All Hallows’ Eve, when you go door to door, instead of “Trick
or Treat” say this excerpt of a rhyme from a traditional soul cake song:
A soul! a soul! a soul-cake!
Please good Missis, a soul-cake!
An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry,
Any good thing to make us all merry.
Laurie Siblock is the Assistant Manager at Lang Pioneer Village Museum. Her role in the Village, beginning in 2006, involves crafting special events and working with special projects like the Jacquard Loom Project and Aabnaabin Camp, a First Nations encampment circa 1825 developed in partnership with Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations. She is also a member of the Kawartha Truth and Reconciliation Support Group. When not at Lang Pioneer Village, she can be found with her nose in a book, often related to First Nation history and social justice, or working away in her fibre art studio.
