Halloween Masks and the History of Halloween

By far and away the most popular use of masks today, loosely but definitely within the drama arena, is for the annual ritual of Halloween, and most of all within the US.

The evening of the 31st October has long been celebrated in Church circles as the eve of All Saints' Day and is properly known as All-hallow-even. Originally, in pre-Christian Britain, this was New year's Eve. Basically it's a Vigil for the morrow's Feast commemorating all the saints and martyrs, who originally had no specific public recognition in the form of their own feast day, and was finally instituted in its current form in the 9th century. Subsequently the 2nd November was dedicated to all the other holy souls who have made it to Heaven, but not been canonised as saints - All Souls Day.

All-hallow-even or All Hallows Eve became in addition the secularised Halloween, deriving from its Celtic and Gaelic roots in Britain. This now includes a tradition permitting children a chance to "trick or treat" - to visit houses, carrying a jack-o-lantern (a pumpkin carved to resemble a diabolical face and having a lit candle within it), to demand a treat. If the treat is not forthcoming, tradition allows the children to play a trick on the householder.