The Geography of Halloween

(And Review for Exam)

Critical Thinking

What kinds of push and pull factors caused the ancient Celts to migrate from central Europe?

Samhain

Three day Celtic festival marking end of harvest

Ritual offerings, bonfires

Slaughter of animals

Celts Christianized by Romans

Critical Thinking

What kind of diffusion resulted in the Celts becoming Christians and church dictates that changed Celtic practices?

All Soul’s Day

Samhain seen as evil pagan festival

Replaced by All Soul’s Day (Nov. 2)

A day to honor and commemorate dead

Critical Thinking

What happens to the crude death rate in each stage of the demographic transition model?

But pagan traditions endure…

Dead are said to rise and seek food/comfort from living

Many leave offerings to the dead, especially food

Pour milk or honey on graves of departed

Critical Thinking

The number of deaths per 1,000 live births is know as the…?

All Soul’s Day

Nov. 1 is All Saints DayAlso known as “All Hallows Day”Evening before (October 31) is “All Hallows Eve”

“Hallow Even”Halloween!

Critical Thinking

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, many Irish worked in England as laborers and farm hands. The money they sent back to families in Ireland is known as …?

Carving Pumpkins

Irish and Scottish children would carry “Neepy Candles”

These were lanterns carved out of a root vegetable

There were no pumpkins in the Old World, so they used…

Neeps

What’s a neep?

It’s also a swede

Or a rutabaga…

Critical Thinking

Speaking of root vegetables, what is physiological population density?

What was Malthus’ point about food production?

Jack O’Lantern

Irish fableStingy Jack and the Devil Reinforces idea of dead between heaven and hell

Critical Thinking

If Stingy Jack were around today and forced to wander without a place to call home, what category of refugee would he be?

Critical Thinking

Thinking of root vegetables again, what was a major push factor for Irish emigration in the 1840s?

What do you think happened to Ireland’s population pyramid as a result of this?

Halloween in the USA

Irish and Scottish immigrants keep some traditions

Not commercially celebrated until 1930s

6th most profitable American holiday for US corporations

Trick-or-Treating

In Scotland known as “guising”Children dress as ghosts and witches

Receive candy for good deeds

No Tricks!That’s an American thing

Critical Thinking

Trick-or-treating is considered what type of population movement?

What is the space called that a person forms through cyclical movement?

Day of the Dead

Celebration of lives of departed

People dress as skeletons

Combines European and Native customs

Critical Thinking

Compare and contrast the leading causes of death in Sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe?