Halloween is a favorite fall holiday! Is it Vegan? By Sharon L. Wallenberg

We all love the crisp Autumn weather, the bright orange pumpkins, clear blue skies, and crisp fall apples!  But where did Halloween originate and is it a vegan holiday?

Halloween is a contraction of All Hallows’ evening, and is the celebration observed on October 31, the evening before the Christian feast of All Saints Day, November 1.  This is the liturgical time of the year dedicated to remembering the deceased, including all saints, martyrs, and the faithful departed. 

Many Halloween traditions have been influenced by harvest festivals, particularly the ancient Celtic Harvest festival, Samhain.  This Gaelic festival which originally had pagan roots and was Christianized as All Hallows Day by the early Church.

Originally many Christians abstained from eating meat on All Hallows’ Eve and chose instead certain vegetarian foods such as potato pancakes, soul cakes and apples.  These soul cakes were traditionally given out to children who would go from door to door and are the origins of the modern tradition of Trick or Treat.  Every soul cake eaten was believed to represent a soul freed from Purgatory - a place of purification or temporary punishment for souls to be made ready for Heaven.

Trick or Treat For UNICEF, an idea started by the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, is a way for children in the developed nations to share their Halloween bounty with children in dire circumstances.  It not only benefits children at risk but also teaches the happy Trick or Treaters the important concept of sharing with others who are in need.

There are recipes for vegan soul cakes – in fact, I am publishing one in my next book.  Pumpkin pie and other pumpkin treats can be made vegan, and apples - a fall favorite - are always vegan!  Enjoy your vegan Autumn and Halloween!

 

"A Plant-Based Lifestyle For You And the Planet"

 

“A Plant-Based Lifestyle for You and the Planet” by Author Sharon L. Wallenberg will help you explore alternative ways of living, ones that are more healthful for individuals, more beneficial to others, including planet Earth.  It will educate on the basics of Nutrition, how dietary choices affect the human body for better or worse, how those choices affect unseen others in the developing nations, as well as the global issues we face today.  It will show how to live a fuller life, without contemporary illness, dissatisfactions, and emptiness, a life that includes not just health, but happiness and purpose, one that is lived with courage and conviction, is meaningful and enjoyable and includes the satisfaction of knowing that your life makes a difference for many more besides yourself.  It is called the Plant-Based (Vegan) Lifestyle.   It is about compassion, not just diet.  It is a Lifestyle that not only involves diet, exercise, and health and making the world a better place, not only for people, but for the billions of other inhabitants we share this planet with.  It is about providing simple solutions to complex global issues.  What I am suggesting is that we go beyond ourselves to create a better world with a Plant-Based Lifestyle.

 

A Must Read! Sharon Leontine Wallenberg

“A Plant-Based Lifestyle for You and the Planet” is a new book just published by Author, Sharon Leontine Wallenberg.  It is available for purchase on Amazon.  This book will help you explore alternative ways of living, ones that are more healthful for the individual, and more beneficial to others, including planet Earth.  It will educate the reader on the basics of Nutrition, how dietary choices affect the human body for better or worse, how those choices affect unseen others in the developing nations, as well as affect the global issues we face today, including global warming, deforestation, rising waters and others.  The book also explores how governments influence dietary choices, and who benefits from this manipulation, which is usually not the consumer.  It explains the dynamics of pandemics, their causes, their unpublicized consequences, and how they can be avoided.  It is a great read, both informative and entertaining, and written for all readers.