We eat candy on Halloween because of “soul cakes” — a sweet treat used to distract ghosts in the Middle Ages.
Halloween was largely Catholicized around the Middle Ages – and so were the sweets.
Around 1200 – in places like Britain, Ireland, and Germany – “soul cakes” rose in popularity. Made of expensive spices like saffron and currant, these cakes were meant to both honor and distract roaming ghosts on October 31.
As time went on, beggars would walk around door-to-door asking for “soul cakes” from the wealthy, offering to pray for their dead relatives in return. But instead of saying “trick or treat,” they’d say: “A soul cake, a soul cake, have mercy on all Christian souls for a soul cake!”
