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 Why do we Celebrate Halloween? |
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| Towards the end of October, most of us start planning for the last day of the month. October 31 is synonymous to fun and enjoyment with a tint of haunt! The last day of October is all about tricking and treating. It is about parties and pumpkins! It’s about Halloween! But why do we celebrate Halloween?
Here’s the answer. Halloween finds its roots in the ancient Celtic festival called ‘Samhain’. In Gaelic culture, samhain marks the end of the harvest season. Gaels believed that the boundary between the live and the dead dissolved on October 31 and that the dead harmed the living world. People wore costumes and masks and lit bonfires. This was an attempt to emulate the evil and appease them.
Why is the name ‘Halloween’?
The term Halloween is an abbreviated form of ‘All-hallow-even’ because it is the All Hallows’ Day. It is also known as the All Saints’ Day. It was regarded as a religious day of the European Pagan culture. Pope Gregory III and Gregory IV shifted the Christian Feast of the All Saints’ Day to November 1. Today, All Saints’ Day follows Halloween. But during the 9th century, both of them were celebrated on the same day! Till 1970, people used to fast on that day.
Halloween Celebration
A carved pumpkin with a candle inside makes up a lantern. This Halloween pumpkin symbolizes the Stingy Jack of Ireland. He was a greedy, old farmer. The farmer had once tricked a devil and trapped him. In revenge the devil cursed Jack. According to the curse, Jack was condemned to roam on earth at night. Pumpkins are carved into comical or fearful faces and placed at doorsteps of houses in the dark. Originally carved pumpkins were associated with harvest in America. But by the late 19th century, they began to bear an association with the Halloween. Black and orange are regarded as the traditional colors of Halloween. Black color is linked with death, witches, fear and silence while the orange color is associated with pumpkins, autumn and fire.
There are many games played on the occasion of Halloween. One of them is bobbing for apples, which involves lifting apples without the use of hands. There is another interesting game in which a blindfolded person chooses a plate from several others. The food in the plate chosen determines his life ahead. It was a custom in North America to seat an unmarried woman in front of a mirror in a dark room. It was believed that her prospective husband would appear in the form of an image in the mirror. A skull seen would mean that she would die before marriage. Relating ghost stories and watching horror films was practiced during the Halloween parties.
In Ireland, people dress up like creatures from the underworld. According to a tradition in Ireland, a ring is placed in a cake at the time of baking. Whoever gets the ring is sure to find his/her love in that year. For the whole of the month that precedes Halloween, fireworks are set off. Bambrack is important in the Irish tradition. It consists of different things baked into bread. It was used for fortune telling.
In Scotland, houses were protected with candle lanterns. If the evil spirits got past the lanterns, it was a custom to leave the house and spare it for the spirits for one year. Children were dressed as creatures to protect them from the evil. Halloween originated from the harvest festival. So, all the traditions revolved around food and fertility.
Halloween began to be celebrated in England from the late 20th century when the American culture deeply influenced the English. Ghost stories and bonfires remain a part of the Halloween in England.
Halloween post cards and catalogs popularized Halloween celebrations. Trick-or-Treating received an impetus when people promised to gift the trick-or-treaters with candies. Halloween is prevalent in other countries like Netherlands and Australia due to influences of the American media.
One of the primary reasons behind the Halloween celebration is the harvest festival. Warding off the evils in many different ways remains another important reason behind Halloween. In many cultures, certain Halloween customs are related to understanding of the future. Thus the fear of the evils of today and eagerness to see tomorrow underlie Halloween. It is human psychology and tendencies of the human mind that in some way dictate traditions.
By Manali Oak : Buzzle.com
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