What is Halloween?
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Category: Reference: Dates
Halloween has always been fun. Children dress up in fancy dress and go round the neighborhood soliciting sweets with the refrain, “Trick or treat!” October 31st is eagerly looked forward to by adults and children all over America but the tradition that actually gave rise to the festival is vague.
A little history
According to the Catholic Church, October 31st marks All Hallows Day or All Saints Day. The same date is also associated with the Roman conquest of the Celts in 43 AD. The Roman then incorporated several of the local Celtic customs into their legion of gods and traditions. The Celts also contributed many of the customs that are part of the modern day traditions. The Celts believed that spirits were released from bondage on All Saints Day. They were free to roam the land of the living and to communicate with them or even trouble them. As a result, they believed that bribing the spirits with food and sweets could soothe their anger and drive them away happy. In order to keep the spirits away, they would set up bonfires, carved vegetable lanterns, and even sacrificed animals to keep the spirits away. The next major influence on the celebration of Halloween was by the European immigrants who carried several customs from Europe.
The Irish too contributed their traditions by adding fireworks, bobbing for apples, telling ghost stories around the bonfire, and dropping of forks on apples without touching them with the hands. Later on the poor would go around to rich households on the day asking for food or alms. In the latter years, it was children who carried out the same ritual. However, Pope Gregory III was extremely unhappy with the pagan belief associated with the date and he decided to separate the underlying pagan beliefs from the Church by shifting the date of All Saints Day to November 1st. But the festivities for the All Saints Day started from the day before and October 31st is still celebrated as the start of All Saints Day or Halloween. Over the years several more traditions were incorporated into the same date to create the modern celebration of Halloween.
Vandalism or fun?
In this decade, Halloween has become increasingly commercialized with TV and media making Halloween, the second best commercial holiday with an annual income of over $6.9 billion. Watching horror movies, hosting trick or treat parties, costume events and even haunted theme parks are all favorite activities during the festival. Children are allowed to dress up as ghosts or costume characters and then knock on doors asking for treats with the phrase, “Trick or treat.” Most houses do have candy for the visitors but those houses which do not have candy are likely to be subjected to nasty tricks like dog turds in a flaming paper bag or even toilet paper festoons all over the house. Teenagers were also more likely to deface public property by carrying out pranks like soaping cars, tipping over garbage cans and breaking down postboxes. But over the years, vandalism has gone down and you are more likely to see children escorted by adults going round neighborhoods asking for candy. Safety is always a concern in large neighborhoods where gang activity and stranger traffic is higher. The latest trend is for schools and neighborhoods to hold block parties where entire families can dress up in costumes and enjoy the festival safely without any threat of vandalism and danger. Stores and businesses have masquerade parties and costume dances for teenagers and even adults. A few pranks are inevitable but Halloween is fun for everyone.
