What is Halloween and how to celebrate it?
Most of you heard of this event celebrated around the world each year. However, this article will help you to know in detail about it within this short-glimpse!
Ancient View and Origin
Halloween event has roots in ancient Gaelic and Celtic nations. The Gaels are the native to Ireland, Scotland, and to the north-west of Europe, while Celtic are Indo-European peoples. The establishment of different cultures prior to the development of today’s modern Europe amalgamated different cultures in the pre-Europe period. So, cultural norms and festivities established concurrently in that region.
The Halloween event most likely thought to be originated from Samhain, an event specifically celebrated after the harvesting of crops. The original dates are 31st October-1st November in Gaelic peoples as the dark part of the year started or at the beginning of winter. However, according to some historians, Halloween is solely belonging to the Christian festival.
The word Halloween emerged in 1745 and is of Christian Origin. The actual word is “Hallowe and en” meaning “Saints evening”. It is a Scottish term evolved and contracted from “All Hallows Eve” to Halloween.
Why Halloween Day is celebrated?
Halloween day is celebrated in the Commemoration of the dead, saints (hallows), and martyrs in different ways. Bonfires, parades, and costumes of saints, angels, and devils are donned by people. People visit cemeteries of their loved ones, lit candles, and place flowers over graves.
Halloween Activities
Halloween day is celebrated by a group of all ages, more prominently by children and teenagers. Saying prayers, offering good food, playing different kinds of games, and remembering the old ones are among major hallmarks of activities.
Games
There are several games those are linked to Halloween either traditionally or historically. Some games emerged from rituals and beliefs of the communities like “divination games”. It involves forecasting about the future, commonly practiced as a household activity in Britain and Ireland.
“Apple bobbing” or “dunking” also called “dooking” is a popular game among children during Halloween. The tub is filled with water and apples float over the surface. The participants of the game are advised to pick apples by their teeth only as hands tighten around their backs. Some pinch in the apple with their mouth holding the folks, a variation of dunking. While eating of hanging syrup-coated baked products also popular, that ends with a sticky mouth as the use of hands is prohibited. Another popular game is the wooden rod hanged from the ceiling, with one end candle and another end apple. The rod is rotated and everyone tries with their teeth to catch the apple.
Trick-or-Treating
Trick or treat is a common tradition celebrated on Halloween day by children. They go door to door and say “trick or treat”, trick commonly refers to a threatening act of mischief to the property or house if treat, such as candies or sweets not provided.
Guising
Children disguise themselves in costumes and go door to door for food and coins, a common tradition in Scotland and Ireland. The guiding costumes include dresses, hats (witches’ hats), lanterns made up of scooped pumpkins. Fearful face art is also very common and becoming popular among children, teenagers, and adults.
Astonishing ways of fortune-telling
Forecasting one’s future is more common, specifically about one’s partner or spouse. There are several approaches to predictions. Apple is peeled and a long strip of it is placed at the person's shoulder when he moved the peeled part fall and believed to show the first letter name of a future partner for that person.
Another way, the two-hazelnuts roasted over the fire, for one who is roasting and the other for the desired one. If nuts roasted quietly, it believed as a good fortune while moving away from heating considered to be as bad.
The salty bannock (a kind of bread), if a person eats in three bites and goes to bed, it is believed that future spouses will come in a dream to remove thirst. An unmarried woman is advised to sit in a dark room in front of a mirror to see the gaze of his partner, if skull-shaped appeared, it meant they are destined to die before marriage.
Items finding like ring indicates marriage and coin finding as a sign of wealthiness is a well-attributed activity among adults. In Britain, Scotland, and Wales, Halloween bonfire also used as forecasting. The stones are thrown in ashes, and next morning checked, if any stone misplaced from its location, it means that the person will not live out more than a year
Haunted attractions
Ghost stories telling and watching horror movies are more common on Halloween. Visit haunted houses, corn maze, and hayride are also among engaging activities in which adults and older ones also got involved. Scary parties are also arranged in theme parks, that become so popular and played a major role in quickly globalizing Halloween day.
Halloween Foods
Western Christian and traditions encourage abstinence from meat and prefer vegetarian food on Halloween day. Apple and hazelnuts are of supreme importance, as in Celtic mythology apple indicates “Immortality or otherworld”, while hazelnuts regarded as a sign of “divine wisdom”.
However, there are several kinds of soft cakes, supplemented with different delectable desserts and sweets gains special interest on this occasion such as:
• Barmbrack (Ireland)
• Bonfire toffee (Great Britain)
• Candy apples/toffee apples (Great Britain and Ireland)
• Candy apples, candy corn, candy pumpkins (North America)
• Chocolate
• Monkey nuts (peanuts in their shells) (Ireland and Scotland)
• Caramel apples
• Caramel corn
• Colcannon (Ireland)
• Halloween cake
• Novelty candy shaped like skulls, pumpkins, bats, worms, etc.
• Roasted pumpkin seeds
• Roasted sweet corn
• Soul cakes
• Pumpkin Pie
Halloween Symbols and Meanings
In actual, different symbols have emerged since ancient times of the Samhain event. The symbols show the harvesting seasons ends, misfortunes, evils, immortality, death, coming of dark and winter, scary birds and animals, crafted fruits, supernatural illustrations like ghosts, and witches.
Some of the common symbols of Halloween are depicted
below:
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