Trick-Or-Treat: Halloween

The season for little ghosts and goblins to take to the streets, asking for candy and scaring one another silly is around the corner. Spooky stories are told around fires, scary movies appear in theaters and pumpkins are expertly carved into jack-o'-lanterns, and what not??? Just think evil you will get it!

TRADITION

Celebrated each year on October 31, Halloween has roots in age-old European traditions. It originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the 18th century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints; soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating and carving jack-o-lanterns. Around the world, as days grow shorter and nights get colder, people continue to usher in the season with gatherings, costumes, and sweet treats.

HISTORY

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.
This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31st, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.
When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that are practiced today on Halloween.

TRICK-OR-TREAT

Following the legacy and dress up in costumes and going house to house asking for food or money, is today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition. Young women believed that on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors.
Small-small children form groups and run around the streets, knocking neighbors doors asking
"Trick-or-treat" is familiar...

SOUL CAKES

The American Halloween tradition of “trick-or-treating” probably dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives.
On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits.
On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

BLACK CATS

Black cats are often regarded as vehicles or shadows of witches and magicians.Halloween has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic, and superstition. It began as a Celtic end-of-summer festival during which people felt especially close to deceased relatives and friends. For these friendly spirits, they set places at the dinner table, left treats on doorsteps and along the side of the road and lit candles to help loved ones find their way back to the spirit world.

Today’s Halloween ghosts are often depicted as more fearsome and malevolent, and our customs and superstitions are scarier too. We avoid crossing paths with black cats, afraid that they might bring us bad luck. This idea has its roots in the Middle Ages when many people believed that witches avoided detection by turning themselves into black cats.

HALLOWEEN AND INDIA

Most of you must be thinking that why isn't Halloween celebrated in India? Well, it is not that Halloween isn't celebrated in our country, there are private parties organized at many places and in some streets in Pondicherry and Goa, the festival is celebrated but without much involvement of masses. In India, we feel that we have many festivals listed to celebrate already, moreover, we people in India are not that much interested in Foreign festivals and customs.
Here are some funny yet true facts: Why Halloween is not celebrated in India... Click Here

P.S.:  I personally wrote this post just because I was reading about it and I found it really fascinating and interesting. And maybe because of my childhood love for this festival.