{"id":10881,"date":"2017-10-31T09:36:22","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T09:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/?p=10881"},"modified":"2024-03-15T04:58:06","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T04:58:06","slug":"halloween-spooky-festival-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/halloween-spooky-festival-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Halloween the spooky festival it is today?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Halloween (a contraction of Hallowe\u2019en \u2013 All Hallows\u2019 evening), also known as All Saints\u2019 Eve, is a festival celebrated by kids all around the world; dressing up and going trick-or-treating is a custom that has spread to different countries. Even in India, today, kids have begun celebrating Halloween and taking part in the various activities Halloween entails \u2013 spooking up their houses, dressing up and challenging each other to enter houses or areas that are believed to be haunted<\/a>. However, not many people are aware of how this festival came to be what it is today. Why is Halloween the spooky festival it is today?<\/p>\n

The History of Halloween<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Samhain-Ritual-01\"<\/p>\n

The Halloween that we celebrate today is an Americanized version of a British Celtic celebration. The pagan festival, Samhain, translating to \u2018Summer\u2019s end\u2019, celebrates the end of the harvest cycle. It was believed that this was a time when the walls between the world of spirits and ours became thin, and spirits could come through and destroy their crops. As a result, the Gaels tried to appease them with food and drink and even set them a spot at the dining table; bonfires were lit to ward off spirits that were evil.<\/p>\n

The Origin of the Costumes and Trick-or-Treating<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Celts dressed up in white with blackened faces in order to trick the evil spirits that they believed would roam the Earth of All Saints\u2019 Day \u2013 November 1st<\/sup>. By the ca. 11th<\/sup> century, the Church had made this a tradition called \u2018souling\u2019 where all the children dressed up as demons, saints and angels and went door to door asking for soul cakes in exchange for them praying for the inhabitant\u2019s souls. By the 19th<\/sup> century, instead of giving them prayers, the kids offered jokes or recitals in exchange for sweets.<\/p>\n

\"EventPhotoFull_Trick-or-Treat_Blue_2\"<\/p>\n

The idea of \u2018trick-or-treat\u2019 first originated in America in 1927 when the tradition was adopted by American immigrants and threatening pranks were offered when sweets were denied.<\/p>\n

The Act of Pumpkin Carving<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Gaels, during Samhain, would carve turnips to ward off evil spirits. The term \u201cJack O\u2019Lantern\u201d originated in America from the folklore Stingy Jack<\/a> that told the story of Jack, who fooled a devil into buying him a drink. After his death, he was not allowed into heaven or hell and the devil threw him a burning ember which Jack kept in a turnip.<\/p>\n

\"pumpkin\"<\/p>\n

In the 1840\u2019s the Irish immigrants in America faced a dearth of turnips to carve and hence used the more easily acquired pumpkins to continue the tradition instead.<\/p>\n

Spooky Halloween Traditions From Around the World<\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. \n

    Obon<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Obon is a solemn festival of lanterns celebrated in Japan in the month of August, despite being in conjunction with Halloween. People light paper lanterns for their deceased friends and family and leave it afloat in the river waters in order to illuminate the way for the dead.<\/p>\n

    \"obon\"<\/p>\n

    A version of this festival is celebrated in Korea as well where people take food or different offerings to the tombs of their deceased and thank them for their lives.<\/p>\n

    In China, Teng Chieh \u2013 the feast of the hungry ghosts, entails lighting of lanterns to guide the dead. Food is placed in front of the portraits of the deceased in order to fatten them up before the cold winters hit.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      Barmbrack<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Barmbrack is perhaps the cruellest of Halloween traditions, followed closely by trick-or-treating. Instead of treating people with pranks, this Irish tradition forces them to ingest a cake concoction containing muslin wrapped thing intended to predict the future. Similar to the Mardi Gras King Cake, the Barmbrack is thought to predict wealth, love or loneliness in the life of the eater.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \n

        Day of the Dead<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The Mexican custom of Dia de los Muertos is a famous Halloween tradition. It is celebrated on November 2nd<\/sup>, the day after the Day of the Innocents (Dia de los Inocentes). Shrines are constructed in remembrance of the dead and offered to them along with a huge feast.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. \n

          Yue Lan<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          In Hong Kong, the Festival of Hungry Ghosts, Yue Lan, is celebrated differently from China\u2019s. Instead of lighting lanterns, people torch money and food instead as it is believed to be a way to pass these on to the world of the dead. Items for the dead such as food, photographs, clothing, money \u2013 anything that will give them comfort, is torched and often thrown into a bonfire.<\/p>\n

          \"yue\"<\/p>\n

          So if you are a sceptic and doubt the existence of spirits, Halloween is the best time to stay on the lookout for one. Take a trip to India\u2019s most haunted locations<\/a> and experience what could be a life-altering spiritual encounter.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Halloween (a contraction of Hallowe\u2019en \u2013 All Hallows\u2019 evening), also known as All Saints\u2019 Eve, is a festival celebrated by kids all around the world; dressing up and going trick-or-treating is a custom that has spread to different countries. Even in India, today, kids have begun celebrating Halloween and taking part in the various activities…<\/p>\n

          Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":10887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[134],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10881"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10881"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20007,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10881\/revisions\/20007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingholidays.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}