A comprehensive guide to the meaning and origins of Halloween
An explanation for spooky festivities
By Cazzy Lewchuk, Staff Writer
Halloween is one of the largest and most celebrated holidays in North America. In fact, Halloween is the second-largest holiday in terms of celebration and money spent, right after Christmas—transacting business of an estimated $1 billion in Canada and another $8 billion in the U.S. As early as August, retailers fill their shelves with all sorts of chocolates and candies, pumpkins, costumes, and decorations to bring to life, the night of October 31. Children usually go door-to-door dressed in costumes seeking candies and other goodies, while their older counterparts dress up and spend the night drinking and having
…show more content…
While usually, the origins and combinations of festivals are widely debated, it is generally agreed that this holiday comes from a primarily Christian approach. From the eve of October 31 to November 2 is a period of time during which Western Christians remember the faithfully departed souls—particularly their recognized martyrs and saints. In the beginning it was known as “All Hallow’s Eve,” eventually linguistically contracted to “Halloween.” Celebrations to remember the dead are common across many cultures, with the specific time of year often moved to coincide with this Christian ritual. The night of October 31 was traditionally thought to be the time when the afterlife came close to the actual world—and the recognition of the supernatural became the horror-themed celebration as we know today. An unrelated pagan ritual known as “Samhain” is also traditionally celebrated on the night of October 31, which marks the end of harvest. Eventually in the 19th and 20th century, the holidays merged—although it is still questioned to what extent paganism has influenced …show more content…
the unsafe practices and vandalism, go back as far as the origin of celebration itself. In 1912, the Boy Scouts of America put out a deceleration, encouraging safe practices and discouraging vandalism for all on Halloween night. Today, smashed pumpkins, toilet papering, or destroyed decorations are just some of the procedures that often occur on the holiday. Some places even celebrate “Mischief Night” on October 30—also known as “Cabbage” “Devil's” “or “Gate Night”—in which pranks are common and encouraged. The practice of tricking the night before the treating is very regional—being common in some areas and almost unheard of in others. Emergency services are quite busy with the amount of celebration happening, especially with the amount of alcohol often consumed. Lack of visibility, costume props with sharp edges, and running around at night also lead to accidents. Communities often encourage controlled and harm-reducing Halloween activities for increased safety, and generally it is adults and teenagers who are more likely to be injured than children.
In addition, the concept of poisoned or razor-blade Halloween candy is widely regarded to be a myth. There are no documented cases of strangers intentionally harming children through
Today I will be talking about the holiday we call Halloween. Halloween is where we all dress up in costumes and get candy from houses on the thirty first of October. Here are three things about halloween. First, I am going to be talking the history of halloween.
Food is a big/major factor within both holidays, which is one of their similarities. On the night of Halloween, you go from door to door in costume in hopes of getting different kinds of candies and treats. Popular candies that you may consume on halloween are ¨Reeseś peanut butter cups¨ which are small cups of peanut butter and
To better understand the history of the two holidays, we should look at where it all first began. An ancient Celtic festival of Samhain about 2,000 years ago was when Halloween was first created. This celebration took place on October 31st and it marked the end of summer, the harvest and the beginning of winter. During this time, winter resembled a cold and dark time which was often
The Teal Pumpkin Phenomenon Recently, teal pumpkins have been popping up around neighborhoods that are notorious trick-or-treating spots. While these teal pumpkins are unique and eye catching, they also have a secret meaning. A meaning that could help save your child’s life. Food allergies are a struggle that many families have to endure on a daily basis.
Dia de los Muertos and Halloween can often be confused because they are celebrated within very close dates, but in reality they have distinct characteristics. Dia de los Muertos was originally introduced in Mexico with the Aztec Festival of the Dead, but the traditions have been tweaked over the years. Likewise, Halloween originated in Ireland, beginning with the Celtic Festival called “Samhain”. Now, the popular holiday, Day of the Dead, is celebrated from October 31st through November 2nd by visiting the graves of dead friends or family members. People who participate in Dia de los Muertos leave food, candles, incense, a poem, or a picture at the altar to honor the past lives of people they love.
Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. These are very different holidays, but have multiple similarities. People all around the world celebrate both of these occasions. Even though there are differences between these two holidays, there are also many similarities. Halloween starts on October 31st.
The first one being ghosts and the tradition of leaving out candy; Many people will leave out food for their ancestors, who are thought to visit as ghosts. The second aspect that Samhain and Halloween have in common are jack-o-lanterns. Wiccans leave candles lit in carved-out pumpkins on window-sills to help guide the ghosts on their way. The next holiday is Yule, which is the winter solstice, and occurs around December 21. To Wiccans, the longest night of the year means the death of the sun, the sun is then reborn the next morning.
Halloween On October 31 every year we celebrate a holiday known as Halloween. Celebrating consists of traditional activities such as: trick-or-treating, haunted houses, dressing up as your favorite character, carving jack-o-lanterns. There’s tons of fun stuff to do on Halloween, but there’s tons of history behind it as well. For starters, did you know that in Ohio, Massachusetts, and Iowa Trick-or-treating is referred to as Beggars Night?
They would connect this time of year with death, but not the same way as Dia de los Muertos. On Halloween, we don't celebrate death unlike you would on Day of the Dead. They believe that from October 31st-November 2nd was a time to celebrate the dead. Dia de los Muertos is a day to remember your loved ones and to celebrate death, and to
The Day of the Dead and Halloween are alike in many ways. During the Day of the Dead, people dress in costumes and celebrate their dead loved ones returning to them. Similarly, on Halloween, people also dress in costumes and go “Trick or Treating”. Both holidays also come from Catholic roots, and believe the veil between the living and dead worlds is thinnest on these days. During the Day of the Dead celebrations, people cook, eat, and have a party, similar to what others do on Halloween.
In contradiction to Halloween, it is not a scary holiday and instead focuses on remembering those who have died with love and respect. On the first day (November 1) all the spirits of children who died come back and are remembered. The next day everyone else is celebrated. The living prepare their homes and towns for the return of the dead on October 31st. There are many other things traditionally done to honor the dead and enjoy the holiday.
One of the most-awaited moments of the year is right here once again. Dim neighborhoods are brightened by ghastly smiles of Jack-o '-lanterns in communities where the breeze is also slowly getting colder and the leaves that have fallen off of pines give each step a crunch. In a few days, children dressed like pirates, princesses, ghouls, and little monsters will be knocking on doors requesting goodies and several other goodies. Yet just before Halloween begins, you can delight the kids in your community by teaming up with several moms and dads and arranging a Halloween scavenger quest.
Halloween and Day of the Dead, despite their similarities, are very different. They are similar because they both have sugary treats and they are different because they are celebrated in different ways, and the preparation of the holidays are different. Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated in Mexico, and Central America where people celebrate their ancestors souls and bring them some of their favorite things to their graves and throw many parties. Halloween is a day when children go out in costumes to trick-or-treat for candies and other sugary items, people also setup decorations outside their houses that look go along with the holiday.
However, there is a distinct difference between the two holidays. In America, Halloween has shifted from focusing on death to focusing on trick-or-treating. The Day of the Dead celebrates the fact that death does not destroy the unity between those alive and those dead. While both celebrate with dressing up, eating with loved ones, and spending time with family, they gather for vey different reasons. In keeping with their culture, Americans celebrate being with those still alive, while Mexicans include deceased individuals in their
In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. Transition: Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial