Halloween - History And Traditions

Halloween is a pagan, pre-Christian holiday of the ancient Celts. The primary importance  of celebrating  Halloween  was honoring the spirits of deceased ancestors.

In the United States, people start preparing for Halloween in advance, decorating houses and buying sweets. This day is celebrated from October 31 to November 1. The holiday is most popular in the USA, Ireland, Scotland, Canada and England. Halloween is celebrated somewhat more modestly in Australia and New Zealand. In fact, Halloween , due to globalization, has already taken root in many countries, however, it has not gained such a massive celebration .

The name of the holiday is an abbreviation of All Hallows Even, which translates as "All Saints' Eve", however, today you will rarely hear the full name. It is generally accepted that the history of the Halloween holiday   dates back to the times of the Celts in Ireland, where it was originally called Samhain. The holiday was associated with harvesting and was celebrated by pagans. In the 19th century, it was brought to America, and in the 20th, it began to spread to other countries. Halloween got its Christian direction   thanks to Pope George III, who moved its celebration to October 31. Also, the holiday is noted in the occult. His supporters believe that on this day spirits can come into contact with people.

Celebrations and traditions

The most common fun on Halloween  is trick-or-treating. Children dress up in various costumes and go around neighboring houses shouting “trick-or-treat!” and then receive sweets, fruits, nuts, etc. In Ireland,   huge bonfires are often lit on Halloween , and in Scotland, not only children, but also their parents go to their neighbors in costumes. Not just to watch the little one, but just for fun. When  Halloween comes , you can come in costumes even to school, where various events are organized. 

Also, adults and children try to prank or scare each other in any way.

The tradition of dressing up in costumes for Halloween  originated at the beginning of the 20th century. When the holiday was just starting to spread, and for quite a long time after that, costumes did not look as attractive and funny as they do today. Previously, the costumes were either creepy masks or people's faces sewn from fabric, which also looked quite scary. 

Closer to the 21st century, masquerade costumes began to be more diverse and pleasant to look at. The vast majority of costumes represent various evil forces, for example, witches or vampires. Also, the outfits of book and cinematographic characters, maniacs, murderers and other negative heroes are popular. However, positive characters - fairies, mermaids, kings, etc. - are also revered. Competitions for the best costume are often organized, so everyone is interested in dressing as original as possible.

Adults often throw parties on  Halloween  , too, dressing up in costumes and decorating their homes. The scenario of the celebration often includes various contests and fun. For example, quite often they play a game where you have to grab an apple floating in a container of water with your mouth, without the help of your hands in any case. Also, a common game is where a person is blindfolded and allowed to touch various objects, calling them creepy things. For example, when a player sticks his hand into a bowl of grapes, he is told that those are eyeballs. Costume parties are the most popular and widespread element of the Halloween celebration  .

In many countries, in particular, the USA,  Halloween  is simply a paradise for sales of various holiday paraphernalia. On this day, sellers of candles, masquerade costumes, greeting cards, pumpkins , home decorations, candies and other sweets simply triumph. Also, on  Halloween  , various bars, cafes and nightclubs make good money by decorating the premises and organizing celebrations .

Amusement parks, decorated and equipped in honor of the holiday , are also popular on All Saints' Day . Disneyland, for example, organizes a large-scale Halloween celebration  in the style of Tim Burton's cartoon "The Night Before Christmas" every year. 

Halloween  occupies a fairly significant place in culture. This holiday is featured in many songs, movies, series, books and television shows. Many performers give concerts on this night, decorating the stage with traditional paraphernalia.

Attributes of the Halloween holiday

A must-have is fun and dancing until dawn in spooky costumes with make-up to match. The main theme of  Halloween  costumes is various evil spirits. Vampires, werewolves, witches, etc. are their representatives. However, free themed costumes are also popular at carnivals - fairies, queens, pop culture figures and others. The main colors of the holiday are red, black and orange.

Pumpkin for Halloween , or Jack- o'-lantern

Everyone knows that the main attribute of the Halloween holiday  is a pumpkin , from which the entrails are removed, the eyes and sinister smile are cut out, and a candle is placed inside. However, not everyone knows where exactly such a tradition came from. 

If you ask the inhabitants of America or Ireland about this, they will probably tell you the legend about the drunkard Jack, who managed to deceive the devil himself. However, after Jack's death, access to hell was closed, and he was not allowed to heaven because of his debauchery. The devil granted him only one request and gave him something to light the way - a pumpkin with a candle inside. Therefore, Jack wandered between heaven and earth, lighting his way with a pumpkin lantern . For this reason, carved Halloween pumpkins are   called jack-of-all-trades. Also, the use of a pumpkin symbolizes the harvest. In addition, it is said that pumpkins were used to scare away evil spirits even by the Druids.

In fact, the pumpkin was not always honored at  Halloween . First, grimaces were cut from turnips or rutabagas. In England, Ireland and Scotland, these vegetables are sometimes still used. Pumpkins began to be used for this purpose in the USA. There were two reasons for that. First, pumpkins have become more accessible and cheaper. Secondly, it is easier to cut grimaces out of them. Now this attribute is taken quite seriously. In some countries, a special variety is even grown, which is larger than ordinary pumpkins . In addition, various competitions are held for the beauty, originality and skill of carved pumpkins .

Divination on Halloween

Pagan holidays are always associated with superstitions and divination. The most common were predictions related to marriage, weather and luck during the year. Predictions on  Halloween  were carried out with the help of apples (apples and nuts were considered products associated with the underworld).

• In Scotland, girls cut the skin from an apple, trying to make it as long as possible, and throw it over their shoulder. It was believed that the discarded skin should take the form of the first letter of the last name of the convicted person.

• Another custom is based on the well-known belief about Bloody Mary. This divination consists in the fact that young girls should climb the stairs in a dark house with their backs facing forward and hold a candle in front of a mirror. After that, the face of the future husband should appear in the mirror. If a girl sees a skull in the mirror, it means that she will die without getting married.

• In the Scandinavian countries, it is customary to prepare traditional Barmbrake bread - hearty fruit bread - for Halloween . During preparation, a pea, a wooden peg, a piece of cloth, a coin and a ring are hidden in the dough. The object that got into the house predicted the future: a pea - do not wait for a quick wedding, a pinch - troubles in family life, a piece of cloth - poverty, a coin - wealth, a ring - a quick wedding.

• By throwing apples into the crowd of girls, you could find out who would be the first to get married this year. She was the one who first caught and bit the thrown apple - very similar to the modern tradition of a bride throwing a wedding bouquet.

• Divination by peeling an apple showed how long your life would be. The longer the peel cut from the apple, the longer you will live.

• In Scotland, on Halloween night , before going to bed, people put a stone in the ashes of the fire. It was believed that the person whose stone changed its position during the night (for example, fell on its side) would most likely die the following year.

• All unmarried young people took part in another divination with an apple. It was necessary to tie an apple on a rope and spin it over an open fire. The one whose apple falls first will be the first to marry.

• Another method of divination is to attach apple pits to the girl's cheek, calling men's names. The bone that will last the longest and means the name of the future husband

• How to determine if your family will be healthy next year? Each member of the family needs to take a perfect ivy leaf and place it in a bowl of water until morning. If there are no spots or damage on the leaf in the morning, the fortuneteller will be healthy for the whole 12 months.

Interesting signs and facts about the holiday

• More than 90% of sold pumpkins are used to decorate homes for  Halloween .

• It is believed that if you saw a spider on Halloween , it could be a spirit watching over you.

• Superstitious people always close the windows on this holiday .

• The record-breaking pumpkin was grown in 2004 in Ontario. Its weight was 655 kg.

• In America, competitions are often held for the fastest carving of a pumpkin head . The record time is 37 seconds.

• Ringing the doorbell is believed to ward off evil spirits.

• On the eve of Halloween , it is considered a bad omen to bake anything.

• It is said that it is easy to meet a witch on this day. All you have to do is wear your outfit inside out and walk around town backwards. Another belief claims that in this way, on the contrary, you will confuse evil spirits.

• If the candles lit on Halloween constantly go out, evil spirits are hovering nearby.