Beware, it’s Halloween!

Shivangi Singh

Tonight, the boundaries between the world of the living and the dead will cease. The dead will arise and come back to our world to cause havoc in our smooth existence… Listen closely; if you hear strange whispers, it’s not the wind but a goblin’s breath close to your ear. If shadows stalk you, it’s the doing of some mischievous ghoul. If you see vapours in an abandoned place, don’t go near, most likely the witches would be preparing an evil potion. Think twice before looking at the mirror because you may see a skeleton winking at you. Black cats will cross your way and bats will hover over you. Deadly demons would be hiding in every nook and corner, ready to pounce on you. Ugly zombies will try to harass you. Suddenly, your life will turn into a fun-filled nightmare, for the simple reason that it is ‘Halloweeeeeen’ once again! One often wonders – what kind of celebration is Halloween? Is it a celebration of evil powers? What actually is the concept behind Halloween? Do the evil powers really exist and manifest themselves on this day? Well, the history and customs of Halloween, celebrated October 31st every year, is rooted in several interesting legends and tales. The term "Halloween” has its origin in the Catholic Church. It is derived from ‘All Hallows Eve’ celebrated on November 1. "All Hallows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honour of saints. The tradition of Halloween originated in the 5th century from ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (sow-en), also known as the Celtic New year. Samhain or Halloween (as it later came to be known), marked the ‘end of summer’, and was celebrated as a pastoral festival or feast. For the Celts, Samhain was a night during which the dividing line between the world of the living and the dead would cease to exist, causing intermingling of the creatures of the two worlds. It was believed that the dead would freely walk on earth, so people, when venturing outdoors would dress as ghosts and spirits to blend in the crowd of the other world creatures and escape their evil intentions. This explains the tradition of dressing up as witches, zombies and ghosts on Halloween’s night. The ancient Gaels believed that on Halloween’s night, the spirits of all those who had died the preceding year would come back to search and possess living bodies. It was to be their only hope for the afterlife. The living, in order to escape being possessed, tried various ways and means to ward off the dead. They would extinguish the warm fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would dress up in weird ghoulish costumes and parade around the vicinity, behaving in obnoxious manner to frighten off the spirits in search of bodies to possess. When the Romans invaded Celtic territory, they adopted the Celtic practices as their own. Some Roman traditions also got incorporated into the festival. The Roman feast Feralia, a day in late October was celebrated for the passing of the dead as well as in honour of Pomona, the Goddess of Fruit. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which explains the origin of the trend of bobbing for apples on Halloween. The custom of Halloween reached America in the 1840s by Irish immigrants fleeing their countries during potato famine. Apart from Ireland, Scotland, Britain and US, other western countries including Canada, Mexico, Australia, Puerto Rico, embraced this interesting tradition in the late twentieth century. Exciting Customs of Halloween People dress up in spooky costumes of witches, ghosts, goblins etc, light bonfires, crack fireworks and celebrate with great fun and festivity. Houses are decorated with Jack-o-lanterns, scarecrows, witches, orange and purple string lights, spiders, vampires, foam tombstones etc. Jack-o-lantern is actually a carved pumpkin or turnip, which is a prominent symbol of Halloween. On Halloween’s night, people light their houses with carved out pumpkins in which candles are placed. It has its origin in an Irish folklore, according to which, a notorious drunkard named Jack, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. He then made the mark of cross on the tree`s trunk, thus trapping the devil up the tree. Jack then struck a deal with the devil stating that he will let him go, only if he promises never to tempt him. After Jack died, he was not allowed to enter heaven due to his evil ways. He was also denied entrance to hell because he had tricked the devil. Later, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the darkness and he was doomed to forever wander at night. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer. Children immensely enjoy the custom of ‘trick-or-treating’, thought to have originated from a ninth-century European custom called Souling. On November 2, the All Souls Day, Christians would walk around asking for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. On receiving the soul cakes, the beggars would promise to say prayers for the dead relatives of the donors. In recent times, the custom has taken on a more joyous colour. Kids go to houses crying ‘treat or trick’, and people are asked to choose one. Those who refuse to give treat are in for trouble as they fall prey to mischievous pranks. Bobbing for apples is another prominent Halloween tradition in which apples are placed in a water-filled barrel and participants are asked to catch an apple with mouth. Once an apple is caught, it is peeled off and tossed in water. If it falls in the shape of a letter, then it is supposed to be the first initial of the participant’s love. According to another belief, the length of the apple peel is supposed to hint at the participant’s life span. Other Halloween customs include watching horror films, scary story-telling, visiting Halloween destinations, participating in Halloween games such as ‘thunder and lightning’ or ‘knock and run’, which involves knocking loudly on neighbour’s door and running away at the top speed. Halloween Fun-facts

Jerry Ayers of Baltimore was the one to make a world record of fastest pumpkin carving, by carving out a pumpkin in just 37 seconds.

Vampires don’t really participate in the night Halloween’s party celebrations, because they consider Halloween to be loud and boisterous.

People go for dumb supper, meaning that nobody talks while having supper, which discourages the spirits to come to the table.

According to a popular belief, if an unmarried girl keeps a rosemary herb and a silver sixpence under her pillow on Halloween’s night, she dreams of her future husband.

It is said that if you hear someone`s footsteps following you on the Halloween’s night, do not turn back because a ghost may be following you. And if you turn back and encounter the ghost then very soon you will join the dead.

Another belief goes that if an unmarried girl carries a broken egg in a glass to a spring of water, she will catch the glimpse of not just her future husband, by mixing some spring water in the glass, but also see the reflection of her unborn kids.

Thus, it is clear that the tradition of Halloween does not have its origin in ghost worship or the like but it grew out of Celts’ celebration of New Year. It is actually a fun-filled tradition that adds spook, fun and spice in an otherwise mundane life. However, one question still remains unanswered – do the evil powers really exist and manifest themselves on this day? Go to your nearest graveyard tonight and find out for yourself. Happy Halloween!