Halloween: A Guide to Know Your Spooky Occasion
Published · Halloween
Halloween – the only time of the year during which you can dress up like a serial killer and not be caught by the police! Seriously, all jokes aside, Halloween is a time to have fun and play dress-up with your friends. It falls just between the fall and the winter season and is a time for superstition and celebration.
The origins of this festival is said to be in relation with the Samhain Celtic Festival in which people would sit near bonfires, and wear costumes to ward off the roaming ghosts. The holiday of All Saints’ Day, celebrated on 1st November, had some elements of the Samhain Festival. Halloween’s previous evening is known as All Hallows’ Eve. Over time, the festival has transformed into a community-based, secular event that is characterized by activities like trick-or-treat and wearing scary costumes.
In various countries, as the nights get longer, people start to welcome the winter seasons with communal gatherings, sweet treats, and costumes.
Halloween - Facts, History and Traditions
1) History of Halloween
Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Roman Pantheon on 13th May, 609 AD to honor the Christian martyrs and the All Martyrs Day was created by the Western Church. This day incorporates some of the Celtic Samhain traditions. Pope Gregory III later shifted the day from May 13th to November 1st, and included all saints and martyrs as well. The day, then, came to be known as All Saints’ Day.
On November 2nd, the church observed All Souls’ Day in honor of the dead. This day was celebrated in a similar fashion to the Samhain Festival with parades, playing dress-up in costumes of devils, angels, and saints, and with celebrations around big bonfires. The celebration on this day was also known as All-Hallowmas or All-hallows and the night before came to known as the All-hallows Eve in honor of the Samhain festival. This day would, eventually, be known as Halloween.
2) History of the Jack O’ Lanterns
The history of the Jack O’ Lanterns originated from the myth of Stingy Jack who tricked the devil and was not allowed into heaven by God. It is said that as a punishment from tricking him into not taking his soul to hell, the Devil sent Jack to wander dark nights with just a lump of burning coal to show him the way.
Jack then used a carved-out turnip as a holder and has been wandering the Earth, ever since then. Pumpkins are carved out and given scary faces to ward off or frighten away the spirit of Stingy Jack and other evil spirits. These pumpkins then came to be known as Jack O’ Lanterns.
3) Halloween Celebration in United States
The celebration of Halloween is a big deal in USA. From kids to old people celebrate this day with haunted tours, elaborate costumes, and spirited parades. Some of the best celebrations of Halloween in US take place at Manhattan and Kentucky.
In Manhattan, the Greenwich Village procession takes place in which anyone who is wearing a costume can take part in the procession. It is filled with giant puppets, balloons, and animated animals.
In Kentucky, kids dress up as monkeys to see real monkeys at the Louisville Zoo Party. There are artistically decorated pumpkins and goofy tea-parties with the Mad Hatter.
There is also the Crescent City Ghost Tours. Anoka, Minnesota is known as the Halloween Capital of World because it was the first country to celebrate Halloween and the tradition still continues to this day. In Halloween Parties, people bring Halloween scary gifts for party hosts and enjoy the scary night with them.
4) Halloween Traditions all Over the World
Halloween is not a festival that is celebrated on in the US. Some countries in the world have their own way of celebrating Halloween.
The Chinese celebrate it as Teng Chieh during which they give food and water in front of their dead loved ones’ photos.
Mexico celebrates Halloween as the Day of the Dead during which huge parties, parades, and picnics take place beside the departed relatives’ graves.
In England, Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated. This was the day during which the Gunpowder Plot was discovered. The celebration happens with the English lighting fireworks and having bonfires with garden rubbish.
5) Quick Halloween Recipes
For a quick Halloween recipe, you can whip up the traditional Spooky Halloween Eyeballs, and the Vampire’s Bloody Punch.
For the eyeballs, you will require about 20 marshmallows, and cranberries, and red icing pens. Just push each cranberry into each marshmallow and draw up some bloodshot line with the red icing pens all over them.
For the punch, get 48 oz chilled cranberry juice cocktail, ½ liter chilled ginger ale, and 1-liter chilled lemonade. Mix them all together and add lots of ice cubes to chill the punch.
Buy spooky Halloween Gift basket is one of the best alternatives from the nearest online gift shop that contains various spooky gifts like Halloween cookies, Halloween candies, and Halloween snacks. You can send this spooky Halloween gift basket to your dear one and wish them Happy Halloween.
6) Tradition of Dressing Up in Scary Costumes
The tradition of wearing costumes originated from both Celtic and European history. It is believed that during Halloween, ghosts and other spirits would come back to Earth. To ward them off, people started wearing masks to fool the spirits and this tradition struck. Now, they wear scary costumes, and makeup to scare off the evil spirits.
7) Popular Halloween Costumes
Halloween is incomplete without scary costumes. People all over the US wear either store-bought or handmade unique costumes and parade around during Halloween. A few of the popular costumes worn during Halloween include superheroes, cartoon characters, pirate, devil, angels, any celebrities, or any fictional characters. The costumes can be anything and everything, no matter how ugly or frightening it is.
So, now you know all about the scary festival of Halloween. During this celebration, instead of the traditional giving of sweet, you can create some small gift boxes by looking up some Halloween Gift Basket Ideas online and give them during trick-or-treating. Kids will love them. Happy Halloween!
Related Links :