What is Halloween and its Customs?

What is Halloween and its Customs?

The Living Legend
Ahmad Javed Kamran Amiri
Dated: Thursday 24th October 2019

Halloween is festival and tradition which is celebrated on the 31^st October Night, and the tradition of Halloween includes wearing scary masks, funny and strange clothes and costumes and also lighting   fireworks, which is inspired by historical / fantasy characters, for visiting death spirits, souls, ghosts places, grave yards, desserts, mountain caves and scary houses that is captured by goblins, ghosts and death souls and lighting there different sizes and shapes of candles, lights and lanterns.

In North America the immigrants of Scottish and Irish who were settled there expanded the Halloween in different parts of the United States especially in North in the 19th century. This celebration (Halloween) also expanded to a large number of other Anglo-Saxon countries like Great Britain and Canada and later on in New Zealand and Australia.

In believe of the most of the historians; the origins of the Halloween celebration and festival goes back to one of the Celtic tribes living in western Europe about 2,000 years ago. At that time, these pagan tribes celebrated their New Year's Eve on the last day of October (31^st October) or 1^st November, thus this day and the celebration of this day was called "Su In".

They believed that on that day (31^st October or 1^st November) the souls of all living things and natural phenomena would move to the post-existent world, and they also believed that all the goblins, devils, souls, ghosts, fairies, witches and wizards would or will accompany humans on this journey.

In addition of sacrificing different types of animals such as goat, sheep, deer, cow, etc.; for their Gods and gathering around large fire flames with friends and families, the Celtic peoples also wore scary or funny clothing but most of them wore the most scary clothes and some of them wore special clothing, most of them wore clothing like animal skins, in order to deceive and conquer souls, spirits and goblins. Some of these people believed that in this night they can find their soulmates. To restrain their souls. In addition, it is said that by wearing masks and dyeing their faces with dark colors, they would look like or were transformed into their ancestors as they liked to be done.

In this festival occasionally, women were dressed in men's clothing and men's clothing was apparently intended to disrupt the order and rules of their societies so they could proudly said that they respect the women and they want them to be in the same level as they are in the society.

One of their great and fantastic rituals was to walk into each other's houses and demanding for food and drink from their house by running ridiculous programs in front of each other’s  house. According to some of the historians this tradition is same or similar to their Wednesday's scoop drawing (tapping on each other’s doors with spoons).

After the rise of Christianity in the territory in which the Celtic peoples lived, religious and political leaders of these societies sought to adapt the Christianity or abolish all the pagan customs.

 The Pope leader of Western European Christianity, declared 1^st November as a new Christian tradition of All Saints' Day in the 7^th century; since then, many of the pagan traditions of Christianity have been overshadowed.

In 19th century, Irish and Scottish immigrants were settled in North America were again practicing this special tradition (Halloween), and as large parts of Western Europe and North America were no longer under Catholic influence. Gradually it became popular.

In the mid-20th century, as the communications and entertainment industries expanded, especially in the United States, many popular stories, cinemas, and television series began to celebrate, not only across North America, but also in other English-speaking countries and the details of the ceremony were introduced and added to the calendar of their popular celebrations.

Today, influenced by the prevalence of cultural manifestations spreading from the United States to other parts of the world, the younger generation is using this day as an occasion for celebration and a variety of celebrations, both small and large, in many European and even Asian countries. .

What has been left over from more than two thousand years of celebration of Halloween is the special status of fireworks, lighting candles and lanterns, wearing strange clothes, symbolic efforts to accompany and invite ghosts and goblins to this event and occasionally a walk, and Going to the neighbors' house is a scoop.

One of the most popular festivals and traditions is Halloween after Christmas in the United States, and Americans spend more than $ 6 billion annually celebrating it (Halloween).

Source:

           History