October is about to end, so 31st October is right around the corner. For those who don’t know(hardly anyone will not know this), 31st October is celebrated as Halloween Day. Halloween is a day filled with excitement, adventure, and fun, and it is a memorable and nostalgic time for both children and adults. Most children cannot let go of that nostalgic childhood memory, and they celebrate Halloween in their adult life and pass on that merriment and fun to the upcoming generations. The day is a treat of adventure for the kids and children and a day of holiday and merriment for the adults.
But a question that comes to mind every year is, what is Halloween? Why do we celebrate Halloween on 31st October? Why do people dress up on Halloween? Is Halloween an American import? Well, a lot of questions like this pop up in my mind every year, and only a few people can give correct answers to these questions.
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In this article, we will discuss why we celebrate Halloween. Why on 31st October? What is the history behind Halloween and many such things? So here is a brief history behind the spookiest night of the year- 31st October.
Brief history of Halloween Day
All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day, is the origin of Halloween Day. Halloween is a word made out of All Hallows’ Eve’ – the evening before All Hallows’ Day.
All Saints Day( All Hallows’ Day)- 1 November
Pope Gregory III established All Saints’ Day on November 1. All Saints Day falls under the yearly Christian Feast Day, in which, as the day’s name implies, all saints are celebrated. Initially, it was celebrated around Easter and Pentecost, but the day came to be celebrated on 1 November after Pope Gregory III made it a day. From the earliest days, the evening of 31st October was marked as the beginning of the observing day. 1st November, or All Saints’ Day, was celebrated to remember the deceased. The saints and martyrs of the church were primarily remembered on this day.
The English people began to refer to All Saints’ Day as Allhallowtide or Hallowmas by 1471. The word Hallowmas came from old archaic words Hallow, which means holy, and the word tide in Allhallowtide means time. On the night before All Saints Day or 1 November, most of the Roman Catholics used to visit cemeteries and pray for the dead people. Eventually, All Hallows’ Eve, meaning the evening before All Hallows Day or All Saints Day was converted into Halloween Day in the everyday jargon.
All Souls Day- 2nd November
According to the Christian Calendar, All Souls Day falls on November 2. All Souls Day is celebrated to remember the departed souls and offer them prayers. In Mexico, both the days- All Saints Day and All Souls Day are celebrated as one day under the name of Dia de los Muertos’ which means Day of the Dead. Some theories also suggest that Halloween Day evolved from the Celtic Harvest Festival of Samhain, and when Christianity came, it was named All Hallows’ Day.
Why is Halloween Day celebrated on 31st October?
As mentioned above, according to some theories, Halloween Day evolved from the Celtic Harvest Festival of Samhain, and when Christianity came, it was named All Hallows’ Day. This event belonged to the people who resided in Ireland and some parts that are presently under Great Britain.
The Celtic Harvest Festival of Samhain, which falls around November 1, marks the end of summer and the beginning of winter. During this festival, Celts People would make bonfires to symbolize the change in season. They would gather around the bonfire, tell each other stories, and even put on costumes. The costumes that they would wear are made of animal parts from the dead animals that they sacrificed.
Eventually, what happened over the years, according to some theories, was that the Romans interfered with their traditions. Pomona and Feralia, the Roman festivals celebrated the dead and the goddess of fruits and trees. The symbol for Pomona is the apple, which is one of the reasons “bobbing apples” became a tradition for Halloween. When Christianity officially came, November 1 was decided as All Saints’ Day and November 2 as All Souls’ Day.
For these reasons, October 31st became All Hallows Evening, meaning an evening before All Saints Day or All Hallows Day, and over the years, the day transformed into Halloween. Eventually, the day, 31st of October, moved to the United States when Irish descent and British descent migrants moved to the United States. Traditions interchanged with time, and people began sharing stories of the dead on 31st October that soon changed into ghosts and ghouls stories. Costumes became mandatory on October 31st, Halloween parties became a must, and kids’ trick-or-treat adventures quickly popularized. These events over these many years transformed this day into a worldwide phenomenon of fun adventure, marking this Halloween Day as one of the most popular and spookiest days of the year.
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Why do People dress up on Halloween Day?
Initially, people put on costumes on Halloween to scare the spirits of the dead people. The tradition developed by people during the Samhain period was to scare evil spirits. They thought that by putting on animal parts as their costumes, they would be able to save themselves from evil spirits. The reason behind this tradition was that wandering spirits would see people dressed up in ghastly costumes and would assume them to be spirits, too- and let them go free. What initially started as a defense mechanism to scare evil spirits has now turned into a fun and mandatory thing to do on Halloween. People in that age used animal parts as costumes to scare people, but now, in this age, it has turned into a less horrifying endeavor. Nowadays, people usually wear ghastly costumes, but they are not atleast made of animal parts.
Why do Children go trick-or-treating on Halloween Day?
This tradition of Trick or Treat began hundreds of years ago in England. During that time, people would go door to door requesting food in exchange for a prayer or a song. This was known as Souling back then. The Souling would take place on 1st November on All Saints’ Day, when Christians would remember and pray for their loved ones.
During the Victorian Period, the food given in exchange for a song or prayer was a dessert. The dessert was a type of pastry called a soul cake. The soul cake pastry resembled a biscuit or a cake. Nowadays, the tradition of Halloween Day has evolved over the years. Now, children are presented with sweets and chocolates when they go on to play the trick-or-treat game.
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