All Hallows Eve / Halloween and Samhain: Honor spirits with ancient traditions

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31: Can you feel that chill creeping up your spine?

Get the candy ready and put the finishing touches on your costume, because Halloween is a huge festival nationwide! As Western cultural influences spread worldwide, too, Halloween has steadily been gaining worldwide popularity—even in countries as far from North America as Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Deeply rooted in a centuries-old Gaelic and Irish seasonal festival known as Samhain, today’s Halloween is considered by many to be the only time of year that spirits can roam the earth. From Samhain to Mexico’s Day of the Dead, world cultures celebrate the belief that at this time of year, the veil between this world and the next is particularly thin and ancestors are held close. Don’t worry, it’s not all solemn and bone-chilling, though—today’s secular Halloween also brings out bright Jack-o-lanterns, loads of candy and a pretty good excuse for adults to join in on the costuming fun with kids. So grab your best ghoulish mask and get the (Halloween) party started!

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE DEEPER ROOTS? This week, sociologist Dr. Wayne Baker is publishing an entire five-part series about Americans’ beliefs concerning Hell. Part 1 of the series includes a fun 10-question quiz to see how much you know about … Hell.

SAMHAIN:
A GAELIC FESTIVAL REVIVED

The original Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and ushered in winter, or the “darker half” of the year, in Gaelic Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. During this time of year, cattle were brought down from summer pastures, bonfires were lit for the purpose of divination and as a protective and cleansing measure. Legend has it that spirits could easily come to earth, and many people would leave out food and drink for the roaming entities. (Wikipedia has details.)

In many households, ancestors were welcomed to the table with particular enthusiasm, and large meals were prepared. Multiple sites in Ireland were, and still are, associated with Samhain, and the spirits that emerge there at this time of year. Guising—donning a costume—was thought to “trick” ill-intentioned spirits roaming the streets near Samhain, and hallowed-out turnips were lit with a candle and placed in windows, their monstrous carved faces frightening bad spirits.

Today’s Samhain emerged as part of the late 19th century Celtic Revival, and Neopagans, Celtic Reconstructionist Pagans and Wiccans all celebrate the holiday, in slightly varying ways. Most keep the widespread traditions of lighting bonfires, paying homage to ancestors, welcoming the “darker” season and preparing feasts with apples, nuts, meats, seasonal vegetables and mulled wines. (Learn more from Wicca.com.)

HALLOWEEN:
A CHRISTIAN WORD
TURNED CULTURAL PHENOMENON

Allhallowtide,” the triduum of Halloween, recalls deceased spirits, saints (hallows) and martyrs alike, in one collective commemoration. The word Halloween is of Christian origin, and many Christians visit graveyards during this time to pray and place flowers and candles at the graves of their deceased loved ones. The two days following All Hallows Eve—Hallowmas, or All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day—pay homage to the souls that Christians believe are now with God. In medieval England, Christians went “souling” on Halloween, begging for soul cakes in exchange for prayers in local churches.

Halloween’s secular side has emerged during the past century, and today, trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, visiting haunted houses, watching horror movies and dressing up like favored characters has become custom in Western culture. (History.com offers Halloween videos and more.) Recent estimates are that the very diverse American business of “haunted attractions” brings in hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and the commercial elements of Halloween have spread from North America to Europe, South America, Australia, Japan and parts of East Asia.

NEWS AND TIPS:
PET COSTUMES, SAFETY AND APPS

This Halloween is expected to be the most celebrated in a decade—perhaps because it falls on a Friday this year. In Britain, they’re expecting some of the biggest Halloween celebrations to date! (Read more in The Guardian.)

American consumers are likely to spend approximately $370 million on pet costumes this Halloween—$70 million more than last year—according to TIME. That spending is a 40 percent jump from 2010.

The “urban legend” of poisoned Halloween candy doesn’t have a lot of merit, but Halloween does pose some real dangers, writes USA Today. Some things to be cautious of: drunk driving and drunk drivers; injuries from pumpkin carving; trips and falls from costumes and decorating; and dental havoc from too-sticky candy. And don’t let Fido get a hold of that treat bag—chocolate can be lethal for dogs.

Techies have a multitude of apps to choose from this Halloween, including Zombify and Vampify, complete with animated effects for photos. (More here and from the Boston Globe.)

ALL THINGS HALLOWEEN:
DIY COSTUMES, DÉCOR, PARTIES & MORE

What’s Halloween without some good costumes and tasty treats?

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