What the f do you actually celebrate with Halloween?
Tomorrow is Halloween. The stores are filled with string lights of pumpkins and the first masks have already been bought. Undoubtedly, there will be an Insta-wave of American celebrities in exciting costumes tomorrow, but what do you actually celebrate with Halloween? And where does it come from?
1. The name says it all
Halloween comes from All-Hallow-Even, which means All Saints. In the Roman Catholic tradition, you celebrate a feast the day before the actual day, like Sinterklaas on December 5 while the saint Sinterklaas died on December 6. This is how you celebrate All Saints, November 1, the day before on October 31.
2. But not everyone agrees
Halloween is said to be a Celtic tradition where people were afraid of the spirits that would rise from their graves on November 1 during All Saints to haunt the living. To scare them, people dressed up in scary costumes, burned turnips to drive the spirits away (I will assume this smelled bad), and placed food at the graves to keep the spirits there.
3. The arrival of the pumpkin
Many Irish immigrants came to America and continued their Halloween tradition there. Only in America were there no turnips to be found, so the pumpkin became the new turnip.
4. But there is another theory about this
During Halloween the headless man would rise from his grave, where he would chop off the head of someone who was still alive. To scare that person, the pumpkin was hollowed out and a face was crafted that often looked quite scary.
5. Not for children
A rather macabre party for those tender little souls, you might think. That is also true, because in the past it was mainly adults who dressed up. Especially in America in the sixties, where there were many layers in society, dressing up was a nice way to elevate social classes for a moment. When there was less need for that at a certain point, the focus shifted to children. They ring doorbells, scare people, and are rewarded with something sweet.
6. And what is trick or treat then?
In the past, actors would go door to door to perform a play and would receive a donation. Another story is that poor people would go door to door and offer to pray for their deceased family members. They would then receive soul cake (bread with currants) and pray so that the people who had died not long before could move from purgatory to heaven sooner.
If you don't mind, I'll stick to Saint Martin, but that hollowed-out little pumpkin with a cheerful face, I will probably craft that this weekend.
