American Holidays: Halloween - Research Paper Example

Halloween May 4, Halloween Introduction Halloween is an event celebrated every year on the 31st day of October. It is taken as a night of ghoulish fun (associated with ghosts) and children dress up in scary costumes while moving from one door to the next asking for treats. Many people know of Halloween as an event, but do not know the story behind it. This paper will discuss the history of Halloween, symbols of Halloween, and its evolution. History of Halloween The ancient origin of Halloween goes back to over 2000 years ago; when Celts held a sacred religious ritual on the night of 31 October in celebration of a new year beginning 1st November. The basis of the ritual lay upon the belief that spirits of the dead returned to their earthly form and realm, and had the potential to wreck havoc. On the night of the ritual, Celt priest believed they could communicate with these spirits in order to forecast the events of the New Year (The True History of Halloween 5). Later the Romans conquered the Celts and in turn incorporated the Celts’ ritual into two of their own. One, which was the remembrance of the dead and was celebrated towards the end of October and the second was a day in honor of goddess Pomona. The identifying form of the goddess was the apple that is a common item for people to bob for in modern day Halloween. The occasion was held on the 1st day of November and went by the following name - All Saints Day. The name was as a result of the spread of Christianity, and the making of the 1st day of November a holiday by the Roman Catholic Church; the day was also termed as Hallowman’s Day and All Hallows Day celebrated with people lighting bonfires, attending parades and dressing up as saints. As time went on, all coinciding festivals and celebrations became one and October 31st eventually became known as All Hallows Eve, Hallowe’en and finally as Halloween. The modern day Halloween is based on all these influences starting from the Celts’ luck cats, magic, evil spirits and death to the ghosts, skeletons and skulls of All Saints Day (The True History of Halloween pp 6-7). Symbols of Halloween There are many symbols in Halloween such as Pumpkins, Witches, Black Cats, spiders, and owls (The Story of Halloween 2). Pumpkins are one of the symbols of a Halloween, and it involves emptying the pumpkin, carving a face, and inserting a candle from the inside in order to make its appearance scary (American Holidays Para 4). Witches are the second Halloween symbol; people would not have fun without witches. A witch was a powerful woman with super natural powers, and had dealings with evil doers, whereby, Salem, the American town is famous for the "witchcraft trials" took place in 1692. Black cats are the third Halloween symbol; according to ancient religions, black cats have the ability to divine the future. Throughout middle age era, people held that witches could turn themselves into black cats; thus, a black cat was considered a witch in disguise, resulting in many black cats being thrown into fire. Spiders are the fourth Halloween symbol, whereby the arachnids have become part of Halloween tradition, because of their connection to the witches. It was usually held that witches would tend spiders in their home as pets. Owls are the last Halloween symbol; like the spiders, owls are also the witches pet. Owls, especially the screech owls, made people scared because, during middle ages, people were reminded of witches by them. Halloween and Christianity Halloween has been termed by Christian evangels satanic and a glorification of the devil. It has also been claimed to be one of the four black Sabbaths on which witches meet up to pay their respects to the devil (Rogers 12). In addition, a number of pre-Christian religious convictions thought Halloween to be a fight involving the God of light and of darkness. Their depiction of Halloween as a satanic festival was based on the issue of the Celt’s appeasing their gods with human sacrifices and the use of human entrails by the druids (priests of the Celt’s) to consult their deities concerning the future especially through consulting the lord of darkness, also called the god of Samhain. The following occult practices were associated with the pagan festival that later came to be known as Halloween: idolatry, witchcraft, sorcery and necromancy. Thus, it is considered spiritually dangerous, as one of the most important days for Satanists. Mexico and Halloween In Mexico, Halloween is associated with the day of the dead, which is an adaptation of All Saints Day of the Roman Catholic; Halloween and the day of the dead have the same historical origins. In Mexico, it is a day widely celebrated from the colonial times to date and is a communal occasion in which families honor their deceased loved ones. In Mexico, it involves colorful and artistic displays of decorated beads, paper cutouts, and plastic toys that are on the theme of death. Others display snacks that are sculptured in the form of a skull, skeleton or casket to suggest a macabre confrontation with mortality. In addition, it is associated with night vigils at cemeteries and decoration of their deceased relatives’ graves, which are furnished with flowers, candles and food in honor of the dead. Nowadays, it is a symbol of national identity for people of Mexican descent and symbolizes Mexico as a whole (Brandes 360). Halloween in America Halloween got to the United States of America through Irish immigrants seeking to run from the potato famine of the 1840s in Ireland. The Irish brought many of their holiday customs and beliefs to America. Their practices included playing harmless games like bobbing for apples and having masked pranksters playing innocent tricks like pulling down gates from their unsuspecting neighbors. Their acts later degenerated to downright hooliganism and vandalism in the late 1800s, and it turned to a dangerous event that even shops and books stores owners had to pay a bribe in the form of a treat for protection. In order to avert trouble and acts of hooliganism, children were fostered to go around neighborhoods asking for treats with the greeting/ catch phrase, “trick or treat” (McKechie & Tynan 1012). The event later became commercialized in that there was production of paraphernalia associated with Halloween such as masks and costumes, and there was also holding of concerts during Halloween such as one held in an opera house, in 1887. Grocers did their best to cash in on the festivities where they attempted to sell a wide variety of products for the holiday, and also those who made chocolate as their products were sold at discounted prices. Before this, Halloween was simply home based with families organizing their events for a fun event with homemade appliances. However, more recent events have seen Halloween merchandise go at a very high cost. With the progression of time, Halloween has come to be the second largest commercial holiday with spending of close to $7billion (McKechnie & Tynan p. 102). Halloween related consumer goods debuted and spread all over the country making it a one-night phenomenon and spread to other countries as well such as Britain. In America, the event is not exclusively celebrated by only a given few. Not only children, but adults enjoy it too, and the youth take part in it despite the lack of Halloween etiquette to govern the behavior of participants. Halloween and the rest of the world Halloween in Eastern Europe is taken part in as All Saints Day and is spent praying to the saints and God. Those involved visit their deceased loved ones in cemeteries. In Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and Lithuania the day is observed as a public holiday and celebrated in memory of the dead and reflection. Italy, France and Germany celebrate Halloween in a similar manner to the Americans (Halloween Para. 12) Conclusion Halloween is an event spent merry-making despite its origins being associated with witches and satanic activities. The oblivion surrounding it does inhibit the joy experienced by people and celebrations are held in different ways as they have different significance to various groups of people. Despite the mixed views surrounding Halloween, most people ignore its negative views and go with the flow to fun. References American Holidays: Halloween. (September 2010). Retrieved on May 4 2012 from http://usa.usembassy.de/holidays-halloween.htm Brandes, S. (1998). The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity. Journal of American Folklore. 111(442) 359-80 Halloween. (n.d.). Retrieved on May 4 2012 from http://www.halloween-history.org/ McKechnie , S. & Tynan, C. (2008). Halloween in a material world: trick or treat?. Journal of marketing management, Vol. 24, No. 9-10, pp. 1011-23. Rogers, N. (2002).Halloween: From Pagan Festival to Party Night. New York, U.S.A: oxford University Press. The Story of Halloween. (n.d.). Retrieved on May 4 2012 from http://www.shiloahbooks.com/download/Halloween.pdf The True History of Halloween. (n.d.). Retrieved on May 4 2012 from http://digitalistix.com/dl/TrueHistoryOfHalloween.pdf Read More