Artigenda
Halloween
When: Annually, October 31.
Halloween is a holiday whose origins date back to the ancient Celts. The holiday has become very popular in the Netherlands, especially in recent years. On October 31, it is Halloween.
Originally, the holiday was very popular in Ireland and the UK. Thanks to Irish and English immigrants, it became a popular holiday in Canada and the United States. Later, thanks to Hollywood films and still later the internet and social media, it became popular in other countries as well.
This is the night/night to go door-to-door, scare people (not too much of course) and play a prank here and there (keep it clean).
Origin
Halloween dates back to the Celts, taking its history back to around 2,000 years ago. This people lived in the area we now know as Ireland and Britain. On the last day of October, they celebrated the festival of Samhain. This festival marked the end of summer and heralded the beginning of winter. With that, it also marked the new year. On this day, the line between the living and the dead blurred. The spirits of ancestors would return and visit people. This would also mean that evil creatures were roaming around, such as demons and fairies. Therefore, protection was necessary and people did this by wearing masks and costumes. Large fires were lit to illuminate the darkness.
The arrival of the Romans in the area caused a mixing of local traditions with Roman traditions. Thus, it could happen that the Roman festival Feralia was also celebrated by the Celts. This festival was also celebrated by the Romans at the end of October and was also dedicated to the dead. Another Roman festival was Pomona, dedicated to the goddess of fruits and gardens. It is therefore explainable that apples play a role in Halloween traditions. Think of biting for apples in a bowl of water.
With the arrival of Christianity across Europe around the fifth century, a problem arose for the Catholic Church. How did they deal with these festivals? Therefore, All Saints’ Day was instituted on 1 November. This was to commemorate all Christian saints. The evening before All Saints’ Day became All Hallows’ Eve. This was later bastardised into Halloween.
A new Christian holiday followed on November 2: All Souls’ Day. With this, people had to pray for all those who would have ended up in purgatory. On that day, people went around houses and asked for bread with currants, the soul cake. In exchange, they promised to pray for the dead. This is reminiscent of what we know as trick or treat.
The introduction in North America
For a long time, Halloween remained a celebration confined to Ireland and Britain. This came to an end when a wave of emigration towards North America started in the nineteenth century. Traditions were taken with them and with that followed the introduction of Halloween in North America. Not only that, another blending followed. Just as it had previously taken place with the Romans and with the introduction of Christianity.
A new kind of party emerged. Especially aimed at children and young people. They went around houses dressed up to collect sweets and sometimes even money. Harmless pranks were also played. Although some youngsters did get a bit out of hand.
Jack o'Lantern
Pumpkins were introduced as Jack o’lanterns. They were hollowed out and given a face and a candle or lamp inside. This tradition can be traced back to an Irish legend about the Irish blacksmith Jack.
According to legend, one night the blacksmith encountered the devil, who wanted to take him to hell. Jack managed to lure the devil into a tree and by scratching a cross into the tree, it was then unable to leave the tree. Only after the devil made a promise not to take Jack with him was he allowed to leave the tree.
Despite this ruse, Jack was denied entry to heaven after his death. This was due to all sorts of bad things he had pulled off during his life. The devil in turn reminded Jack of the promise and with it, Jack had to wander the earth forever. The devil did, however, give him another coal, which he used to turn a turnip into a lantern. With that, the pumpkin is not the original lantern. In the New World, people only found out that tubers were less suitable for hollowing out. Hollowing out a pumpkin is a lot easier.
Although the party’s popularity increased with the arrival of immigrants, it was only after Hollywood started making films and series about it. With that, it became a phenomenon. Not only on a national level in the United States, by the way. Internationally, people also learned about Halloween.
It attracted attention in other countries. It was only from the 1990s onwards before internationally more and more Halloween celebrations took place outside Ireland, Britain, Canada and the United States. Indeed, the influence of films and series was huge. What would later be even greater was the influence of the internet and then social media.
When you consider that Halloween subsequently also became very attractive commercially, you can imagine that it all became even bigger. On the one hand, this is a shame. With that, some of the original characters of Halloween have been lost a bit, you could argue. Not everything has to do with Halloween anymore, some people think. There is room for debate about that.
Europe
In the past years, Halloween gained popularity in Europe. Every year people in Europe want to get spooked or spook others at Halloween. The developments were not to everyone’s liking. In particular, conservative or conservative groups in society thought all this was a bad development. They pointed to its “diabolical” or “pagan” nature in particular. “Glorifying evil” would not be OK. Thereby forgetting that it is not a compulsory part. No one is forced to participate. It is not a bank holiday and the chances of it ever becoming one are extremely slim.
Moreover, something else is at play: it is not about worshipping something evil, like the devil. It’s not that participating children worship or start worshipping the devil en masse. That is just forgotten. For many children, it is an evening of ‘creeping out.’ Not only that: it is also a reason to dress up and snack!
