Happy Halloween 🎃

Halloween is just around the corner and not only enjoys great popularity in the USA.

In Europe the ghost festival of ghosts, pumpkins and disguises has arrived since some years and makes the cash registers in the department stores and supermarkets ring.

I would like to introduce you to the meaning of Halloween and explain to you what the scary festival means, where it comes from and what is especially typical of Halloween.

The meaning of Halloween and where does the festival come from?

The meaning of Halloween can be traced back to Catholic Ireland. By the Irish immigrated to the US, the celebration spread there. To date, however, there are different theories that say whether the tradition of Halloween has a Celtic or a Christian origin.

The Christian tradition, the origin and the meaning of Halloween lies in the designation "All Hallows' Eve".
This is the evening before the "All Hallows' Day", meaning before All Saints. All Saints Day is November 1st, so "All Hallows' Eve" is October 31st - just when Halloween is celebrated worldwide.

In Celtic history, it is said that the meaning of Halloween is based on the Celtic festival "Samhain" and already 500 BC. Was celebrated on the Celtic New Year, the 31st of October!

The Celts believed that the worlds of the living and the dead would collide on this evening.

According to legend, the dead try to take possession of the souls of the living and secure their chance of a life after death. The living must either hide or disguise themselves as dead to avoid being recognized. Many also used the disguise to deter and drive away the dead and spirits.

How is Halloween celebrated?

Halloween is not only celebrated by adults, especially children and adolescents have enjoyed it. Once a year, the Halloween fans dress up and turn into bloodthirsty and scary creatures.

A particularly popular custom, especially in the US, is "trick or treat". The custom is for disguised children and teenagers in the neighborhood to go door to door begging for sweets. Most of the time the saying "sweet, otherwise there is acid!" ("Trick or treat!"). If the children do not receive any sweets from their neighbor, they must expect a prank from the children.

The origin of this custom and the meaning of Halloween in this sense goes back to the ninth century. Christians went through the villages on the day of the "All Souls", the 2nd of November, to beg so-called "soul cake". This treat is a special bread with sweet and sour currants.

A custom that is most prevalent and popular on Halloween is the transformation into mostly scary characters. Whether witch, vampire or ghost, devil or zombie: The imagination of the disguises are no limits. Not only children love to dress up. Many young adults enjoy recreating Halloween every year.

What is typical for Halloween?

Not only the disguise is very typical for Halloween, but also the setting up of pumpkins. They are mostly hollowed out and provided with scary grimaces carved into the pumpkin to scare off monsters, dead and other scary characters on the night of Halloween.

To trace the origin of pumpkin usage, we return to early Ireland. A story says that a villain named Jack made a pact with the devil but cheated on him. After Jack's death, he did not go to heaven or hell because even the devil did not want him there. And so that the wandering Jack could find his way in the dark, the devil handed him glowing, glowing coals and a turnip. The lore probably made the turnip a pumpkin lit from the inside. Since then, this glowing pumpkin has also been dubbed "Jack O'Lantern" and in the US it has been placed on terraces and verandas.

Other well-known features of Halloween are witch-hats as well as witches brooms, spiders and cobwebs, bats, vampire teeth, blood, tombs, skulls, black cats, dark colors like black and blood red, but also orange.

Enjoy this awesome fest, no matter who you are, where you from, what language you speak and what your religion is.

As a Buddhist living in Europe, I celebrate every festival. As well as celebrate culture and humanity. No boundaries of languages, religions or skin colors.

Happy Halloween everyone! 🎃

@siamcat ❤️

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