By JAMIE MUN (11)
What is Halloween? Halloween happens once a year, on October 31. During this time around, the weather is cool and windy. The breeze gives off a chilly feeling, and the nights get longer and the days get shorter, making the night feel spooky and haunting. People dress up and go trick-or-treating to obtain candy from their neighborhood, or a house that is willing to give candy.
However, that is what the twenty century displays it as. There is more to it than candy and costumes. It is said that Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts made this day to designate it as winter starting and harvesting season ending. The alteration between fall to winter was thought to be the “bridge to the world of death (Halloween).” It was said that during this day, that the dead would come back alive.
As 43 A.D. approached, almost all of the Celtic territory was conquered by the Roman Empire. When this happened, the Celtic cultures were intertwined with the Roman Empire cultures, specifically two festivals from the Roman Empire. As a result, the first festival, Feralia, was payed tribute to the dead and Pomona, the second festival was to celebrate the fruit and trees’ Roman goddess. This demonstrates the reasons for apples on Halloween day, because apples are a representation of Pomona.
After time had passed, the holiday spread to America. Especially, to the southern colonies, and then, Halloween started to mix with other cultures and beliefs, such as American Indians. Thus, customs changed, and scary story telling began to emerge and festivals with dancing and singing were involved. More time passed and more cultures began to intertwine, and thus, “trick-or-treating” began to arise around the 1840s. However, it was not until the 1920s and 1930s, when Halloween became less religious, more secular, and more widespread.
Finally, the modern day world has made Halloween more commercialistic than ever. Today, it is all about the stores competing with each other to grab the buyers’ attention in order to make money and profit during the holidays. With the help of haunted houses, costumes, and food the retailers attract the consumers’ attention, which leads to increase profit and a better economy. Although, this may seem not as bad, the current society has now made many religious days, like this, into a simple cultural day. Making all the people forget the real reason for October 31st.
What is Halloween? Halloween happens once a year, on October 31. During this time around, the weather is cool and windy. The breeze gives off a chilly feeling, and the nights get longer and the days get shorter, making the night feel spooky and haunting. People dress up and go trick-or-treating to obtain candy from their neighborhood, or a house that is willing to give candy.
However, that is what the twenty century displays it as. There is more to it than candy and costumes. It is said that Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts made this day to designate it as winter starting and harvesting season ending. The alteration between fall to winter was thought to be the “bridge to the world of death (Halloween).” It was said that during this day, that the dead would come back alive.
As 43 A.D. approached, almost all of the Celtic territory was conquered by the Roman Empire. When this happened, the Celtic cultures were intertwined with the Roman Empire cultures, specifically two festivals from the Roman Empire. As a result, the first festival, Feralia, was payed tribute to the dead and Pomona, the second festival was to celebrate the fruit and trees’ Roman goddess. This demonstrates the reasons for apples on Halloween day, because apples are a representation of Pomona.
After time had passed, the holiday spread to America. Especially, to the southern colonies, and then, Halloween started to mix with other cultures and beliefs, such as American Indians. Thus, customs changed, and scary story telling began to emerge and festivals with dancing and singing were involved. More time passed and more cultures began to intertwine, and thus, “trick-or-treating” began to arise around the 1840s. However, it was not until the 1920s and 1930s, when Halloween became less religious, more secular, and more widespread.
Finally, the modern day world has made Halloween more commercialistic than ever. Today, it is all about the stores competing with each other to grab the buyers’ attention in order to make money and profit during the holidays. With the help of haunted houses, costumes, and food the retailers attract the consumers’ attention, which leads to increase profit and a better economy. Although, this may seem not as bad, the current society has now made many religious days, like this, into a simple cultural day. Making all the people forget the real reason for October 31st.