Points of view from an emic perspective
Each year, Americans celebrate Halloween the 31st October. Celebrants dress up in costumes that resemble animals or ghosts and wear animal-inspired headwear. This night is a time when celebrants get together to share their stories and engage in social interaction. Children love to receive treats from celebrants. As part of trick-or-treat, children can knock on the doors of people to try to get sweets or treats from them (George 2020). In the past, young girls gathered to hear fortunes about future husbands. Other organizations organized events which paired young men with women who could become their husbands.
Views from
The American choice to celebrate Halloween may be cultural. However, cultural literature connects the event with ancient societies as well as the Christian Church (McIlwraith 2017). Americans took the Celtic Halloween tradition from the Celts. The Celtics had a night to signal the transition from summer into winter. The Celts believed that the night would be a time when the spirits of those who are dead could communicate with living people to prepare for winter. This was especially important because many would die during winter. To prevent this, the Celts offered sacrifices from their animals and crops to help stop bad omens. These were then sent out to please the spirits. They also believed that fortunetellers would be at their best that night. They were therefore required to stay outside with bonfires lit to perform their fortune-telling sessions and talk to their relatives who had passed. To confound spirits, bonfire parties were held in the company of animal skins and skulls. After the Romans conquered their land and made it more Roman, the civilization grew beyond that of the Celts. In honor of the deceased saints, the Catholic Church would merge Halloween and All Saints’ Day to celebrate the Catholic Church. They would continue the Halloween traditions by creating All Souls Day, November 2, to honor all souls who have died.
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