Americans celebrate Halloween by dressing up as scary characters, carving pumpkins with their families, and distributing or consuming a large amount of sweets and candy. Samhain was originally a pagan festival. Halloween falls on October 31, which is the day when originators consider the line between world of spirits and realm of living to be especially porous. It allowed them to communicate directly with the afterlife.
Celts used clothing to hide their identity from the spirits. Although certain aspects of this practice may have been modified and incorporated with modern elements over time, many original features remain. According to some, the lighting of carved lanterns could drive out evil spirits. Children used to knock on doors asking for “soul cake” and this idea evolved into trick-or-treat (Carter & Dart, 2015). Parents gave sweets to their kids to protect them from festival pranks.
The originators of scary clothing were Irish and Scottish pranksters. They wanted to scare their friends and neighbors. Costumes were originally made to honour saints. The pagan Samhain rituals were later modified to include Christian elements. Christians also celebrated All Saints Day or All Hallows Eve when they paid tribute to saints.
Different religions celebrate Halloween in different ways. Americans dress up in scary costumes, go trick-or treating, make pumpkins, decorate them with jacks-o-lanterns and carve them. But other cultures such as Cambodia engage in buffalo racing (Carter & Dart, 2015). Spain and Mexico celebrate the Day of the Dead (or Da de los Muertos) by wearing ancestral costumes and building altars called ofrendas. These are where the deceased can be offered offerings.
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