Hello Halloween

I just could not believe my eyes the other as I walked through a WalMart store. They have started selling Christmas decorations! We are barely into the first week of October. Heck! Halloween is not even here yet, and that is considered a big deal in the States. Stores seem to bring out all things Christmas earlier and earlier as the years go by. I won't be surprised if I see elves running around the stores in June someday!

Anyway, I am not going to talk about Christmas in this post. We still have two more months to get to that holiday. Let's talk about Halloween, which is pretty much foreign in Malaysia. What is Halloween?

Each year, on the last night of October, millions of children across the U.S dress-up in costume and take to the streets for a spooky dose of Trick or Treat fun. But how much do you really know about this haunted holiday? Explore this site to find out the true history!

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

There is more to the history of Halloween but there is too much to copy and paste over here. So, if you are interested to know more, you can read about the modern traditions here and the Evolution of the Holiday here.

Back to my browsing at the store, I now realise that I can shop for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas in October. I am not sure if I can get excited about it. I don't even know what I am going to cook tomorrow, how will I know what I need for Thanksgiving or Christmas?

By the way, I don't celebrate Halloween because there is no reason to. I have never been invited to a Halloween costume party. I did join some friends in an evening barbeque party, though. It was about two years ago on an army base in Germany. I must admit that it was nice to watch the children get all dressed up and ready to raid the neighbourhood's candy supply. When my friend took her children around the neighbourhood, she left me in charge of her bowls of chocolates, sweets and bubble gum. I was supposed to distribute them whenever children came knocking on the door. Usually, there are no questions asked when the children scream "trick or treat?" It is understood that they will get their treat - candies. I was so tempted to ruffle some feathers and challenge them to a trick. I decided against it lest I be known as the mean lady who made the children perform tricks.

It was interesting to note that there were a couple of young parents who seemed very excited about collecting candies for their infant and toddler children. I wonder who got hyperactive on sugar that night.

Last week, I almost drove off the road as I was making a right turn into my street. One of the houses on the corner has hung a mannequin, dressed up like a pontianak, from their huge oak tree. (I think the western people have their version of a pontianak called a banshee). They have ghostly decorations on their fence too. Their place seems so spooky in a heavily shaded lawn. It makes me wonder if it is not haunted already! One thing I know ... I will not to look their way if I ever have to drive past their house at night. I am afraid that pontianak might actually smile back at me.

I am not sure what we will be doing this Halloween. We live out in the countryside and the only children that I see in this area live across the street - two boys, aged 5 and 1. I suspect that they will be the only ones working our street with their parents. I guess I will stock up on some chocolate bars just in case they come a knockin' on my door. If they don't, more chocolates for me!