The History of Spooky
Throughout history, cultures have found ways to celebrate their dead relatives, spirits, and creatures of the dark. These celebrations each take place around the same time of year, no matter where in the world they are happening. Despite cultural differences, people will always find a way to celebrate Halloween.
All Saints Day
The Catholic Church created a holiday in 609 A.D. to celebrate their multitude of saints and martyrs. Despite there being millions of saints already, this holiday tends to focus on those saints that are recognized as canon by the Church.
Most Catholic churches celebrate All Saints Day by requiring their congregation to attend Mass. However, other countries have different ways to celebrate, depending on what that country’s bishop decides to do. This celebration extends to the next day, which is called All Souls Day, a day dedicated to honoring all of the dead.
Día de los Muertos
Another holiday that focuses on celebrating the departed is the Mexican Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos. According to the holiday, the departed family members return to celebrate with the living.
The living celebrate by bringing the favorite food and drinks of the dead to an ofrendas [Offerings]. The food and drink on these alters is accompanied by photos and marigolds. The flowers are said to guide the departed to the homes of their families. These gifts are supposed to encourage visits from the land of the dead as souls smell the offerings and join in the celebration.This celebration is one that is filled with joy. Instead of mourning the loss of family members, people celebrate the departed’s lives. Sugar skulls are made with smiling faces, and people paint their faces in this manner as well.
Samhain
Dia de los Muertos is not the only holiday that is a joyous celebration. A pagan holiday called Samhain that was celebrated by the ancient Celts was a harvest festival. The purpose of this holiday was to celebrate the upcoming harvest and welcome the dark half of the year. Bonfires were lit and fires in the fireplace were left to burn in celebration.
What makes this celebration a “Halloween” celebration is the fact that revelers believed the spirit world and the physical world combine as barriers break down. The breakdown of these barriers allowed people to celebrate with the creatures of the Otherworld. To appease these spirits, people left offerings to the creatures that were left in fields outside the villages.
Awuru Odo Festival
This festival is the only Halloween-like festival that doesn’t completely occur in October and November. The Awuru people of Nigeria celebrate the coming of the Odo, or spirits of the dead. Preparations for this bi-annual celebration begin the fall, as men prepare masks that the Odo will wear while they are there.
Because this celebration only takes place every other year, compared to every year like the others, elaborate preparations are made for these spirits. Women of the Awuru, compared to the men who make masks, prepare the food for the celebration.
Back Home
The celebration that we are all most familiar with is our Halloween. Each year, we dress up our children and bring them door to door with the common phrase ‘Trick or Treat”. These children get candy, their favorite part of the holiday. The gift of giving candy can be traced back to the celebration of Samhain and Dia de los Muertos. By giving candy, we are appeasing the spirits, or in this case, the kids.
Around the world, there are different celebrations for the dead and the spirits. No matter the culture, it seems that we as people enjoy celebrating that which we cannot see. As Halloween has come and gone this year, take time to think about why we celebrate as you steal from your sibling’s candy stash.
