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 HALLOWEEN�
A guide through the history of this Euro-American Holiday

Harry potter, Miss Piggy, A giant cow, Captain Jack Sparrow and some ghosts are standing on the front porch, demanding candy. No this isn�t a weird dream, its Halloween. Halloween is a holiday observed on 31st of October every year in most areas of North America, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, England and in some areas of Western Europe. The holiday is symbolically associated with death and the supernatural. But why do people dress up every year, carve pumpkins and try to scare each other? Halloween is actually a combination of several ancient holidays. The first Halloween celebrations were pagan festivals called �Samhain,� practiced by the early Celts. During Samhain (pronounced �Sow-en�), people celebrated the lives of dead ancestors and marked the end of the harvest season.

As paganism faded in Europe, Samhain traditions were adopted by celebrators of All Hallows Eve. The holiday later was called Halloween for short, and was a day of tribute to Christian saints. The next day, All Souls Day was a day to honor the souls of dead relatives.

As people of various European cultures immigrated to America, they brought along their autumn customs. The modern Halloween in America is now the blend of many traditions. The people do different things and activities for Halloween, which are called Halloween rituals. The most famous and popular Halloween rituals are as follow:

Trick Or Treating:
During Samhain villagers would offer a big feast to dead ancestors. In order to prepare, groups of people would go door to door and ask for feast donations. Stingy households were given a threat, which later was called a trick. When All Halloween Eve replaced Samhain, children would go house to house and beg for soul cakes. The simple dread desserts with jam toppings were exchanged for prayers for dead relatives an All Soul Day. The more cake a person gave, the more prayers the children promised to say. But now only the children go to house to house and ask for candies.

Scary Costumes:
Many people, teens and children dress up in scary costumes for the day. Usually people dress up as a witch, monster, ghost, and super hero. Samhain celebrators believed that evil spirits would come back and mingle among the people, causing terror. Worried Celts dressed as demons, ogres, or ghouls in hopes a bad spirit wouldn�t recognize them.

Bobbing For Apples:
Life could be unpredictable for the Celts, and many pagan traditions centered on predicting good fortunes. People bobbed for apples as a way of testing their fortunes. Those who could bob their heads into water and catch the skin of an apple with their teeth were thought to be able to grasp good fortunes. But this is not done any more in the modern Halloween.

Jack-O-Lanterns:
When the people carve a pumpkin, they make a happy, grumpy or scary face! But the Celts always used to make scary faces, because they feared the return of evil spirits during Samhain. They would carve the faces on pumpkins and set the lit pumpkins on their doorsteps. They hoped the scary faces would frighten evil spirits and keep their houses safe. This is what most of the people do nowadays on Halloweens. One can see pumpkins on every doorstep during Halloween.

Black Cats:
It is true that a little inky wouldn�t hurt a flea, but during the Middle Ages, Europeans feared black cats. They believed the felines were the companions of witches. They also suspected that witches could also transform themselves into black cats. Because of both fears, a black cat crossing ones path was considered an omen of bad luck. Even today some people think as the same way not only in America but also in other countries including Pakistan.

Hay Riding:
A hayride is a pleasure ride in an open truck, wagon or sleigh, which has been decorated with hay or straw and similar farm life paraphernalia. In modern times it is usually organized commercially and takes place at night.

Spooky Stuff:
When people decorate for Halloween they also include bats, owls or spiders? The fear of these animals also stems from pagan beliefs. The other Halloween rituals include bonfire, ghost tours, visiting haunted attractions, reading scary stories and watching horror movies.

Its all the stuff and activities people do and like but the thing I like the most is the orange color in the costumes and used in decoration.

Ishtiaq Azhar
(Charun Chitral)
USA.