Halloween, All Hallows Eve, Samhain

The last day of October is less than a couple of weeks away. I like to decorate my front porch with ghosts, spiders, black cat cut outs, a skeleton or two, and lighted pumpkins. I`ve always thought that the day came from a combination of the Christian day of celebration for the dead (All Saints, All Hallows) and the Celtic festival of Samhain (a harvest end of year festival). Indeed Wikipedia does describe these influences and also mentions the Roman end of summer feast of Pomona and the festival for the dead of Parentalia. Wikipedia also says that Halloween came to North America with the influx of Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 19^th century.

In ancient Egypt, approximately in May, the Festival of the Valley was held in the Theban necropolis (large cemetery, city of the dead).  It was a time for families to feast with their dead.

The ancient Greeks had a day when they believed the dead came up, and so they had to smear their doors with tar and chew certain leaves to keep away evil.

Many people probably know about the Mexican Day of the Dead, a religious festival celebrated with food, candles, and flowers, and visits to cemeteries. The festival blends customs from the Spanish conquistadors and the Aztec and Mayan peoples. The Aztecs and Mayans both believed that the dead returned to visit the living during one day of the year.

In Japan they hold a Festival of Lanterns (Obon) in August, when the souls of the dead are said to walk on earth, to visit their relatives. Offerings of food are made at Buddhist temples, and people hang lighted lanterns on their houses, so the dead can find their way. At the end, paper lanterns with lit candles are floated down rivers to the ocean, so the dead can find the way back to their proper land. (http://edsitement.neh.gov/not-just-halloween-festivals-dead-around-world)

I remember a festival in Germany when I was a child, when we carried lanterns through the streets. This was probably St. Martin`s Day, which is still celebrated on November 11 in parts of Germany. It`s officially a Catholic Holiday, but has spread to other areas (we lived in the Protestant north). I would not let anyone light my candle because I was afraid that the lantern would catch fire – which happened, and still does, as it would when you`re carrying a lantern on a stick outside and there might be wind or a wiggly hand.

Happy decorating, trick or treating, and partying, whatever your traditions!