All things Halloween!

2009/10/28

By  Lam Xin Ning, 14, Petaling Jaya

HALLOWEEN celebrations in Malaysia seem barely visible to our naked eye. Some people just stay at home fixated on the horror shows on TV. However, in some housing areas where families celebrate the occasion, the children gang up and go on their “trick or treat” rounds. One of my favourite all-time Halloween movies is Boogeyman which really got me hooked to the genre. So why is it that Halloween has to be the day to bring out all that is scary? To know that, you need to know a little of its history.

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. In the Gaelic culture, it is a celebration at the end of the harvest season, sometimes regarded as the Celtic New Year.

Traditionally, it was a time when ancient Celtic pagans took stock of their supplies and slaughtered livestock for winter. The Ancients believed that on Oct 31, the boundary between our world and the netherworld dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living, causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. Bonfires were a frequent sight at these festivals. Into them bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks worn at Halloween date back to traditions of trying to copy the evil spirits to appease them.

In Scotland, masked young men fully dressed in white, impersonated the dead by wearing veils or having their faces blackened.

The term Halloween comes from an Old English phrase eallra halgena aefen, meaning All Hallow’s Evening, which is the eve of All Hallows Day. It was shortened to All Hallow’s Eve before being spelt Hallowe’en.

The Church, trying to move people away from the pagan traditions, moved the Christian Feast of All Saints Day from May 13 to Nov 1. So that’s how All Hallow’s Day came to be known as All Saints Day.

Though All Saints Day now is a day after Halloween, at one time the two holidays were celebrated on the same day – to mark a day when both the living and the dead could be together again for one holiday.

Today Halloween is associated with many rituals. They include:

1. The Bogeyman

The Bogeyman will visit you during Halloween if you are the chosen one, I was told. The brave ones pray for the Bogeyman to visit them during Halloween while others said they would rather die than have the Bogeyman as company for the night.

2. Spooky Decorations

There are loads of special Halloween decorative items such as eco-friendly and talkative Jack O’ Lanterns, and pumpkin plush toys for children that seem to come to life every time they are squeezed.

3. Sweet celebrations

For the children, Halloween is sweet affair. We get to go to every house to ask for treats. The best part is getting the sweets for FREE!!

4. Ghost stories

Every Halloween, after the treats or tricks affair, older siblings tell children horror stories to prepare them for the nightmares later.

5. Pumpkins ripe for the picking

Pumpkin farmers are usually the ones laughing to the bank after the celebration ends because of the high demand for Jack ‘O Lanterns.