Halloween In Different Countries

In this article, Alexius talks about all the different ways Halloween is celebrated around the world.

Halloween in Different countries

By Alexius Nyna Burnett

Halloween is a beautiful, fun, spooky holiday that is celebrated all over the world, with every country adding their own little taste and twist on traditions and celebrations-- like Samhain, Ireland, where Halloween originated; the Hungry Ghost festival from the Chinese Diaspora; and even Perchance Fet Gede in Haiti and their religious honoring of the Dead. Halloween’s spirit is so uniquely different across the whole globe, with all the richness it spreads.

All Hallows Eve

The birthplace of Halloween is Irish, originating from Samhain, Ireland. It was a Pagan religious celebration from the Celtic people, who started the festival by welcoming the harvest at the end of the summer. The festival consists of lighting bonfires and wearing costumes to scare off bad ghosts. The festival marked the transition from the new year to the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter. In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III made Nov. 1 the day to honor all of the Saints (All Saints Day), so the day before Nov. 1 is All Hallows Eve, and then the holiday later became known as Halloween.

Picture by : About Ireland.io

Picture by : Historic Mysteries

Some traditions that began when this holiday first emerged were similar but also quite different from those celebrated in today's modern times in the United States of America. According to Joanne Colcough, et. al., around the 1600s, there was a legend about a man called “Stingy Jack” who had trapped the Devil multiple times because he wanted to make a deal. The deal was that Jack would let the Devil go, but only if he promised that Jack wouldn’t go to Hell once he passed. However, Heaven did not want Jack's soul, so he ended up becoming a wandering spirit for eternity on Earth. In return for the Devil's and Jack's deal, he gave Jack a lump of hot burning coal inside a carved turnip to help guide Jack's pathway while he roamed the world. The Celtic people became inspired by this celebration and began carving turnips with faces, then putting light sources inside to scare off all the evil spirits. Soon afterward, people started to carve pumpkins instead, which led to Jack-o-lanterns. Costumes were also discovered because Celtic people didn't want to get terrorized by evil spirits]; they believed that bad spirits would walk the earth during the festival. So they dressed up like ghosts and other monsters to hide and confuse the spirits. Trick-or-treating also originated in Samhain. People would leave out food to please the spirits, and have huge bonfires to light the path for souls seeking the afterlife. However, the lights attracted insects and bats, which were believed to be a part of superstitions and harbingers of death.

Fet gede

Fet Gede in Haiti is the Haitian Day of the Dead on Nov. 1 and 2, which is similar to the celebration in Mexico and celebrated by the Latino community, who use this day to pay respect to all their loved ones who have passed. Fet Gede is an annual tradition of the religious Vodou practitioners, who parade through the streets, possessed by the dead spirits-- called Gede. This celebration is loud and extravagant and can be seen all over Haiti. The Haitian people as a whole like to make the dead feel noticed and special. Vodou practitioners dress up to represent Iwa or Iou, which are spirits, gods, or the dead. Gede are the reincarnation of loved ones from the afterlife who live in Voduizan bodies; however, becoming a Voduizan has many steps, like ceremonies, contacting the dead, and transforming Gedes into gods. Cemeteries get overturned by Voduizan dressed in either purple, white, or black, and covered in white powder and black sunglasses, a walking stick, and a bottle filled with either alcohol or hot peppers, which they are known to love. The possessed bodies would pour the pepper or alcohol filled bottles onto their bodies. Jean Oscar Augustin, a visual artist and art director at Visit Haiti, claimed that "Once at the cemetery, the boisterous spectacle continues with loud singing, erotic dancing, and bodies drenched in spicy substances." The reason why they reenact sexual erotic actions is to charm onlookers at the parade. The parade lasts for several hours, and everyone ends up at the same destination--the cemetery-- to end it all. At the cemetery, people bring coffee or grilled corn and sit and talk with their loved ones amongst dance performances in the background.

Photo by Deccan Chronicle

Hungry ghost festival

Photo by Tatler Asia

Another similar Halloween tradition is the Hungry Ghost Festival from China. This is a special event celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month by the Chinese Diaspora. This is a time when the boundary between the spiritual and living realms is thought to blend together-- on the day when ghosts are the most angry and hungry, seeking comfort. According to Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco The festival hosts rituals to honor and acknowledge the spirits of the dead, provides offerings of food, joss paper, incense lighting, performances, and fulfills the needs of the spirits. Celebrators find ways to make the spirits feel seen, with all their rage and grief. The parade also has a 14-foot Ghost King float, which is led by the Lotus Tao Cultural Institute. Known for its resilience and resistance, this tradition has helped bring together so many communities and people who have suffered from unfairness, exclusivity, immigration issues, sorrows, and anger. It embodied the legacy of reconciling with anger. Before the 1920s, the Hungry Ghost festival was one of the most important rituals to help pacify upset spirits.

Halloween is so diverse in its traditions and ways of celebrating the living and the dead. Ultimately, the spirit that Halloween brings-- fun, scary, and perplexing traditions-- are celebrated in so many ways all over the world. From way back in Samhain, Ireland, where it first originated, to honoring the dead and loved ones in China and Haiti, the different cultures add such rich and quirky pieces of flavor to their own versions of this special holiday.

Sources:

Page updated

Report abuse