THE
DT WEEK END EDITION TH U RSDAY, OCT. 29, 2015 VOLU ME 90 ISSUE 39
HALLOWEEN HISTORY
EXPERTS DISCUSS HOLIDAY TRADITIONS By SHASHIDHAR SASTRY Staff Writer
A celebration of macabre and grotesque, Halloween is ironically enough a family-friendly holiday observed in various parts of the world including the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia. The history of this holiday, however, is centuries old and one that has been subject to numerous permutations. Ancient Origins: Throughout the course of history, there have been festivals in many cultures celebrating the change of seasons. In that lies the history of Halloween, as well. In northern Europe, during the transitional period between autumn and winter, people from agricultural communities celebrated the completion of harvest, Christopher Smith, professor and chair of musicology and director of the Vernacular Music Center, said. “Specifically in Ireland and British Isles, that festival was often celebrated just before All Saints’ Day in the Catholic calendar,” Smith said. “So, the 31st of October, the day before All Saints’ Day, was called All Hallows’ Eve.” All Hallows’ Eve, now Halloween, was also celebrated among the Celtic people of northern Europe in the form of a festival called Samhain. According to the History Channel website, Oct. 31 was seen as a day when the lines between the living and the dead were blurred and ghosts of the dead returned to Earth. Many of the traditions observed today — trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, bonfires and so on — are a reflection of the ancient belief that there is a brief moment in time when the boundaries between the real world and the supernatural world become extremely thin, Smith said.
SEE HALLOWEEN, PG. 2
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DUNCAN STANLEY