Halloween

October 30th, 2023 (12 months ago) • 2 minutes

Halloween's here (tomorrow to be accurate). Truth to be told, I've never truly celebrated Halloween before aside from watching clips of what happened on the day after. Coming from Malaysia (where holidays are abundant), it's not something we celebrate widely here.

Nights of Fright at Sunway. The closest I've ever gotten to celebrating. Honestly, it was more waiting/queuing than celebrating.

What I came across were interesting things about Halloween.

Background

Did you know that Halloween originated from the Celts, known as the Festival of Samhain? October 31st is the day they marked as the boundary between the end of harvest and the beginning of the dark winter. They also believed that it's the day the ghosts of the dead return to earth. To ward them off, they burned offerings and celebrated. Slowly, this event modernized, with people telling ghost stories and playing mischievous pranks. The large irish immigration also helps to bring the celebration over during the 19th century.

Trick of Treat

Saying "trick or treat" actually means that if a treat (like candy) is given, then the child will not perform a “trick" (mischief) on the owner of the house.

It was said that leaving food and drink outside would protect the house from spirits, but gradually, society took advantage of this and treated it as payment in exchange for protection from evil spirits! Are we the devils then haha!

Jack O'Lantern

Irish folklore says that a guy named Stingy Jack managed to trick the devil into climbing a tree and prevented him from coming down by drawing a cross. He then made a deal with the Devil in exchange for not taking his soul. When Jack died, he was not allowed to enter heaven because of his misdeeds. The Devil also kept his promise and did not allow him to enter hell. So, Jack was left to roam the earth with only a burning coal to light his way.

The Irish used to carve Jack O'Lantern out of turnips and potatoes, but when they migrated to America, they found that pumpkins were much easier to carve.