What is Halloween and why is it held?

Halloween in English is a remnant of an ancient ceremony about 2000 years ago, but it still has a special place among people. Halloween lovers eagerly wait for October 31 to celebrate this day. You must have seen the image of pumpkins with eyes and mouths on virtual networks and the Internet. Of course, many people do not know about the philosophy of pumpkins on Halloween. It may be unbelievable that the pumpkin protects humans against demons and this feature has historical and legendary roots. If you don’t know the exciting details of this event and its philosophy, and you don’t know what Halloween is and why it is held, with this article from Flytoday tourism magazine be with

What is Halloween? | From makeup to Halloween costumes

Definitely until now Historical and scary photos from Halloween you have seen on the internet and social networks. The long, dark nights of autumn are lit up with orange pumpkins, which are the beacons of the way. The date of Halloween is October 31 Every year, many people around the world celebrate the arrival of winter, and the chocolates and candies that circulate between children’s hands on this night make the Halloween celebration more feverish.

The ancient celebration of Halloween is held every year in autumn. People who participate in this celebration wear scary and special clothes. From costumes to Halloween makeup, everything is different in this celebration! Young children go to the neighbors to scare them and get delicious chocolates and candies. This celebration can be a little similar to the spooning festival of us Iranians; With the difference that many excitements are going on throughout the Halloween celebration. In fact, Halloween has a different look at the spirits of the dead and their relationship with the living.

Where did Halloween start? | History and philosophy

The historical origin of Halloween in an ancient celebration of the Celtic people is left The Celts lived in a valley called Ward about 2,000,000 years ago. They considered the arrival of winter as the beginning of their new year and celebrated it. In fact, every year on October 31st, there was a long celebration after dark until the next morning. The Celts believed that the night before the new year, the border between the world of the living and the dead disappears; For this reason, they held a festival called Sawan to protect themselves from the invasion of wandering spirits by performing a series of rituals.

Since entering the winter, many products and people were injured and sick; The Celts believed that otherworldly spirits had risen from the earth and were intent on causing trouble for the living. Some Celtic priests considered the presence of spirits to predict the future. They provide pleasant predictions of the future and are a source of comfort and peace of mind for people during the long and dark winter.

To commemorate this auspicious event, this tribe would set up sacred fires and the local people would sacrifice their animals and crops in this ancient festival like other similar festivals. The most interesting part of this old festival was wearing clothes made of animal skins. This celebration lasted for a day and night, and when it was over, they lit the remaining ashes of the previous night’s fire to protect them in the coming winter.

Most of the Celtic territory was conquered by the Roman Empire by 43 AD. This empire reigned over their lands for about 400 years and the result of this rule was the fusion of two traditional Celtic festivals with other festivals of Roman origin. The first festival was Feralia, which was held on the last day of October and the Romans traditionally commemorated their dead. The second day was the day in which a festival was held in honor of the goddess of fruit and trees (Pomona). The symbol of Pomona is the apple, and this fruit has a special place in today’s Halloween celebration.

What are Halloween decorations and symbols?

The most specific image that remains in the minds of Halloween is a pumpkin with a large mouth and round eyes carved on it. A light is placed inside the pumpkin to be carried on the hands like a lantern. It may be interesting for many lovers of the symbolic celebration of Halloween to know how the pumpkin entered this ancient ceremony.

It is said that Jack O’Lantern was an Irish man who wandered through a dark forest in the middle of the night. He saw the prince of darkness (Satan) on the way and captured him by carving a cross into the bark of a tree. Satan made a promise to Jack that if he was freed, he would never take him to Hell. The devil was freed but Jack continued his lewd behavior and when he died he was denied entry to heaven due to his lewd behavior. Jack decided to go to his evil friend, the Prince of Darkness. The devil kept his word and did not enter him into hell and threw a piece of coal at him.

Jack put a piece of coal in a turnip to light his way like a lantern in the dark night. In fact, the Irish people first used carved turnips that lit up like lanterns. Later, with modern design, pumpkins with impressive decorations became popular in America.

How is Halloween held?

The more scary and sweet Halloween is, the better and more pleasant it is. At first, the Halloween celebration was held in the form of mass parades in the streets; But these days, the size of the Halloween party depends on each family. Many people celebrate the beginning of winter in their backyards, schools or family gatherings. Purple, orange and black colors are often seen in Halloween ceremonies. Many families make decorations to create a scary atmosphere of ghosts and ghosts. Children have the most fun on Halloween because there are many games and fun on this day.

What day is Halloween?

The date of Halloween every year is October 31 (November 9). As this day approaches, people are gearing up for Halloween props such as spooky ghostly costumes for all ages to celebrate the fall with a spooky atmosphere. Of course, orange pumpkins and red apples should not be neglected. Many families prepare all kinds of colorful chocolates and candies for this charming event. It is said that Americans spend a quarter of their annual candy purchases on Halloween night.

Celebrating Halloween in different countries

Halloween is a popular holiday among Americans, during which they perform many programs. It goes without saying that Protestants do not believe in this ancient celebration; For this reason, this celebration was not held in America for a long time until the Irish and Scots entered this country. At the first public party, they feasted on crops and told scary stories, stomped their feet, and over time, Halloween traditions became broader and more fascinating.

Halloween traditions

Americans and other countries have special customs to celebrate Halloween, but some traditions are common to most countries and have become Halloween rules, which we will discuss below:

The philosophy of pumpkins on Halloween

Carving amazing faces on pumpkins has been a tradition since 1895. Originally, turnips were carved in England, but pumpkins replaced it in America. People in different countries carve the inside of a pumpkin and turn it into a lantern. These carved pumpkins are carried by guides to ward off demons. In fact, the devils in Christianity are spirits who are deprived of heaven and hell and wander like Jack O’Lantern. It is not bad to know that these days pumpkins are given to children to get more candy.

Halloween spooning Trick-or-treating

On Halloween night, children are seen with Halloween costumes (Evil spirits) go to the neighbor’s door to frighten the owner as a joke and receive small toys or colorful candies in return. This tradition in the history of Halloween is considered the sweetest part of this celebration and it can be similar to The tradition of spooning in Iran knew

Decorate the skulls and skeletons of ghosts at the Halloween party

One of the traditions of Halloween is decorating the skulls of artificial skeletons. Many people buy plastic skeletons and decorate them and put them outside or inside their homes. These skeletons are a reminder of the return of the dead who return on the night of October 31st. In Christianity, images of skulls refer to the tradition of Calvary, where skulls are decorated to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The tradition of Calvary refers to the constant presence of death in human life and the shortness of life.

In Mexico, there is a ceremony called day of the dead It is held from October 31 to November 2. People these days Halloween costume They dress like skeletons of the dead and celebrate in the streets. This event is conceptually different from Halloween to a great extent, and the main point is that in this celebration, people are not only not afraid of the dead, but also respect them and welcome their return to earth. Also, Mexican people decorate the graves of their ancestors to celebrate this day.

Avoid black cats on Halloween

Halloween is the origin of monsters and demons, and today various symbols such as black cats, witches and scarecrows are symbols of evil characters. Therefore, facing any of these symbols means a bad omen. For this reason, people stay away from black cats during Halloween, and scarecrows are built and installed to keep the ghosts away! Also, the Celts believed that even if possible on this night, you should not step on the asphalt cracks and you should refrain from sprinkling salt! A broken mirror is considered bad luck on this night!

Biting an apple on Halloween

It is true that apple biting is often done during Thanksgiving, but as we said, apples have a long-standing place in the ancient celebration of Halloween.

Biting the apple is a traditional game and has gradually become one of the Halloween traditions that single boys and girls are very interested in. In this ceremony, apples are also a symbol of respect for agricultural products, and in this game, apples are thrown into a bowl of water or hung with a string.

Each of the apples is named after a single boy or girl. Single people try to bite the apple of the person they are interested in without using their hands. If biting the apple is successful, they will get married.

Halloween treats

Colorful foods have a special place in all celebrations and ceremonies, and this attractive and delicious part is also present in the Halloween ceremony and is still valid. A number of foods and treats are always present in this ceremony, which are as follows:

Caramel apple candies

Nothing is as nostalgic as caramel apple candies on Halloween. This traditional food is a combination of sweet and sour flavors. To make this delicious food, you must first dip the lollipop sticks into red and green apples and then put the apples into sugar syrup or caramel. After the apples are dipped in caramel, put them in the refrigerator to cool. Natural food colors can be used to color these candies.

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is one of the traditional Halloween foods. When fall rolls around, nothing brings the fall and Halloween vibes to your home like homemade pumpkin pie. To make pumpkin pie, you need pumpkin puree, lukewarm milk, eggs and spices such as cinnamon; Mix ginger and nutmeg. You can use cream or ice cream to decorate this cake.

Halloween apple bread

Apples are abundant in autumn, and for this reason, apple bread is one of the popular and traditional Halloween foods. This gluten-free bread is delicious with sweet and sour apple pieces and brown sugar. The unique taste of this bread is reminiscent of autumn and orange Halloween. If you don’t have brown sugar, you can use honey to sweeten the bread.

Caramel corn

Caramel corn is one of the simplest traditional Halloween foods that can be easily prepared. To make this dish, you need popcorn, butter, brown sugar, vanilla and baking soda. First, caramelize the sugar, butter, vanilla and baking soda well on the gas and then add the roasted corns to the caramel sauce.

Candy corn

Candy corn makes Halloween exciting and colorful for kids. This traditional food is prepared in yellow, orange and white autumn colors. Children expect to be given candy corn when they visit their neighbors.

Halloween time in Iran

The ancient celebration of Halloween is held on October 31 every year, which coincides with November 9. Iranians are symbolically interested in this celebration and sometimes strange costumes and makeup are seen on Halloween.

Where to travel for Halloween?

America is obsessed with Halloween more than any other country. Also, Halloween is celebrated in Canada with almost the same enthusiasm. In Europe, in countries with a smaller Protestant population, this celebration is celebrated more prosperously. For example, Halloween is celebrated more seriously in Germany and France.

Many Iranians are also interested in participating in this colorful autumn event. For this reason, some countries around Iran, such as Turkey and Dubai, have prepared attractive programs for this event. So many travelers after Buying plane tickets To Dubai or Türkiye and hotel reservation In these countries, they prepare themselves to attend the Halloween party.

Interesting tips about Halloween

• Sneezing on Halloween night is not very lucky. Preferably, take care of your sneezes; Because the Celts believe that with every sneeze a soul comes out of the body.
• Many single girls are looking to find a suitor on Halloween night.
• Halloween is considered the second commercial holiday in the world after Christmas, because in 2019, for example, Americans spent more than 8 billion dollars on this celebration.
• On Halloween, girls dress up as princesses and boys dress up as superheroes (Batman, Superman, Spiderman).
• In some countries, turnips, potatoes and beets are carved instead of pumpkins.
• Spooning and gifting candy has its roots in the English people’s vows to their dead.
• Halloween is not celebrated in England because of the majority of Protestants.

Celebrating Halloween in different countries

It is not bad to know that the colorful celebration of Halloween also had an educational aspect for Americans. In fact, in the spooning tradition, they teach their children not to be easily deceived by others, and on the other hand, children become more familiar with the concept of death.

The philosophy of Halloween refers to the cold and dark ancient winters; For this reason, by celebrating it and spreading delicious food, the winter cold becomes more enjoyable and bearable. By donating food on Halloween, poor and needy people will not start their winter with hunger.

What do you think about this charming autumn festival? Would you like to participate in this event for once? If you have had the experience of attending one of the Halloween parties, share what you saw, heard and experienced with us.

Frequently asked questions about Halloween