How did you celebrate Halloween? Â
The season around Halloween is a very nostalgic time for me; it evokes memories of when I was a kid and decorating the house. When the air turns cold and starts to smell like burnt wood, that is when I know Halloween is drawing near. In my earlier years, I celebrated Halloween as many other children did in the UK. Dressing up in âscaryâ costumes, visiting other houses on the street and getting bags of sweets (or, like in one strange house, a bag of nuts and an orange) and watching Hocus Pocus, classic! One year, we even grew our own pumpkins, and ended up with eight dotted around our home with various terrifying faces. If you couldnât tell, Halloween was my favourite holiday as a kid, and still is now, but for different reasons. Â
Now, like 74,000 UK Pagans, I celebrate Samhain. A Celtic tradition, Samhain marks the start of the Pagan new year. Commemorated from the evening of October 31st to the morning of November 1st, marking when the veil between worlds is thinnest and spirits are more likely to make appearances. Â
Traditionally, this would be a time for the last harvest of the year, involving culling herds, large feasts and bonfires. Now, the modern approach, due to the mass sweep of Christianity across Europe, means Pagan traditions were altered, but Pagans and Wiccans are starting to reclaim their roots again. It is a time for celebrating and commemorating the dead, honouring ancestors and preparing for the new year. Leaving offerings, such as food, for spirits is good practice, as well as carving pumpkins and turnips to ward off negative energy. Some good crystals and colours for this time of year are Obsidian, Smoky Quartz, Carnelian, black, red and purple. Â
Across the world in Mexico and many other Latin American countries, Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is an event celebrated across multiple days. Originally an Aztec tradition commemorating the Lady of the Dead, whose role was to watch over the spirits of those who passed on, as it was believed that the bones of past lives were used to create new life. Once a year, she would ascend to the land of the living to receive offerings of food, dance and ensure that the bones were protected properly. Â
After the Spanish invasion and colonisation, the Aztec celebration and the Catholic âAll Saints Dayâ were merged into what we know today as Day of the Dead. Families will build ofrendas, dedicated to family and pets that have passed on. These altars are colourfully decorated with photos, personal belongings, Papel Picado (tissue paper banners), sugar skulls (another Aztec tradition), favourite foods and drinks. These are used to welcome spirits back to the land of the living and celebrate their memory.  Â
Life and death are something that all cultures and religions explore, moving back to Europe, specifically Italy and Catholicism. Believed to have been traced back to the 4th century, La Festa di Ognissanti or All Saintsâ Day, celebrated on November 1st, is similar to Dia De Los Muertos in that it commemorates the Catholic Saints. November 1st is believed to have been selected for this celebration in the 8th century due to Pope George III naming St Peterâs Basilica, Rome, as an all-saints church. On this day, Italian Catholics will spend time at Mass with family. Some churches hold a book a remembrance, which is used to write down the names of those departed, and read aloud during mass on All Saints Day. Candle lighting is also a common tradition. Unlike other traditions, All Saints Day has been used politically. Pope Benedict XV issued a letter to all Bishops of the Catholic church in 1914, suing for peace among the nations involved in World War I. Â
Across the world, people and cultures have blended ways to mark remembrance with celebration, and other familiar traditions may have come from some unexpected places, also. Many cultures have held traditions such as âTrick or Treatingâ, in the Philippines, Pangangaluluwa or âsoulingâ, is a folk custom where people in rural areas would dress up and go door to door singing, pretending to be lost souls. They would ask for items such as rice or money. Despite this type of tradition now being very popular in the UK and US, it has started to fade in the Philippines and isnât so widely practised. Â
Much like Latin America, Haiti celebrates a Day of the Dead. Voodoo practitioners pay their respects to Baron Samedi, Father of the deceased spirits. By dancing through the streets, they commune with the dead, and walking through graveyards offering food is also traditional
Over time, many of these beautiful traditions have become commercial spectacles. In Western society, Halloween has been transformed into a buying binge festival; more people, more spending, more decorations, costumes and sweets. Personally, I try and use what I already have, the only thing being a blond wig this year. But with growing technology as well, there are more extravagant ways to horrify your home. Despite this growing spending habit, I am seeing less Trick or Treaters, now that may be because we no longer decorate our home, but my street used to be covered in decorations. This may be due to a post-COVID world, where the younger generation has already spent so much time locked inside that they never really got the Halloween tradition like we did at their age. As for adult celebrations, it doesnât invoke the same Halloween spirit; it seems like an excuse to wear the least amount of clothing with some sort of animal ears and call it a costume. Â
So how do you celebrate Halloween? Fun costumes? Remembrance of the dead, but never forgotten? Or does it just pass you by? Maybe you have found some new ways to celebrate like I have. I think I will be sticking with my crystals, candles, and a cosy night in front of the TV with Hocus Pocus for the foreseeable future. Â
Editor: Mieka Broadwood D’souza