Halloween is a yearly held holiday taking place on October 31, that means an evening before the Christian feast of All Hallows (All Saints). But the origin of this holiday may be seen in Celtic Samhain, a festival honoring the dead.
Typical features of Halloween are widely known: Carved pumpkins called jack-o´-lanterns, trick-or-treating children dressed up in costumes, scary costume parties, telling scary stories and watching horror films or visiting haunted attractions.
Of course, it was not always like that. In Ireland and Scotland there is a tradition of carving turnips instead of pumpkins. But when the immigrants came to America, they used the native pumpkin which is much softer and bigger. This American tradition of carving pumpkins was originally associated with harvest time in general, not Halloween. This may be the reason why homes are often decorated not only with pumpkins but also with corn husks and scarecrows.
During Halloween children usually go from house to house dressed up in scary costumes. They ask for treats such as candy or sweets. That is called trick-or-treating as they use the formula „trick or treat“ while doing so. The expression means: Give me a treat or I will do a trick, a mischief on you. The most common treats are candy apples and caramel or taffy apples. You must roll whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, then you may roll them in nuts as well. To „earn“ the treats children usually sing a song, tell a story atc. Can you see a similarity between this custom and the Czech Easter one as I can?
There are several games associated with Halloween. For example apple bobbing – participants must remove apples from a basin full of water using just their teeth. Another traditional game involves eating syrup-coated scones (hanging on strings) without using hands. That leads to a very sticky face. J
Some others are not so funny and resembles some of the Czech Christmas customs, such as carving an apple in one long strip – when you toss the peel over your shoulder it should take form of the first letter of your future spouse´s name. Unmarried women could see the face of their future husband if they sat in a darkened room gazing into a mirror at this night. Or you may write fortunes in milk on a piece of white paper. Than put the paper into a walnut shell and warm it – the milk will turn brown and the writing would appear.In Ireland people usually bake light fruitcake called barmbrack, into which a coin or a ring is placed before baking. Who finds it will find their true love in the following year.
As you can see there is much more to do during Halloween. Carving a pumpkin is just a beggining. Maybe you would say – It´s an Anglosaxon tradition so why should we take part in it. And you are right. But I think that (not only) your children would be happy if you organized such a funny party for them.
