Essay on Halloween: a guide to writing about traditions, legends and symbols of the scariest night of the year, between history and culture.
Theme on Halloween
Halloween is a celebration with ancient and mysterious origins, which fascinates many young people and inspires stories and traditions linked to the world of the unknown and the supernatural. In this Italian theme we will explore Halloween through its history, meaning and main symbols, focusing on how this celebration has been reinterpreted in a modern way and spread throughout the world. A journey through ancient traditions and contemporary customs, which leads us to reflect on the cultural importance and timeless charm of this special night.
Development
Halloween is an imported holiday for our country and as the years go by, the number of people who celebrate it with parties organized in clubs, or among friends, consisting of dancing, and entertainment in the name of terror and the colors black and orange, increases. The costumes of the night can be represented by devils, witches and other symbolic myths of horror, but also by disguises of characters from horror films, such as Freddy Krueger, Dracula, etc.; but let’s see where this holiday originates from.
The origins of the holiday
The word “ Halloween ” has Catholic origins. In the Catholic Church, in fact, the feast of all Saints is celebrated, that is, November 1st is dedicated to “All Saints”, which in ancient times was called: All Hallows’ Day.
In ancient peoples, the feast of “All Saints” began at sunset on October 31st, calling that evening “All Hallows’ Eve” (eve means eve), but also “All Hallows’ Even” (Even means evening), which was then shortened to Hallows’ Even, then Hallow-e’en, to finally arrive at the current Halloween . But the origins of Halloween are much more remote. They date back to the time of the ancient Celts, in fact they celebrated the beginning of the new year on November 1st, the day in which they celebrated the end of the warm season and the beginning of the “season of darkness and cold”.
The night between October 31st and November 1st was the most important moment of the entire Druidic year and for the Celts it was the most representative celebration of their entire calendar and was called the night of “Samhain”.
In fact, all Celtic legends and tales are set on this very night. Samhain for them represented the God of Darkness, and the Celts believed that on the night between October 31st and November 1st, Samhain called all the spirits of the dead to himself, and allowed the world of the dead and darkness to unite with that of living beings. Some legends tell that the Celts burned those they believed to be “possessed” to ward off evil spirits. In fact, the latter could take on different forms, even those of animals, the most evil of which was that of the cat. The modern custom of dressing up on Halloween night comes from the Celtic tradition of celebrating the sacrifices of the night of October 31st, wearing the skins of killed animals to scare away evil spirits.
In Celtic tradition there were also Fairies, from whose legends we can see that on the night of October 31st they used to play some “tricks” on humans, which consisted of leading them to the “hills of the FAIRIES” where they remained trapped forever; therefore the Celts had the custom of offering them food and milk, leaving them at the entrance of their houses.Another origin of the saying “ trick or treat” dates back to the Christian period, in fact it is said that Christians, who walked from one village to another, begged the locals for a piece of bread and in exchange promised to recite prayers for their deceased loved ones, thus helping them to reach heaven.
Conclusion
From these legends comes the contemporary tradition of “trick or treat” , in which children, dressed as monsters or terrifying characters, go from house to house asking for some sweets or money, and if they don’t receive anything they play some prank on the owners of the house. The current symbol of Halloween is represented by a pumpkin emptied of pulp and with eyes, nose and mouth carved in such a way as to scare anyone who looks at it, then a candle is placed inside it; all this is done to drive away, from the house where it is positioned, evil spirits and witches who want to enter the house. In Italy Halloween is celebrated as a party to spend in the company of friends, and has only the meaning of having fun by celebrating in a grotesque way!!!
