The History of Halloween around the World

The presence of black cats and jack-o-lanterns means that Halloween 2019 is around the corner. And Americans aren’t the only ones with October traditions – many countries have spooky celebrations of their own.

American Halloween

Sometimes referred to as All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween began as a Celtic festival about 2,000 years ago, says an article about the history of Halloween on the LiveScience website. Called “Samhain,” meaning “summer’s end” in Gaelic, the ancient holiday involved a meeting of the faithful to acknowledge the harvest and gather resources for winter.

Physical elements such as the presence of animals were a part of the ritual, but it also had a supernatural component. Samhain was a time when they were thought to commune with the dead and spirits were believed to cross over to the next realm.

Halloween traditions have always involved a connection to death, including skeleton costumes and graveyard décor. But there’s no solid evidence of that link nor to the worship of ancestors, according to Nicholas Rogers, a history professor at York University in Toronto and author of "Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night.”

Ancient stories about Samhain show evidence of tribal peoples who honored conquerors and recognized the seasons changing from summer to winter. There’s no proof of Halloween’s link to Samhain except that All Saints’ Day, also called All Hallows’ Mass, which is celebrated on the first of November, is probably connected to our spookiest night.

Trick-or-Treat
The roots of October traditions including costumes and trick-or-treating reach back to a practice when people went door-to-door for food. Called “guising” or “mumming,” they would wear disguises, often made of straw, which were theatrical costumes typically used for performing.

In the Middle Ages in the United Kingdom, including England and Ireland, low-income individuals went from neighbor to neighbor for handouts. Called “souling,” every year on Hallowmas (November 1) they would offer prayers for the dead in exchange for food.

In the United States, kids began trick-or-treating during World War II but prior to that, Thanksgiving was traditionally a time when they would beg for food.

You’re unlikely to experience the “trick” aspect of trick-or-treating on this Halloween 2019; current American culture supports a tradition of empty threats except for occasional pranks. But they used to be more common.

In North America in the late 19th century, pranksters would open gates, setting farm animals free or they would tip outhouses over. After the turn of the century people simply acted like wild partyers, sometimes committing such acts as vandalism.

It’s possible that when tolerance for these actions weakened, leaders in various towns and cities established new Halloween traditions involving dressing in character and trick-or-treating. Pranking gave way to candy and costumes.

Partygoers will still bob for apples, which used to have meaning attached to it. The first person to grab an apple out of a bucket of water (with no hands, of course) would be the next person to marry.

Also, young women would peel an apple just before midnight on Halloween. When they threw it behind them it was said to land in the shape of the first letter of their future husband’s name. Another Halloween tradition, held at midnight, was meant for an unmarried woman. She would look into a mirror, using a candle for light, and see the face of her future husband.

October around the world isn’t the same. Much of our association with Halloween came to America from such countries as Ireland when immigrants shared their celebrating with the rest of us. But there are many variations.

Halloween Around the World

Ireland

Suffering from the potato famine in the beginning of the 20th century, many of Ireland’s citizens came to the United States with hopes of a more comfortable lifestyle. They assimilated in communities across the country and brought with them their October traditions along with many other practices.

Halloween took hold in America and today there are numerous holiday experiences held annually, from haunted houses to pumpkin patches. Through the ages, various supernatural entities — including fairies – have been associated with Halloween traditions and it’s largely a children’s event.

Romania: Day of Dracula

Halloween around the world has contrasts from the October traditions Americans experience. In Romania, for example, the holiday that’s most like Halloween 2019, was held on May 26. Called “Dracula Day,” Romanians celebrate the iconic vampire in whatever way they can.

Egyptians, Hebrews, Babylonians and ancient Greeks had similar fixations about the legendary blood-sucking characters. Bram Stoker, who wrote “Dracula,” was inspired by a living being – Prince Vlad III of Wallachia, which is Romania.

As a ruler, Vlad was cruel and reportedly tortured his adversaries. They even called him “Vlad the Impaler.”

As serious in nature as it was, you can hijack the theme with your own party. Invite your friends over for Dracula movies and set up horrifying décor, much like you would do for Halloween. An emphasis on blood and the use of Gothic décor would serve as an effective backdrop for a Dracula Day party. If you need reading material to get you in the mood, there are 11 books in the “Vampire Chronicles” by Anne Rice. Or you can read Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot.”

Japan: Kawasaki Halloween & Pride Parade

Halloween 2019 in Japan includes a huge parade in Kawasaki on October 27. It’s on a Sunday afternoon and includes costumed characters who walk down a mile-long stretch in front of 120,000 spectators. It’s free to watch or you can pay for prime spectator seating.

You can be one of the 2,000 parade participants for a fee, as long as you are a teenager or older, plus you have to wear a costume to take part. There’s an awards ceremony for best costume following the parade, and a party with a DJ ends the night.

Mexico: Dia de los Muertos

An increasingly common October tradition in the U.S. is Day of the Dead, which is Dia de los Muertos in Spanish countries such as Mexico where it began. It’s not the same as Halloween – it includes a different set of rituals.

Over two days, Day of the Dead revelers offer respect for their family members who already passed away, says an article by National Geographic. People take part by donning costumes and covering their faces in makeup. They throw parties and hold parades, which accompanies times of singing and dancing.

Some of the holiday’s symbols are colorful skulls called calaveras and skeletons called calacas.

Like the history of Halloween, the origin of Day of the Dead stems from centuries ago. The Toltec, Aztec and Nahua tribes were opposed to mourning the dead. They believed that those who had passed remained active members of the community. They kept them alive in spirit and on Dia de los Muertos their dead family members returned to earth.

They aren’t October traditions, however – Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1 and 2 which are All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, respectively. Celebrants combine Christian rituals and pre-Hispanic religious beliefs throughout the course of the holiday.

Hong Kong: Hungry Ghost Festival

Though many countries have something similar to Halloween in theme, it isn’t in October around the world. In Hong Kong the date is based on the lunar calendar.

The traditional Chinese belief involving ancestor worship set a foundation for the Hungry Ghost Festival. According to travel website Discover Hong Kong, they believe it’s a time when restless ghosts roam the earth and they need to be appeased. They “feed” their ancestors by leaving money out for them. They also tend fires and burn faux money for their ancestors and the ghosts to “use.”

Tourists who are in Hong Kong over the holiday get to see the culture up close and personal in Victoria Park, where an exhibition is produced annually. Members of the Chinese opera perform on bamboo stages built for the event, and during the festival performers praise the deities and their deeds.

 The Philippians: Pangangaluluwa 

The Philippine Canadian Inquirer explains how residents of the country honor the dead in their way. Whereas Western nations try on new characters by dressing in costumes and carve pumpkins, Filipinos spend three days with family members remembering their loved ones who passed away. They join Americans in Halloween traditions – some villages hold trick-or-treat events and kids dress up, but it takes place before their more solemn celebration.

It’s typically the first of November when throngs of family members unite to visit cemeteries with candles and flowers, returning to homes to break bread together.

Poland: DZIEŃ ZADUSZNY

The Polish celebration of All Saints’ Day and All Soul’s Day also involves graveyards. Cemeteries are decorated with colorful lights that flicker and with glowing candles. Citizens gather to pray and hold services as well as celebrate in a solemn fashion.

The Polish American Journal explains that Zaduszki is a time when they believe the dead come back to visit them and at twilight they enflame candles as a way to beacon them home. They set extra places at the table and break bread together – literally – long loaves of rye bread similar to the shape of a wrapped body.

They ask their ancestors to join them for the feast which includes old traditional dishes. After dinner the family proceeds to the cemetery to offer food to the deceased as they light candles. Some of Poland’s waterways are also sites for All Soul’s Day traditions. Melted candles are tossed into the water, sent to their ancestors in another world.

There’s something about the macabre that’s universal. Every culture has the experience of facing death and they have various versions of honoring the dead. With that in mind, maybe your October traditions this year can grow to include some of the elements of countries across the globe.

But if Halloween 2019 turns out to be much the same as last year’s and the year before it … you can assume it’s a tradition worth keeping.