The festival of Halloween is celebrated all around
the world. But there are minor variations reflecting the local customs
and culture.
In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, All Souls' Day, which takes place
on November 2, is commemorated with a three-day celebration that begins
on the evening of October 31. The celebration is designed to honor the
dead who, it is believed, return to their earthly homes on Halloween.
Many families construct an altar to the dead in their homes to honor
deceased relatives and decorate it with candy, flowers, photographs,
samples of the deceased's favorite foods and drinks, and fresh water.
Candles and incense are burned to help the deceased find the way home.
On November 2, relatives gather at the gravesite to picnic and
reminisce.
In England, on November 5, bonfires are lit all over the country and a
festival similar to Halloween is celebrated. But this festival has
little to do with Halloween or the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.
The English, for the most part, stopped celebrating Halloween as Martin
Luther's Protestant Reformation began to spread. As followers of the new
religion did not believe in saints, they had no reason to celebrate the
eve of All Saints' Day. The November 5 festival is celebrated to
commemorate the execution of a notorious English traitor, Guy Fawkes. On
November 5, 1606, Fawkes was executed after being convicted of
attempting to blow up England's parliament building. Fawkes was a member
of a Catholic group, which wanted to remove the Protestant King James
from power. Bon fires are lit up to burn the symbolic effigies of
Fawkes.
In Ireland, where Halloween originated, the day is still celebrated in
the same old manner. In rural areas, bonfires are lit as they were in
the days of the Celts, and all over the country, children get dressed up
in costumes and spend the evening "trick-or-treating" in their
neighborhoods. After trick-or-treating, most people attend parties with
neighbors and friends. At the parties, many games are played. A
traditional food eaten on Halloween is barnbrack, a kind of fruitcake
that can be bought in stores or baked at home. A muslin-wrapped treat is
baked inside the cake that, it is said, can foretell the eater's future.
If a ring is found, it means that the person will soon be wed; a piece
of straw means that a prosperous year is on its way. Children are also
known to play tricks on their neighbors, such as "knock-a-dolly,"
a prank in which children knock on the doors of their neighbors, but run
away before the door is opened.
In USA, Halloween is celebrated more or less in the same manner as in
the Ireland.
