Nov. 1 might as well be called New Year ’s Day for the world ’s dead , the daytime that many mass believed their spirits paid a visit to their loved one . And American Halloween ( celebrated on Oct. 31 ) , is just one differential coefficient of this all - of import twenty-four hours .
Halloween ’s origin stretch back to the Celts , who lived about 2,000 age ago in the country that today hold up Ireland , the U.K. and northern France . The Celts celebrated Nov. 1 , as the end of summer and the commencement of winter , the conclusion of the visible light and the start of the dark . The one time each year that the world of the sustenance and the world of the dead were divide by the thinnest of veils . To celebrate this special time , the Celts create massive bonfire , wear costumes and practiced circumstances - telling , sowing seed for future Halloween solemnization in Europe and beyond [ source : History ] .
While non - European the great unwashed and custom were n’t needs influenced by the Celts , they contain exchangeable belief about the sacredness and secret of the alter season , specially summer to winter , and about their ancestors come back to Earth each year at a certain time . Here are eight flavour - fulfil celebration that honor the dead all over the world .
8: The Hungry Ghosts Festival
You did n’t know ghost got hungry did you ? cast around the world can do that . Many Taiwanese mass have a strong proclivity for ancestor worship , and they consider in spirits . These two traditions occur together during the lunar calendar ’s 7th calendar month ( around August ) . That ’s when , the Chinese say , restless spirits descend upon the world , wandering to and fro . Who have sex what roguishness , or worse , a restless life can do ? To make certain they never find out , the Chinese seek to pacify these ghosts by burn incense , joss paper and fake money in roadside fires .
In showcase the spirits are a bit morose , they can savor the opera house and drama snitch for their entertainment . The Chinese also place food outdoors in vitrine the ghosts have built up an appetite from all of their uneasy roving . All these activities serve a dual purpose , as they ’re also considered a way to worship one ’s ancestors .
While these activities take place throughout the 7th lunar calendar month , they ’re most likely to be respect on the fifteenth day , which is designated asYu Lan , or the Hungry Ghost Festival . Chinese operas performed on this mean solar day praise the gods ' many charitable and pious activities . Yu Lanhas been practiced for more than a century , and is formally considered part of the state ’s ethnical inheritance [ source : Discover Hong Kong ] .
7: El Día de los Muertos
El Día de los Muertos(theDay of the Dead ) is sort of a merger between an ancient Aztec festival declare for the goddess of the underworld , and the Catholic practice of honoringsaintswithout their own feast days on Nov. 1 ( All Saints ' 24-hour interval ) and all of the faithful departed on Nov. 2 ( All Souls ' Day ) . The latter custom was bestow to Mexico by Spanish conquistadors [ generator : DeNinno ] .
During the two - 24-hour interval Day of the deadened company , which is Mexico ’s big one-year celebration and a internal holiday to boot , the focus is all about think loved one who have passed on . On Nov. 1 , deceased children are remember , while on Nov. 2 it is the adult ' play . In some place , the festival begins on Oct. 31 , because the belief is that young youngster ’s somebody develop at midnight .
During these days , people will build altar in their homes ( or at a public land site ) dedicated to the depart , as well as clean-living and deck the Steffi Graf of loved 1 . They ’ll also place gift at gravesites and menage altars , like candy skulls orchocolates , small trinkets , food , drink and marigolds , the flower Mexicans link with end [ source : DeNinno ] . party and parades , where hoi polloi dress up as skeletons , are also part of the remembrance . The utter , Mexicans believe , would need to enjoy the same kinds of activities they did in life . The holiday is not only celebrated in Mexico , but also throughout Latin America and Latino community of interests in the U.S.A. [ source : National Geographic ] .
6: Samhain
Before Christianity gain the Emerald Isle , thedruidscelebratedSamhain(pronounced SOW - wen ) , or the festival of the dead . Samhain was go for at summer ’s end when , the Druids consider , there was but a simple caul sort the mankind of the animation and the deadened .
Samhain involved a communal feast , setting out food for the dead and bequeath doors and window unlocked so the spirits could locomote freely . The Druids also believed evil spirits would endeavor to cart off unsuspicious souls at this time of year , so they would don costume mimicking those of the spirit cosmos in ordering to protect themselves from being take — the harbinger to today ’s Halloween costumes .
When Christianity came to Ireland , the Catholic Church replaced Samhain with All Saints ' solar day and All soul ' Day to allow for a " well " celebration than the Druids ' pagan ritual . Even so , many of the honest-to-goodness impost remain . multitude enjoyed parties , apple - bob and various divination games . One example of the latter : peeling an apple into one long comic strip , then tossing the funnies of Malus pumila peel over your left shoulder . The strip will supposedly light into the shape of the initial of your future mate . partygoer consume particular foods , like barmbrack , a character of fruitcake into which various small token were bake . The particular in your slice of cake denoted a future natural event . For exercise , getting a coin equaled prosperity , while a ring intend love affair and/or happiness . Ancient Celts also cut up white turnip , a precursor to the American old salt - o'-lantern [ sources : Haggerty , Ireland - Information ] .
Today Irish kids still dress up for Halloween , go trick - or - deal ( now for candy instead of the traditional apples and en ) and corrode barmbrack , among other customs linked to the Druids . Some modern - day Druids have revived the ancient Samhain solemnisation as well .
5: Bonfire Night
Guy Fawkes Day is another one of those mergers between an honest-to-goodness existing holiday and a new one . In this event , the Catholic holidays of Nov. 1 and 2 were send away for the Protestant solemnisation on Nov. 5 . The latter commemorates the Clarence Day in 1605 that Guy Fawkes , a Catholic objector , and his carbon monoxide gas - conspirator had planned to bollix up up the Houses of Parliament , killing politics member and King James I in Holy Order to re - establish Catholic ruler in England . He did n’t succeed , as his plot was discovered . The next year , British Parliament declare Nov. 5 a day of blessing and celebration [ source : Brittanica ] .
The English began celebrate it in the same fashion as they had celebrate the previous holidays , mainly by light massive balefire . Sometimes they would toss item such as stones , veggies and testicle into the bonfire to scare off away evil spirits . And similarly to the Irish Samhain , they used thebonfirefor fortune telling . For example , if a couple chuck nuts into the balefire and they burst , that meant the duo would not have a happy married couple .
Over time , Guy Fawkes festivities included firework , parade , kin celebration and electrocution image of Fawkes , known as " hombre . " In a nod to the practice session oftrick - or - treating , Kyd showed off their effigies to neighbors , postulate for " a centime for the Guy . " But the bonfire is the staple body process , and Guy Fawkes Day became also known as Bonfire Night [ source : Altman ] . Today , some in the U.K. revere it ’s beingovershadowedby the American consequence , Halloween .
4: Obon
In Japan , their Day of the all in - case jubilation — Obon — is n’t book in October nor November . It occur on either July 13 - 15 or Aug. 13 - 15 , bet on the locale ( some regions watch over the solar calendar , others the lunar , which explains the discrepancy).Obon(pronounced OH - bon ) is also known as the Festival of the Lanterns or the Festival of the Dead . It is aBuddhistcelebration of the one sentence each yr when the spirits of deceased ancestors pay their have it off - ones a visit . This is n’t a fear , creepy-crawly clip , or something people fear . It ’s a felicitous , celebratory time .
The Japanese give ear festive lanterns at their front door duringObonto guide their dear departed back home . They also cautiously prepare special meals for these family member , which they put out on place altars and at temples . In addition , the Japanese do specialObondances and chit-chat the gravesites of their deceased family members . When the three days are over , the mass countersink floating lanterns into nearby lakes , rivers and sea to channelize the John Barleycorn back to their real dwelling house . Obonis one of Japan ’s three major holidays ; accurate customs and practices vary by region [ source : Japan Guide ] .
3: Ghede
Haiti ’s Day of the Dead celebration , calledGhede(pronounced GEH - sidereal day ) , is a mix of Catholic and Voodoo ( or Vodou ) traditions . Held on All somebody ' Day ( Nov. 2 ) , it ’s unwashed to see multitude leave a Christian church service and , after a ready change of apparel , head straight for a cemetery , where a large black cross has been erect to Baron Samedi , the smell of death . Then the partying set out .
People bring plateful of food to place before the crisscross for the dead to eat , while chant incantations , asking the dead for better lives . They ’ll also serve food among themselves and to the needy . Graves of loved one will be strip and decorated . And revelers , some with whitened paint on their look , may trip the light fantastic toe suggestively or fall into trance - comparable country . Baron Samedi , you see , likes to have a good time .
This is borne out by the items displayed on a distinctive Ghede communion table : cigarette ; clarin , a Haitian white rummy spice up with habanero peppers ; a replica of a skull;candlesand satin textile in white , imperial and black ; crosses and a miniature coffin [ rootage : RavernellCaribbean360 ] .
2: All Souls' Week
As in other state , Germans do n’t celebrate Halloween per se . On Nov. 1 , Germans who are Catholic celebrate All Saints ' mean solar day . Taking it a footfall further , in southern Germany , residents celebrate Oct. 30 to Nov. 8 as All Souls ' Week , and remember their beloved numb by visitinggravesitesand perhaps attending Mass in their laurels .
But the more strange customs is the tongue - concealment . On either Oct. 31 , Nov. 1 or throughout the entire All Souls ' Week ( Oct. 30 to Nov. 8) — depending on the German region — hoi polloi also stash by their knives in secure places . This custom stems from an erstwhile belief that spirits come up home to visit at this prison term . And no one wants to unwittingly slice or cube a ghost while chopping veggie or slicing bread . So Germans feel it was best to hide all of the household knife [ author : Sawyer ] . Now the recitation is merely a merriment tradition .
1: All Saints' Day
Germany and Austria are next - door neighbors . So it is not surprising that their customs are a bit interchangeable . Like the Germans , many Austrians areCatholic , so they also observe All Saints ' Day , All Souls ' daylight and All Souls ' hebdomad . All Saints ' twenty-four hours is the solar day dedicated to think of the saints who have been saint by the Catholic Church and is celebrated in many land . Nov. 1 was choose as the date by Pope Boniface in 609 probably to co - choose a pagan holiday called the Feast of the Lamures , which was when pagan tried to pacify uneasy smell [ germ : Catholic Online ] . All Souls ' Day is hold on Nov. 2 and honors all those who have sidetrack this earth . Many citizenry blur the note between the two holidays , and may for case , visit a family line gravesite on Nov. 1 .
Austrians believe , as do their German neighbor , that this is the sole clock time of class that dead souls can return to Earth and inspect their old stomping ground . But rather than worrying that they ’ll accidentally jab or slit these intent , Austrians are concerned with making them finger welcome . So they keep their lights on at Nox , even after they have bed for the evening , so the mortal do n’t have to fumble about in the dark . And since the journey from thenetherworldto Earth is likely a outwear one , they also countersink out some bread and H2O for these starve and thirsty beings .
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I think trick - or - treat for UNICEF as a child in the 1960s , and I was lately lamenting to my husband that this tradition had apparently break . None of our kids did it when they were little , nor do any children in our neighborhood currently show up on Halloween sum up UNICEF boxes . But seemingly it ’s still being done in certain areas of the nation . Hopefully the drive will spread once again to my locus in America ’s heartland .
