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It is Halloween, the holiday which is celebrated on 31^st October every year. I grew up in India and I have no recollection of my childhood Halloween memories. As it was not celebrated back in those days. But nowadays, the festival is gaining popularity all over the world. Seeing different cultures celebrated everywhere, including in my home country, is bliss. The other day, we had a little family discussion about Halloween. What is the significance of the day? Does it need to be scary? Do we need to wear scary costumes?

Let us all dive into history to learn how the Halloween tradition originated. If I go about two thousand years back, Halloween originated from the “Samhain” festival celebrated by Celts. Back in that time, “Celts” – Central European Tribes, used to celebrate the New Year on November 1^st. Celts used to believe that on New Year’s Eve, which was 31^st October for them, ghosts of the dead returned to Earth. They also used to believe that whilst ghosts return to earth, they cause trouble to them, their loved ones, and their crops. Thus, to scare away the ghosts and to protect themselves, it was their tradition to sacrifice animals into their sacred bonfire and wear animal heads and skins on this day.

Thousands of years ago, people used to believe in superstitions. They had their reasons. But I think those are not applicable in today’s world anymore. Just for example, back in those days if a black cat used to cross the road, people used to avoid crossing the same road thinking some bad luck would be on its way. Superstition! Why? Because they had been told that witches disguise themselves in the form of a black cat and curse with bad luck whoever crosses the same path.

I think when there are fewer logical solutions and more threats associated with any given problem, there are chances of the birth of a superstition. Coming back to the Halloween tradition, I think Celts superstitiously believed that their crops and loved ones would be in danger if they didn’t sacrifice their animals to their deities into the sacred bonfire and scare away ghosts.

From a kid’s eyes, Halloween is a festival when they get to eat Candies 😊. They get to dress up. They get to do pumpkin patches, carving, coloring, and a lot of fun activities. While kids get to do a lot of fun activities, they ask a logical question, “Do we need to dress up scary on Halloween?” I believe, no, we don’t need to. Traditionally, the Samhain festival was about scaring ghosts that Celts believed would visit them on this day, but that was superstition. I believe everyone can choose whatever they want to dress up in. It does not necessarily mean to be a scary person. They could be an angel, a book character, a T.V. or movie character, a superhero, a princess, a rescue crew person, an animal, a bird, or your creativity or if you do not want to dress up that is ok. A festival is where families and friends
enjoy the festivities together.

With beautiful, pleasant red, brown, and orange-colored leaves, the fall season is astounding. It is the season after a long summer. It is the season to embrace the calmness of winter. Halloween is a festival that comes with spectacular weather transitions. Let us all celebrate this day together like every other festival. Welcome beautiful, crisp weather wholeheartedly. Celebrate not to scare away people or ghosts, but to have fun together with happy faces😊.

Happy Halloween!

Thanks

Mridulika