Knock! Knock! Trick or treat? Only the brave may enter... but beware what they meet!

    Have you ever done a trick or treat? Or dress as the most horrifying creature and put on some fake blood? Or do you ever carve pumpkins with a big smile on their faces? Those are the usual traditions for Halloween, a celebration of All Saints’ Day on 31 October. But do you know the history of this so-called spooky day? 

    We can trace the history of Halloween, which was first celebrated around 2000 years ago. It was actually developed from the pre-Christian holiday Samhain in early medieval Ireland on 1 November as the beginning of the year. It is said that Halloween was developed mostly from Christian feasts of the dead in the Middle Ages, including All Saints’ Day on 1 November and All Souls’ Day on 2 November. Later on in the 9th century, 31 October was celebrated as All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween. 

    The iconic Jack-o’-Lanterns was originally from Ireland, a legend named Stingy Jack who tricked the Devil by trapping him and only letting him go if, when Jack died, he would not go to hell. However, when Jack died, Heaven did not accept him, and he had to roam on Earth for eternity. The Devil gave him a burning lamp of coal in a carved-out turnip to light his way. People began to carve their own turnips to frighten away the evil spirits. Furthermore, people dress up as ghosts with the purpose of scaring the ghosts themselves. It’s a disguise to confuse the evil spirits and be left alone. 

    “In Girl World, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” - Mean Girls (2004)

    Back then, it was a religious tradition of the living to commemorate the dead. Nowadays, lots of us celebrate Halloween as a fun yearly event. We are not dressing up as scary ghosts anymore. It’s time for cosplay and dressing to anyone or anything we want. Sure, you heard that iconic line before; even every Halloween, it’s like a call for girls to be anything they want. 

    However, is it necessary for us to celebrate something that is not part of our culture? I mean, it’s the western culture, not ours. It’s probably due to the popular culture that lots of us embrace to keep up with the modern world, and Halloween is definitely one of them. 

Reference:

https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2021/10/the-origins-of-halloween-traditions/ 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Halloween 

https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-we-carve-pumpkins-at-halloween 

Content Writer : Arinda Risma Wardani

Editor : Kania Mahira Yahya