Halloween Around the Globe

Author: Alexa Paley

You may think of Halloween as a primarily American holiday, a day on which we relish our childhood traditions of costume parties, trick-or-treating, and harmless pranks. However, Halloween is actually celebrated around the globe on slightly different days and in numerous different ways.

South of our border, citizens in Latin American countries like Mexico are also celebrating Halloween, in a slightly different form–Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Beginning on October 31, individuals in the participating countries begin a three-day celebration to honor the dead, who are thought to return to Earth on these holy days. Instead of dressing up in costumes, you will find altars dedicated to the dead in the homes of surviving relatives, lavishly decorated with candies, flowers, and photographs. Despite the holiday’s nature to dwell on those who have passed, the celebration is actually a happy one. Families reminiscing by the graveside of deceased relatives and friends are often accompanied by tequila and mariachi bands. Now that’s a party.

 

 

In Japan, the “Obon Festival” is similar to the Mexican tradition, in that it celebrates the spirits of the deceased and their ancestry. Although the country celebrate in the summer months, red lanterns decorate citizens’ homes and candles are lit and placed in lanterns–sort of like our Halloween jack-o-lanterns. Each night, a new fire is lit in order to allow the passed spirit to reconnect with and find its living family. On this holy festival, the dead are believed to return to their birthplaces.

A quick 3,485 miles across the vast Atlantic Ocean, our friends will be celebrating Guy Fawkes Day by lighting bonfires around England. Although Guy Fawkes Day has just about nothing to do with Halloween and its roots, it is an autumn ritual that falls around the same time, so for proximity’s sake, we’ll count it. The British actually stopped celebrating Halloween at the time of Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation– their loss. Anyway, you may be wondering, “who is this Guy Fawkes character?” Quick history lesson: Guy Fawkes was a notorious English traitor executed in 1506. He was part of a Catholic group that sought to remove King James from power. The people of England celebrated his execution with bonfires set up to burn effigies and the “bones” of the Catholic pope. A tad harsh. Today, English children walk the streets on Guy Fawkes day and ask for “a penny for the guy”, the closest thing those poor, deprived children have to trick-or-treating.

 

 

With a short trip across the Irish sea, you’ll find yourself in Ireland, the founder of the Halloween tradition we have come to know and love. All over the country, you will find children and adults in an array of costumes trick-or-treating and attending parties just like we do here. In more rural areas, tradition persists; bonfires are lit just as they were in the age of Celts. For both the city dwellers and the rural folk, the traditional barnbrack (fruitcake) is enjoyed. This magical and fairly creepy cake is said to foretell its consumer’s future. Depending on what you find inside your slice, from a ring to a piece of straw (appetizing), your future is determined.

In recent years, Halloween in America has strayed from its focus on the dead to an emphasis on dressing up, playing games and pranks, and getting candy. The day is celebrated by all ages and creatures, babies to adults, humans to animals. Halloween is for everyone. Remember that you are never too old to dress up, let loose, and a have a little fun.

around the world, halloween, holiday, tradition