Celebrating Halloween
History of Halloween
Halloween - custom connected
with masquerade, celebrated in USA, Canada, United Kingdom on 31st October. The
name Halloween comes from the expression “All Hallows’ Eve”, when people prayed for the
dead before 1st November - All Saints’ Day.
It came to our country from
USA but it has its roots in the old Celtic tradition.
The Celts believed that on
31st October (the last day of year in their calendar) spirits of the
dead visited the earth. The ghosts of ancestors were worshiped and the evil souls were banished.
At this day the Celts gathered
around campfires to make sacrifices to Samhaine - the God of death. To the ceremony they always came disguised and with a turnip in their hands. All of this was
done for the protection from evil ghosts. The witches with black cats forecast the future.
This day was the day of
farewell with the dead and
the day of final settlement between Good and Evil.
Later, in the Middle Ages, the
custom started to vanish.
Halloween Today
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| source: http://www.picshunger.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/911575113801413292.jpg |
Today, Halloween is one of the
most important holidays in Ireland.
It came to America with Irish immigrants and now is, after Christmas, the most popular holiday in USA.
Statistics don’t lie:
Kids, and sometimes adults
too, disguise themselves as witches, skeletons and any other kind of monsters.
Pumpkins, black cats, bats are symbols of Halloween. It’s fun, but everything,
which scares is acceptable.
There are many games, tricks during this holiday. Here you have a list of some of
Halloween’s games:
Halloween in Poland
In Poland we have
Zaduszki - the day of different kind of emotions - it’s time for wistfulness,
calm and a prayer for the dead. It’s not time for fun and masquerade. Halloween came to
our country after the fall of the Iron Curtain and every year more and more
Polish people celebrate this holiday and forget about our traditions.
Do you think that
we should (and could) mix different traditions?
I think that we should respect our old traditions, as long as they have a sense, but also not be conservative towards other traditions, especially traditions of other countries. There will be always people who celebrate, accept, and reject the tradition. As long as we're in one of the first two groups, everything is fine. I mean, I really can't see a reason why people should be prohibited from joining in halloween event, even though I mostly don't care that much about it.
ReplyDeleteŁukasz, I couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteZaduszki and Halloween? Maybe it's similar, but I always thought that we took Halloween as completely different holiday. Aren't they two different holidays?
What I mean by that? Can't we have fun in Halloween, and also remember about our tradition and celebrate Zaduszki?
"Do you think that we should (and could) mix different traditions?"
ReplyDeleteNo, we shouldn't. We have our traditions and we don't need to copy from other contries, cultures.
Halloween is only a commercial festival. If you ask an American what is the reason of celebrating halloween he would propably say "for fun", saying that it has its roots in the Celtic tradition is naive, even people (most of them) celebrating it, don't know it.
Generally, it is good that there is diversity and that different countries have different traditions, holidays. Do I think we should mix different traditions? I have nothing against it. If someone wants (probably mostly only for fun) why he shouldn't celebrate Halloween in Poland?
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't mean that we should to forget about our own traditions. I think it's very important to maintain our national traditions. Traditions constitute about the uniqueness of a nation.
Tradition is important but nowadays it is often used for political purposes. Some parties using religious holidays as a bargaining chip, and no one likes when he has to do anything because I have to. Everyone should have a choice, someone prefer to stay in reverie, but others prefer to play at dressing up as monsters.
DeleteHmm, I said the same thing as you, that everyone should have a choice - "I have nothing against it..."
Delete"Do you think that we should (and could) mix different traditions?"
ReplyDeleteIt would be very hard to mix diffrent traditions, beacuse always will be some group of conservative people who would make problem about that. Also that what defines about us is culture, traditions and more.
Generally speaking I have positive feelings for Halloween. As a child I and my friends wore costumes and went trick-or-treating to our neighbors. I think that’s a lot of fun for children. Local communities can meet and get on well. Nowadays it’s less popular in Poland because parents are scared of letting their children alone outside in the evening. I don’t think it should be treated like holiday or tradition but simply like a game or a play for children.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that countries have own traditions. Every country is unique. I think so, that we shouldn't mix tradition. Halloween, a good time for children, which comes from United States of America.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good idea to get to know new traditions, but to take care of national traditions.
It's like halloween is just another type of a festival. Halloween is mostly connected with fun, meeting other people, trying all these scary stuff, being personal ghostbusters and whatever else you prefer. And Zaduszki is much more serious, going to churches and cemeteries, praying for the better afterlife of our ancestors.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion it's up to everyones personal feeling if they want to choose one of them or both. They are something totally opposite and it wouldn't be possible to mix them in any way.
In my opinion it impossible to reconcile these two holidays. We can't celebrate Halloween and understand the mood of Zaduszki. Halloween is rather cheerful, Zaduszki on the contrary. Of course, everybody should try to understand Halloween as a national tradition of USA, UK, etc. and know something about that but we have our own traditions, which are really important for most of us. We shouldn't mix traditions, every country is unique and that why we should take care our customs.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, we can't mix Halloween and Zaduszki. Why?
ReplyDeleteNowadays Halloween is mostly a commercial holiday, where you can get some sweets (as a kid) or go to a party in funny or scary costume. It has lost meaning and I don't think that dressing up as Elsa or Witcher helps us to remember that we are mortals and we will soon die. Commercialization of Halloween has gone too far to associate it with the All Saints' Day.
In our culture, we had tradition called "Dziady", where we wanted to celebrate alive-dead connection by "eating" with the dead and giving them gifts. They were considered to be request for fertility, health and so on. Origins of Halloween are pretty much the same, but we stopped celebrating it, and Americans changed it into golden goose.
We can celebrate both traditions, Halloween and our Zaduszki, but we have to remember why is it so important.
I think we shouldn't mix our tradition with halloween. We should accept people who want to celebrate halloween because we live in free country (but i'm not sure...) and everyone should choice what they want celebrate.
ReplyDeleteI have never celebrated halloween because in my home it wasn't tradition like zaduszki and nobody have celebrated halloween. But maybe this year i will celebrate both traditions.
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ReplyDeleteHalloween is for sure interesting and fun festival especially for kids but we should's mix it with our Zaduszki. Every country or religion has their own traditions. Personally I have nothing against Halloween and I think it's a great opportunity for the kids to have fun but at the same time we should remember what is really important for us.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is indeed a cheerful and pleasant holiday. In the English and Spanish-speaking countries it is celebrated on the 31st of October, the night before the Day of the Dead. Especially in Latin America it is particularly vivid, that it is a time of rejoicing with the passed relatives and ancestors - there are fiestas in the graveyards, the food and drinks are left on the graves to be shared with the deceased.
ReplyDeleteFor sure, it has nothing in common with Polish traditions. First of all, on the first of November there is no Day of the Dead, but the All Saints' Day. Despite that, on that date we still go to the cementery, to church - but there is no joy, only reflection and sadness. The Polish Day of the Dead (Zaduszki) is on the 2nd of November, and isn't celebrated at all - that is why I think Halloween is no threat to Polish customs.
As far as I'm concerned, there is no harm in the way the West celebrates that holiday, all traditions have their certain worth and anyone should be able to celebrate the way they want.
I have nothing against mixing different traditions. It's important to respect all rites regardless of our opinions.If we remember about dead loved ones, we can participate on Hallowen. I don't agree that these two holidays are impossible to celebrate at the same time. It depends only on ourselves that we approach to multiculturalism.
ReplyDeleteWe shouldn't celebrate halloween in Poland. First of all it is impossible to celebrate both holidays. The main difference between these holidays is different mood of these holidays. All Soul's Day is sad holiday, during this time we go to the cemetery and light a candle for the dead. Halloween is happy, commercial holiday, where people(especially children) wearing costumes and knocking on the door for sweets. Secondly, we should respect our traditions because they are very important. Of course this doesn't mean that I don't like halloween, but I think we shouldn't mix our traditions with foreign traditions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that we shouldn't mix this . But when i see like they celebrate halloween in other country i can say that i like that, because this is the time when they can feel different
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not, each society should have its own traditions, because it makes us different. We should respect out traditions because they are spectacular and by doing that we show that we remember about our ancestors who cultivated them. A lot of people like foreign traditions because they are opulent but I'm emotionally attached to our customs.
ReplyDeleteI know that many people in Poland are outraged because handling Halloween, but I was a little disagree with that. Speaks through me, one main reason - after all, I too was a child. I vividly remember that dressing up in scary costumes, pumpkin painting and asking for candy every year was great fun! Yes, fun-as a child sees it just as fun. Are they prepared personally captured dress, baskets and pumpkins is no more fun than spending time on the computer? I respect the Polish tradition, but I think that people who do not like so much Halloween unnecessarily make the entire ideology to that. Let's show the children Polish customs, Let's explain where they come from, but do not forbid them to play, because we have grown up.
ReplyDeleteI think we shouldn't mix this traditions. In All Soul's Day we should respect Halloween. Halloween is getting more tradition each year in Poland.
ReplyDeleteReason to buy and dress up some funny and scared costume and ask for candy. Nowadays its just reason for being a little crazy.
ReplyDeleteTo each his own, I guess. It's not like anyone's forcing you to have fun, you know. Also, every tradition began somewhere, sometime. Chances are, some time from now, halloween will be "our" tradition and people celebrating some new holiday will be the "culture-destroying" ones.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of connecting and mixing any holidays, it simply makes it harder to remember what we are really celebrating. As a Christian I do believe that our souls go to heaven, where their can have calm and peace. That's why I have nothing against such happy festival as Halloween is, moreover I think it’s easier for kids to get the concept of life and death when they can have just fun, not by spending it at home just to reminisce about closer or more distant dead relatives. Because Zaduszki is part of our tradition it is nice to remember about it, still there is nothing wrong in celebrating non-Christian holiday.
ReplyDelete