Halloween: le origini, giochi e travestimenti

Origins of the Halloween celebration

The Halloween celebration has Celtic origins. It traces its roots back to ancient times, precisely to the era when the western part of Europe (France, United Kingdom, and the Iberian Peninsula) was inhabited by the Celts. The stories of the mythical Druids, the adventures and feats of Asterix and Obelix, in fact, are well-known and part of all of us. The ancient Celts (particularly the populations of Ireland and Wales) celebrated at this time the end of the harvest and began to create supplies for the winter months and to slaughter livestock. This is the history of Halloween.

Halloween Party: carved pumpkin with candle

The Halloween tradition holds that on October 31st the boundary between the world of the living and the dead disappears: this is when the deceased unleash their malice, plundering the countryside and leaving scorched earth around them, causing illnesses, casting the evil eye, and spreading terror everywhere.

One of the most typical customs of Halloween is to place a carved pumpkin on the front door, shaped to look like the comic or scary face of the emblematic figures of this festival; a candle is lit inside it.

This habit also belongs to the Celtic world, where it was believed that the head was the most important and powerful part of our body, as it contained the spirit and knowledge. In this way, people thought to ward off misfortunes and disasters, particularly the deadly wrath of the dead. In ancient times, the “head” of turnips was used for this purpose, but in America pumpkins have always been more readily available and have gradually replaced turnips.

The heritage of traditions related to Halloween night was brought to the United States in the 19th century by Irish immigrants who, due to a severe famine, were forced to leave their magical and fairy-tale-like land to move overseas in search of new opportunities and a bit of luck.

Halloween y sus personajes

Propiamente porque es una fiesta centrada en los difuntos y sus supuestas influencias en el mundo de los vivos, Halloween está rodeado de un halo de denso misterio, se caracteriza por una atmósfera casi macabra, lúgubre, con figuras mágicas, aterradoras y dotadas de poderes maléficos y sobrenaturales: así entran en escena monstruos deformes, desmesurados, de rasgos horrendos y amenazantes, demonios listos para apoderarse de nuestra alma, vampiros que esperan la oscuridad para abalanzarse sobre nosotros y chupar nuestra sangre, dejándonos exánimes y agonizantes; luego merodean por los suburbios temibles brujas siempre ocupadas en engañarnos, en preparar y administrar brebajes y pociones mágicas cuyas propiedades suelen ser muy nocivas.

Halloween y sus rituales

Halloween Party: Trick or Treat

The perhaps best-known ritual is the famous “Trick or treat“: on Halloween evening, children dress up as typical characters of this holiday and usually go from house to house, from hallway to hallway, knocking on every door.

As soon as the door is opened, they threaten the homeowner with the famous phrase “Trick or treat“, ready to pounce on the poor unfortunate and unleash all their mischief on him if he does not hurry to fill them with gifts (candies, chocolates, cookies, and various sweets). Often, especially in recent years, this ritual involves the whole family, since it is not always safe to let children roam the neighborhood without the watchful presence of an adult.

Halloween Games

A very common game is “Apple Bobbing” (Dunking or apple bobbing): it involves filling a basin with water, immersing apples in it, and, plunging your face into it, biting them without using your hands, which are usually tied behind your back. A variant involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork in your mouth and spearing the apples (in this case as well, the use of hands is prohibited).

Another game involves hanging small cakes covered with molasses or syrup on a string and eating them without using hands, while they remain hanging. Obviously, your face gets smeared with the sticky liquid covering the treats, making everyone sticky.

A typically Irish pastime is Puicìnì, a sort of game for predicting the future: a blindfolded person is seated at a table set with various small dishes containing different items. The person must choose one by touch and, depending on what is inside, a prediction is made: if there is soil in the dish, a friend of the player will die within a year; water indicates an imminent move to another country, the ring a marriage, rosary beads predict that the player will take holy orders and become a priest or nun, coins indicate prosperity and well-being, beans, on the contrary, poverty.

Often actors appear at street corners and outside commercial establishments, always dressed as typical Halloween characters, pretending to threaten and scare passersby and customers. They often lurk outside private houses as well.