Halloween is now celebrated across the world on the night of 31st October. Modern day celebrations generally involve groups of children dressed in scary costumes going from house to house, demanding “trick-or-treat”.
Children ask for treats (chocolates, candies, etc.) on Halloween and threaten to play tricks on those who refuse.
The Origins
It is believed that Halloween originates from a Celtic tradition called Samhain. The dark half of the year was beginning at the night of Oct. 31. The Celts believed the dead returned to Earth and the boundaries of the living and dead were blurred.
In the mid-19th century Irish and other immigrants took Halloween customs to the USA and by 1900 it was a popular festival.
The Jack-o-lantern
Every time we carve a pumpkin head at Halloween, we honour “Stingy Jack.,” but who is he?
Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who loved playing tricks on anyone. One dark, Halloween night, Jack ran into the Devil himself in a local public house (pub). Jack tricked the Devil by offering his soul in exchange for one last drink.
When he died, he was allowed to enter neither heaven nor hell. The Devil gave him an ember from the flames of Hell to help him light his way. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed out turnip, one of his favorite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one. For that day onward, Stingy Jack roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his "Jack O'Lantern".
That is why originally, Jack-o-lanterns were made of turnips and potatoes in Ireland, and of beats in England. When the European immigrants came to America, and found the pumpkin they started to make the lanterns of it.
