Halloween: Not Just for Kids Anymore

Halloween isn't just an American celebration anymore. Other countries like Canada and the UK now celebrate it. And, not surprisingly, they also have a Halloween in Ireland, where the original Celtic festival known as Samhain was held. The Celts regarded Samhain as a harvest season celebration. They'd gather the harvest and prepare for the winter. This was also a time when the Celts thought the spirit world of the dead was close to the world of the living. This was the reason they wore masks and lit lanterns in hollowed out turnips or beets, to either please the spirits or frighten them away. The name Halloween came from All Hallows Eve or All Saints Day.

But, in the twentieth century, Halloween lost its original pagan meaning and became a time when young children would go around asking neighbors for candy. Jack-o-Lanterns which were once carved from turnips and beets were now carved from pumpkins because in North America, pumpkins were ripe by October 31^st, and they are much larger and therefore easier to carve than turnips or beets. The superstitious beliefs of the Celts were forgotten and Halloween is now a night of parties, haunted houses, trick-or-treaters and copious amounts of sugary candy.

All of this used to be reserved mostly for children, but lately, probably within the last ten or twenty years, Halloween is now celebrated by older kids and even adults. Costumes have become more elaborate and are available at huge Halloween party stores that are the size of warehouses. It's become big business with decorations for sale at least a month before October 31^st.

Where once little children under the age of ten used to scamper through the streets knocking on doors and saying trick-or-treat, teenagers now join them. Even some schools allow the students to come dressed in costume and businesses encourage their workers to dress up. On October 31^st, if you go into a grocery store, bank or business office, you will likely find half of the employees dressed up as witches, scarecrows or hobos. Of course, with modern technology, costumes are more realistic and designed specifically for teenagers or adults. Some costumes have rubber masks of werewolves, monsters or creatures from horror movies, not to mention the ever popular masks of presidents and famous people past and present.

I think the main reason that Halloween has changed from a purely children's festival to a celebration for the young and the not so young is because people are looking for a little release from their busy lives. With all the commuting and rushing around, Halloween is a time of fun and silliness. It no longer has much relation to the original Celtic harvest time, but it seems to be good for the economy and for those celebrating it.