October date to remember – Halloween

Halloween is looming - always an exciting time, especially for children. Dressing up as ghoulishly as possible, trick-or-treating, and traditionally dunking for apples. This last tradition apparently stems from the ancient pagan Celtic festival of Samhain, where apples symbolised love, fertility, and the harvest, and were used in matchmaking and divination games, eventually turning into the popular, non-religious Halloween custom we know now. Samhain marked the end of summer and was observed from sunset on 31 October to sunset on 1 November each year.

Day of the Dead

The ‘Day of the Dead’ is another name for Halloween, and is celebrated in many countries, with the most famous celebrations being in Mexico, called Día de los Muertos, but similar traditions also occur in many other places, including some parts of Europe, although the customs and their intensity may vary by region. It’s also celebrated in the Philippines, where it’s known as Undás or Araw ng mga Yumao.

Mexico leads the way with their festivities, having been declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. Way back, ancient rituals were presided over by the Goddess Mictecacíhuatl, known as ‘Lady Dead’ and wife of Mictlantecuhtli, the lord of the land of the dead. As part of the ritual, skulls kept as trophies were put on display and there was some partying to honour the deceased, including prayers for good luck for those left in the land of the living. Nowadays, when people visit the graves of their loved ones, they offer flowers or foods that the deceased was fond of to invoke their spirits, and thousands of people flock to take part. Masks, or calaveras, are part of a gesture to welcome the souls of the deceased loved ones who are believed to visit during the holiday, and these are often brightly coloured and highly decorated and include the names of the dead, symbolising the lives of the departed and the continuous cycle of life.

Portugal’s All Saints Day

1 November, All Saints’ Day, is a deeply significant national holiday in Portugal dedicated to honouring the saints and the memory of the deceased by attending special church masses, decorating graves with flowers and participating in the traditional ‘Pão por Deus’ (Bread for God) custom, where children receive treats by asking for ‘bread for God’ at doorsteps. The day is a significant time for reflection, family gatherings, and remembrance, with schools and most businesses closed. Chrysanthemums are particularly special for parts of Europe because they are a long-lasting, hardy flower that blooms in autumn, making them a practical choice for decorating graves during the November observance. Their association with death originates from the early 20th century, following World War I, when the French government encouraged people to lay flowers on graves as a symbol of remembrance and respect for the dead.

Trick or Treating

Nowadays, this is a harmless bit of fun, where children take great fun in disguising themselves to haunt the neighbourhood for a free handout of (usually) sweets.

However, the history of trick-or-treating is perhaps not so well known, and surprisingly traces back to Scotland and Ireland, where the tradition of ‘guising’ meant going house to house at Halloween and putting on a small performance for reward. This goes back at least as far as the 16th century, as does the tradition of people wearing costumes at Halloween - and sometimes warning of misfortune if they were not welcomed. To scare evil spirits away, large bonfires were built to protect the living. In Ireland, people still eat a traditional fruitcake called Barm Brack which, similar to the Spanish Roscón de Reyes, also contains surprises – a ring hidden inside the cake means you’ll marry soon, while a straw means you’ll have a prosperous year.

Why Pumpkins?

This is apparently another Irish/Scottish tradition of carving lamps for Halloween, where people carved root vegetables like turnips to scare away spirits. Irish immigrants brought this Jack O’Lantern tradition to the United States, where they discovered that native pumpkins were much easier to carve, leading to the modern custom of using pumpkins to create Halloween lanterns.