Halloween Traditions
Emma Delgado (8)
It’s October thirty first, the skies are filled with gray clouds and the bright, yellow moon is peeking through, the streets light up with the sound of laughter and fear of the kids going trick or treating. The night could almost be viewed as perfect, but you’re stuck inside, bored, scrolling on your phone wondering what are some things that I could do right now? I can help answer your question, here are some things that are traditional to do on Halloween night.
Scary Costumes and dressing up might be a fun thing that you already do, most people wear something fictional, some dress up as animals or maybe even objects. The options of what to wear are unlimited. The costume aspect stems from the Samhain tradition of disguising yourself to hide from evil spirits, But what’s the point right? If you don’t just dress up to sit in your living room and watch horror movies, what do you dress up for?
Trick or Treating is what you do once you have your costume. Going from door to door on Halloween asking for candy and shouting out “Trick-or-Treat” is one way people like to spend their Halloween night. It is suggested that Trick-or-Treating came from a tradition where people impersonated the spirits, or the dead, and received offerings on their behalf. But let’s say you grew out of it or you have super strict parents who won’t let you go out, what could you do then?
Pumpkin Carving is also a common tradition. Pumpkin carving started in the 18th century It comes from an Irish myth about Stingy Jack who tricked the Devil for his own monetary gain. When Jack died, God didn’t allow him into heaven, and the Devil didn’t let him into hell, so Jack was sentenced to roam the earth for eternity. People started to carve demonic faces out of turnips to frighten away Jack’s wandering soul. This could be a fun tradition to start with friends or family. Eva Delgado says, “It’s fun to make a pumpkin of your own, but its pumpkin guts are slimy and they smell really bad when they start molding so I’d rather do something else.” She has a point, don’t you think?
Pumpkin Painting could be an alternative. This new found tradition started only in 1946. You can thank Yayoi Kusama for her love of pumpkin artwork. This Halloween activity involves paint, of course, it’s up to you if you want to use fake or real pumpkins. It’s somewhat silly using the stem as a witch hat or a witch nose or painting faces and stripes on your pumpkin. I myself am painting pumpkins on Saturday, Oct. 19th and I can’t wait.
These are some Halloween or fall traditions that you could bring up to your family or friends.
