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Happy Halloween from Applied Language Solutions

Across the USA, people are carving pumpkins, decorating their homes like haunted houses and stocking up on candy for trick-or-treaters in preparation for Halloween.

But Halloween is not just for children. Adults will enthusiastically don ridiculous costumes to attend Halloween parties.

They’ll compete with their neighbors to see who can turn their home into the scariest haunted house on the block; manicured lawns will be transformed into cemeteries, complete with spider webs, gravestones, spooky music, fog, and any other Halloween-themed novelty Wal-Mart can sell. Yes- in the United States, it seems Halloween has exploded into a major holiday, rivaling Christmas in its commercialism.

But how does the rest of the world celebrate?

In Ireland, where Halloween originated, adults and children dress up in costumes. Bonfires are lit to ward off evil spirits. The Irish make a traditional cake called “barmbrack”, inside which various objects are baked, telling the fortune of the person who gets the item in their piece. For example, a ring indicates a wedding in one’s future.

In Austria, some people will leave bread, water and a lighted lamp on the table before retiring on Halloween night. It is believed that these items welcome the dead souls back to earth on a night that Austrians consider magical.

In Mexico on Halloween night, children dress up for trick-or-treating while teens and adults throw costume parties. The Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) occurs the following two days, honoring the lives of the deceased and celebrating the continuation of life.

The traditions of the celebration differ across regions, but common elements include providing offerings for the departed, preparing special foods, lighting candles in honor of the departed, and spending time at desceased relatives’ grave sites.

China does not celebrate Halloween, but they have a similar celebration called the Ghost Festival, when Chinese families prepare feasts and leave empty seats at the table for their deceased family members. They burn things made of paper (for example, “Hell Money”) to remember the dead and bring comfort to the ghosts.

In Korea, the festival similar to Halloween is known as “Chusok.” It is at this time that families thank their ancestors for the fruits of their labor. The family pays respect to these ancestors by visiting their tombs and making offerings of rice and fruits. The “Chusok” festival takes place in the month of August.

         

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