To borrow a line from the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth: “Double, double toil and trouble”—it’s almost Halloween!
What a fun time of year. Maybe you want to become someone (or something!) else. Or perhaps you wish to express a seldom-seen side of your personality by making a “statement” about some in-the-news person, place or thing. Then again, there’s always the possibility that you simply want to indulgence in harmless fun (and perhaps startle a friend or two in the process!).
It’s also a great occasion to relive childhood memories. Remember your best-all-time costume? How about your beloved gang of neighborhood revelers? What was your “can’t live-without-it” candy favorite? Did you have a nearby house that coincidentally always “went dark” that one night of the year? Best of all: Were you ever responsible for a trick or two that (thankfully) your parents never knew about it?
Halloween is a festive celebration that all ages—from kids to retirees—can enjoy. You don’t need to have a network of houses to canvass or a paper sack to collect your goodies. All you need is a sense of adventure and a fun-loving attitude.
That’s why we at Southgate at Shrewsbury retirement community carry on our own Halloween traditions. For example, our annual Halloween Party Extravaganza features a costume parade—with competitions for the best female, best male and best couples’ costumes—as well as live entertainment.
Traditions around the world
While we have our favorite way to celebrate Halloween here at Southgate at Shrewsbury retirement community, the celebrations take many different forms throughout the country and across the globe. Some countries have celebrations similar to our own, while others commemorate days and events with drastically different origins in dramatically different fashion—sometimes on dates quite distinct from October 31.
As such, let’s take a quick spin around the globe to learn about the varied Halloween-type traditions of some of our international neighbors.
Ireland
Ireland is considered the birthplace of modern Halloween, with origins stemming from ancient Celtic and Pagan rituals and a festival called Samhain. Today, both Ireland and Scotland celebrate Halloween with bonfires, games, and traditional foods like barmbrack—an Irish fruitcake that contains coins, buttons, and rings for fortunetelling.
Mexico
From November 1 to November 2, Mexico celebrates Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) to honor those who have passed away. It is believed that the gates of heaven open up at midnight on October 31 and the souls of children return to Earth to be reunited with their families for 24 hours. On November 2, the souls of adults come down from heaven to join the festivities.
The holiday is celebrated with in-home altars full of fruit, peanuts, turkey, soda, hot chocolate, water, stacks of tortillas and a special holiday bread called pan de muerto (bread of the dead), which are left as offerings for weary ghosts. For the souls of children, families leave out toys and candy.
The Philippines
Pangangaluluwa is a tradition in the Philippines where children go door to door—often in costumes—singing and asking for prayers for those stuck in purgatory. While the rituals have increasingly been supplanted by trick-or-treating, some towns are working
to revive Pangangaluluwa as a way of keeping the tradition alive.
Hong Kong
On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month (approximately mid-August to mid- September), the people of Hong Kong celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival. In several parts of East Asia, people believe that spirits get restless around this time of year and begin to roam the world. The festival is a way to “feed” these spirits both the food and money they need for the afterlife. It’s part of a larger month-long celebration that also features burning paper and food offerings.
Nigeria
The Awuru Odo Festival marks the return of dearly departed friends and family members to the living. Lasting up to six months, the holiday is celebrated with feasts, music and masks before the dead return to the spirit world.
Cambodia
From the end of September to the middle of October, Buddhist families gather together to celebrate Pchum Ben, a religious holiday that commemorates the dead. People give foods like sweet sticky rice and beans wrapped in banana leaves, and visit temples to offer up baskets of flowers as a way to pay respect to their deceased ancestors.
Italy
All Saints’ Day, November 1, is a national holiday in Italy. Better known as Ognissanti, the festivities usually begin a couple of days earlier, when people start leaving fresh flowers on the graves of departed loved ones, as well as complete strangers, turning the country’s cemeteries into a beautiful display of colors. Italians also pay tribute to the departed by putting a red candle in the window at sunset and set a place at the table for those spirits they hope will pay a visit.
If you’d like to be at home celebrating Halloween (or any other holiday) as a resident of Southgate at Shrewsbury retirement community, make sure to schedule a tour now!