Halloween tradition has Druid origins

JAKARTA (JP): Halloween parties are celebrated here not only by expatriates but also by locals. Halloween, the festival of the dead, might have a scary history but it is surely full of fun.

Halloween, a festival of Scottish-English origin, is short for All Hallow Even (All Saints' Eve), and is held on the night of Oct. 31. Customs connected with Halloween can be traced to a Druid ceremony in pre-Christian times.

The Celts had festivals for two major gods -- the sun god and the god of the dead (called Samhain) on Nov. 1, the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The festival of the dead was gradually incorporated into Christian ritual. In the 9th century, a feast in honor of all the saints was fixed on Nov. 1. And in the 11th century, Nov. 2 was specified as All Souls Day to honor the souls of the dead, particularly those who had died the preceding year.

In Europe, during medieval times and later, elves, fairies, and witches (who occasionally took the shape of cats) were believed to fly about on All Hallow Even. Bonfires were lit to ward off these creatures. Vestiges of these beliefs and practices persisted in Scotland and Ireland into recent times.

Halloween was also a time for games and rituals involving the methods of foretelling the future. Several omens, such as apple pairings thrown over the shoulder or nuts burned in the fire, were believed by single people to be an affective method of determining their marriage prospects.

The Scottish and Irish took the Halloween traditions to America, where the pumpkin replaced the turnip for jack-o'- lanterns. In the late 19th century, the Irish belief that the "little people", or fairies, played pranks on Halloween led boys and young men to carry out practical jokes on that night.

Now, children dress up in costumes and go from door to door to trick or treat. They collect candy or pennies. Inhospitable or absent householders may be punished with tricks -- customarily mild but sometimes destructive. (Gedsiri Suhartono)