YOUPOST 1

When the nights grow longer, the weather gets darker and colder and the leaves begin to fall from the trees it becomes clear that summer is finally over and fall has arrived. With it comes the anticipation for the great holidays the cold half of the year has to offer. But before we all go crazy because of Christmas or New Year’s Eve, there is another holiday that has gained a lot of popularity in Austria over the last few years: Halloween. Being especially popular in the US and therefore very present in American movies and TV programs, Halloween is widely believed to be an American tradition. And to be quite honest I thought so, too, for a very long time. 

But doing some research on the topic showed me how very wrong I had been. Halloween actually has its origins in Europe! To be precise it derived from the Celtic festival Samhain which was celebrated on November 1^st. In the night before Samhain it was believed that the dead returned as ghosts and to protect themselves the people left food and wine on their doorsteps for the spirits and wore masks to look like ghosts. In the 8^th century pope Gregory converted the pagan custom into a Christian one and called it All Hallow’s Day. October 31^st became All Hallow’s Eve, which turned into Halloween over the time. However, the people carried on with their old rituals and when the Irish fled from the great famine in the 19^th century, they brought their tradition to America, where it was picked up. 

Today Halloween is popular all over the world, although it’s not always called or celebrated the same: Spanish speaking countries for example have a three-day celebration called Dia de los Muertos to honor the dead who are believed to return to their earthly homes on Halloween. As already mentioned Austria has started to celebrate the custom, too. And even though I never went trick-or-treating when I was younger, I’ve been to some Halloween parties in the past and I certainly won’t miss the holiday this year!