Halloween: The Night When the Boundary Between Worlds Blurs

Listen carefully… Somewhere outside, fallen leaves rustle, in the darkness pumpkin grins flicker, and the sweet scent of fear and cinnamon lingers in the air. This is not just an autumn evening — this is All Hallows' Eve, the most mystical and fun night of the year — Halloween!

From Celtic Bonfires to American Candy: A Millennium-Long Journey

To understand the essence of Halloween, we must travel back 2000 years to the lands of modern Ireland, Scotland, and England. Here lived the Celts, whose year was divided into only two seasons — summer and winter. Their festival Samhain was celebrated on November 1st and marked the end of the harvest and the arrival of dark, cold winter.

The Celts believed that on the night before Samhain (from October 31 to November 1), the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead became thin as a spider's web. Spirits, fairies, and other supernatural beings would slip into our world. To scare them away, people extinguished hearths in their homes and gathered around huge bonfires, making sacrifices to the gods. Wearing animal skins and scary masks, they "pretended" to be spirits so that the real ones would accept them as their own and not harm them.

With the arrival of Christianity, pagan traditions intertwined with church ones. All Saints' Day overlapped with Samhain, and its eve became known as Hallow Evening, which over time shortened to the familiar Halloween.

Halloween was brought to America by Irish immigrants in the 19th century, fleeing the potato famine. It was here that it transformed into the massive, bright, and commercial holiday we know today.

Symbols of the Night: Why Pumpkins and Why Do We Shout "Trick or Treat!"?

Every element of Halloween echoes an ancient legend.

Jack-o'-Lantern

The most recognizable emblem of the holiday. Irish legend tells of a cunning farmer named Jack who twice deceived the Devil and bargained for a promise not to take his soul to hell. But for his sins, Jack couldn't enter heaven either. He was doomed to wander the earth with a smoldering coal that he placed in a hollow turnip to keep it from going out. When the tradition came to America, the turnip was replaced by the more accessible and easier-to-carve pumpkin.

"Trick or Treat!"

This fun tradition of begging for sweets echoes medieval English practice when the poor would go from house to house on All Saints' Day asking for "soul cakes" in exchange for prayers for the souls of the homeowners' deceased relatives. The "trick" was originally a joke or minor mischief that children could play if they were denied treats.

Costumes

Direct heritage of Celtic Samhain, when people dressed up as monsters to blend in with the crowd of wandering spirits.

How to Truly Celebrate Halloween?

Halloween is a holiday where you can let your imagination run wild!

• Become who you dream of: Choose a costume that inspires or frightens you. Vampire, zombie, movie hero, or even an "animated" coffee cup — there are no limits!
• Create a Jack-o'-Lantern: Buy a pumpkin, get a spoon and a sharp knife. Carve a sinister or funny face, place a candle inside — and the magic of the night will settle in your home.
• Get scared in a friendly way: Watch a classic horror or family mystery film. Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "The Addams Family," or John Carpenter's "Halloween" — great choices for different moods.
• Host a themed party: Decorate your home with cobwebs, bats, and ghosts made from gauze. Prepare "spooky" treats: "eyeballs" from grapes, "monster fingers" from sausages, or "rotting flesh" (pizza with lots of melted cheese).
• Simply enjoy the atmosphere: Take a walk in the park while listening to a suitable playlist, bake an apple pie with cinnamon, or read a scary story by candlelight.

Studying cultural traditions like Halloween helps broaden your horizons and find new sources of inspiration for self-development. Every holiday is an opportunity to learn something new about the world and yourself!