By Sandra Tragesser
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

Americans celebrate Halloween primarily as a secular festival for children. In other countries, All Hallows' Eve is a solemn occasion, when families remember and honor departed loved ones.

Halloween has become a celebration of make believe and candy that is especially attractive to children. Each Halloween, many homes are decorated and lit by jack-o'-lanterns to welcome trick-or-treaters.

The jack-o'-lantern custom comes from Irish folklore. A man named Jack tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack carved an image of a cross on the tree trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Then, Jack made a deal with Satan that if the devil would never tempt him again, he would let him out of the tree. But when Jack died, he was denied entrance into heaven because of his wicked ways and he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, Satan gave him a single ember to light his way in the darkness. Jack put the ember in a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

The Irish used turnips originally, but when they immigrated to America in the 1840s, they found pumpkins more plentiful.

Other countries have retained the religious significance of All Hallows' Eve. Every autumn, Monarch butterflies return to Mexico for the winter protection of the oyamel fir trees. The locals welcome the returning butterflies, which they believe bear the spirits of their departed. The spirits are honored during el Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.

The Day of the Dead is a traditional Mexican holiday honoring the dead. It is celebrated every year at the same time as Halloween and the Christian holy days of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. El Dia de los Muertos is not a sad time, but a time of remembering and rejoicing. The people dress up as ghouls, ghosts and skeletons, and parade through the town carrying an open coffin. The next day, the families travel to the cemetery carrying flowers, candles and food. The gravesites are cleaned and the families celebrate throughout the night.

"I remember as a child, we dressed up and wore skeleton masks, then we went to the cemetery and cleaned the graves out of respect for our ancestors," said Laura Sendejas, student ambassador of Multicultural and International Students Services.

Obon is a Japanese Buddhist festival held in mid-July or August when the souls of dead ancestors are supposed to return home for three days. Special offerings of fruits, vegetables and rice wine are left out for the spirits to eat. Flowers decorate the graves or altars and incense is burned. Bonfires and firework displays are common.

"At sunset lanterns are lit and hung in front of houses to guide the spirits back home," said Jean Onishi, a business major. "At the end of the festival, fiery rafts are released into the river to guide the ancestors back to the spirit world. In Japan, there is no holiday comparable to Halloween, but we do honor our dead."

In India, during Shredh, religious ceremonies are performed for the people who have died, said Sameer Pande, coordinator of Multicultural and International Students Services.

"There is no trick-or-treating and no costumes," Pande said. "It is a serious occasion, we call relatives and friends together, share food and commemorate our dead."

Shredh is held during the autumn months and changes with the lunar calendar.

Modern Halloween celebrations in Canada began with the arrival of Scottish and Irish immigrants in the 1840s. Jack-o'lanterns are carved and the festivities include parties, trick-or-treating and the decorating of homes with pumpkins and corn stalks.

In England, during All Hallows' Eve, children make punkies out of large beetroots, upon which they carved a design of their choice. They would carry their punkies through the streets singing as they knocked on doors and asked for money. In rural areas, turnip lanterns were placed on gateposts to protect homes from the spirits that roamed on Halloween night. The Protestant Reformation put an end to these practices.

In Ireland, the birthplace of Halloween, the tradition is celebrated as it is in the United States. Bonfires are lit as they were in the days of the Celts and children dress up in costumes to spend the evening trick-or-treating.

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