Halloween

 On 31st October it is Halloween. 

In ancient times, the holiday was marked by customs started by pagans. Pagans believed in many gods rather than a single god. It was believed that on the last night of October, the spirits of the dead roamed the Earth. 

The holiday is also called All Hallows’ Eve. In the Christian church, All Hallows’ Eve is the night before All Saints’ Day. On November 1, All Saints’ Day honors all of the Christian saints. Gradually, Halloween became a nonreligious celebration.

It is a time when people dress up in costumes, go trick-or-treating, and carve jack-o’-lanterns from hollowed out pumpkins. Ghosts and witches are popular costumes of the children who go from house to house saying, “Trick-or-treat!” The treat is usually candy. The origins of Halloween date back to several ancient festivals held in the autumn.

The Swedish Allahelgona  or Alla helgons dag is at the 1st November. It was erased from the calender in 1700s but it was reinstated in 1953 again. Since then the day is usually on a Saturday between 31st Oktober and 6  November. In the 50s we started also the tradition to put candles (gravljus) on the graves.

In India people celebrare Diwali, a festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists, notably Newar Buddhists.[7] The festival usually lasts five days and is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika (between mid-October and mid-November)

What words do you associate with Halloween