Since a long time ago, many have taken Halloween as a night of costumes, candies and fun; however, originally, Halloween was a celebration with a very different meaning. Even if you won´t believe it, Halloween is thought to have been originated in a Celtic festival of Samhain, meaning “summer´s end”, where the night of October 31 indicated the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, however, they believed that this transition of seasons also indicated a bridge to the world of the dead.

            Celts believed that on the night of October 31, the dead ones returned to the world as ghosts, therefore the Celts decided to dress up as ghosts in order to confuse the real ones. Moreover, people would leave food at their doorsteps in order for the ghosts to satisfy their hunger.

            Besides these beliefs, Celts thought that on this night people had the ability to read and predict the future. Therefore, people would dress up with animal masks and tell each other´s fortunes. They also thought that when the dead ones came to the real world, they would look not only for innocent lives, but also for humble and pure ones. This is also a reason for people to dress up as witches, skeletons, among other creepy creatures, so they would avoid getting possessed by the evil ghosts.

            I know right now you may be thinking that Halloween is a creepy night for you to worship and confuse the dead, but, you may also look at the positive side of celebrating Halloween, or popularly called, “Children´s day”. If you think deeply about costumes’ night tradition, it´s actually the opportunity where you can be whomever you want to, I mean, this is the night where all of your dreams begin; if you want to be a rock star, doctor, superhero, princess, or even a cat! No one has the right to put you limits, it´s your dream, no one else´s. If you want to be a doctor, the first step means accepting it, the second one consists on feeling as one (Dressing up, for example) and the third one is to chase your dream; remember always, “If you can dream it, you can do it” or in context, “If you can dress up as it, you can be it!”

Now, what do you choose? Stick to the creepy and spooky part of Halloween night or, to the priceless and enjoyable one? Well, actually, it´s in your hands, it´s your choice even to make this night an entertaining or frightening one. Additionally, even though Halloween origins are not nice at all, we as young and innovating people have the ability to rethink about history and enjoy this awesome night.

        Nowadays, October 31 indicates the night where people, especially children, dress up as they want to and get together with family and friends for “trick or treat” tradition, in other words, to go around houses singing and collecting candies. Even though many believe that it´s a night just for small ones to have fun, I personally believe that everyone has the right to enjoy a terrific night, or doesn´t everyone love candy? Is it so bad for a grown-up to enjoy chocolate or gummy bears in order to get distracted from their daily routine?

            Now, put yourself in your father´s shoes and think about his stressful daily routine, and on this day, some childhood memories. On the night of October 31, when you are dressing up and getting ready for trick or treating, your father might be remembering his Halloween nights and the many many costumes he wore as a little kid. Now, wouldn´t you love for him to repeat these days, to dress up again as Spiderman or Darth Vader and trick or treat until his feet hurt so much that he just wants to lie in bed and count every single candy he collected? I know your answer for this might be yes, so, what are you going to do for him to revive those good old times?

        I personally suggest you to invite him to dress up, tell him the story about the Celts and ghosts, invite him to have one more day as a kid and have fun all together; because in the end, if it wasn´t for the old Celtic traditions, we wouldn’t have one of the most amazing nights ever, where all of your dreams and expectations come to life, where dogs and cats are best friends, witches and princesses act like mother and daughter and where grown-ups become little kids again.

 

María Paula Cardona 10A