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This year, fewer children will go out to collect sweets.
Halloween has now established itself in Austria. But this year, due to Corona, fewer children will be on the road to collect sweets.
Halloween has established itself in Austria, despite criticism of the “foreign” customs: Many children are feverish or shivering towards the night of November 1st. No wonder, since this is the gruesome night of lost souls, the Celtic death god Samhain and the Witches’ Sabbath. But this year, due to Corona, there will certainly be fewer boys and girls going out to collect sweets in the neighborhood, not to mention corresponding parties.
Custom from the USA has established itself in Central Europe
The celebrations customary in the USA have also become established in Central Europe – this is best seen in the fact that in the domestic supermarkets, chocolate Santa Clauses and cramps at the beginning of October do not yet dominate the scene. Instead, imitation and real pumpkins can be seen everywhere.
The children have adopted the custom of going from house to house in costume. With the German equivalents for “Trick Or Treat” they jokingly extort threatening sweets, mostly with “trick or treat”.
Despite the mischief, this festival is mostly harmless – the numerous legends about Halloween are certainly not. A Roman poet wrote about the turn of the month from October to November: “… This night is terrible! The Celts drink the blood of children. Then they indulge in repulsive sexual practices. They spare neither children nor mothers, people of all ages and sexes …”
The oldest roots can be found in the Scottish and Irish-Celtic druids: According to them, it was the day of the harvest and the night when the earth was closest to the world of spirits, and their lost souls wandered about. With a feast these were to be appeased.
The role of the spirits was taken over by the children today. In the robes of ghosts, witches, gnomes, dwarves, demons, devils, skeletons, bats, owls and other mythical creatures they usually roam the streets.
What is missing is a classic ingredient for a successful Halloween party – the pumpkin. It concerns the Irish village blacksmith Jack O’Lantern, who is said to have been so stingy and greedy that he was denied entry even in hell. He was destined to wander around forever with a lantern. All he saw was a piece of glowing coal in a hollowed out wrinkled sugar beet. The story of Halloween came to America via Irish emigrants – and there the beet became a pumpkin.
Hence the name Halloween
The name Halloween has again to do with November 1, All Saints Day. This is called “All Saints Day” or “All Hallows”, the evening before that is therefore “All Hallows Eve” – shortens Halloween.
- hp, with reports from AP, Picture: brigitte.de
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