Halloween traditions in Mauritius
Halloween is a holiday usually celebrated annually on October 31, andhalloween2021 will occur this Sunday. Halloween is not as celebrated as a national day in Mauritius but it gives the community especially the children an opportunity to have fun, dress up in extravagant costumes, and go trick-or-treating. It has gained popularity over the years as people are discovering its tradition, celebration and history mainly due to the advanced technology available nowadays compared to long ago. Some parents even buy costumes for their kids and organize trick-or-treating across their neighborhood and Halloween usually ends with the gathering of friends and family.
Preparations in Mauritius mainly consist of baking and cooking among the family which can be considered as a tradition for some. Malls are usually decorated with Halloween decorations such as spider webs, skeletons, and pumpkins as a way to set the mood during this festive season. You can even find decorated houses in certain regions of Mauritius. It is also during this season spooky movies are streamed on television and it is among the things to look forward to during this season. Some schools even organize Halloween parties for their students to give them the chance of experiencing the happiness of dressing up and having fun among their friends. Even though Halloween is not as magnificently and grandiosely celebrated in Mauritius compared to other countries, it is nonetheless something that many Mauritians look forward to.
Halloween traditions in foreign countries
Spooky season involves many traditions which have been perpetuated for centuries by different cultures all around the world. The most common ones around the world include; trick-or-treating, attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, playing pranks divination games, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, as well as watching horror movies. Despite knowing these traditions tend to ignore their origins and meanings.
The Middles Ages: Trick-or-Treating Emerges
How did Trick-or-Treating become a Halloween tradition?
The answer to that would be that during some Celtic Samhain rituals, villagers dressed up in animal skin costumes to ward off ghosts: feast tables were set up and food was left out to appease undesirable spirits. People began dressing up as ghosts, demons, and other malicious creatures in return for food and drink in the following centuries. Mumming is a Middle Ages tradition that is regarded as the forerunner to trick or treating.
During the All Saints' and All Souls' Day celebrations in England and Ireland, poor people would go to the homes of wealthier families and obtain soul cakes in exchange for a pledge to pray for the souls of the homeowners' deceased relatives. The activity, known as "souling," was later adopted by children, who would go door to door asking for food, money, and ale—an early form of trick-or-treating.
Young people in Scotland and Ireland participated in a practice known as guising, which involved dressing up in costume and obtaining gifts from other houses. Instead of promising to pray for the dead, they would sing a song, read a poem, tell a joke, or do another "trick" before receiving their reward, which was usually fruit, nuts, or cash.
Some American colonists observed Guy Fawkes Day, and significant numbers of new immigrants, particularly those fleeing the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s, helped popularize Halloween in the mid-nineteenth century.
In the early twentieth century, Irish and Scottish populations in the United States resurrected the Old-World traditions of souling and guising. Pranks, on the other hand, had become the Halloween activity of choice for rowdy young people by the 1920s.
For more than a century trick-or-treating has been a ritual in the United States and other nations, which involves dressing up in costumes and ringing doorbells to demand treats. Its roots are unknown, but it has been traced back to ancient Celtic celebrations, early Romans Catholic festivities, medieval traditions, and even British politics.
The Making of Jack-o-Lanterns in the Nineteenth Century
Around the 1800s, in Ireland and Scotland, the practice of carving faces into vegetables became connected with Halloween. Jack-o-lanterns are based on an Irish legend about a man known as "Stingy Jack," who deceived the Devil and was sentenced to wander the earth with only a lump of burning coal in a turnip for illumination. People began to carve frightful faces onto turnips or potatoes and place them in windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other traveling evil spirits.
Halloween arrives in America in the nineteenth century, bringing with it plenty of mischiefs.
Halloween celebrations were extremely limited in early America, which was predominantly Protestant, with the exception of Catholic-dominated Maryland and a few other southern colonies. New immigrants, particularly millions of Irish fleeing the Irish Potato Famine, didn't help promote the holiday until the mid-nineteenth century.
These immigrants celebrated the holidays the same way they would in their home countries, notably by performing pranks. Putting farmers' carts and cattle on barn roofs, uprooting vegetables in private gardens, and tipping over outhouses were all popular Halloween tricks in the late 1800s. Vandalism, physical attacks, and rare acts of violence were not unusual on Halloween in the early twentieth century.
Haunted Houses Become Popular in the United States in the 1930s
In Europe, haunted or eerie public attractions were already commonplace. Marie Tussaud's wax museum in London had a "Chamber of Horrors" featuring decapitated figures from the French Revolution beginning in the 1800s. A haunted house was first built in 1915 by a British amusement attraction maker, equipped with dim lights, trembling floors, and demonic screams.
The Great Depression in the United States sparked the trend. By that time, Halloween violence had reached new heights, no doubt fueled by the economic downturn. Concerned that their children might run amok on Halloween, parents established "haunted houses" or "trails" to keep them off the streets.
Halloween Costumes in the 1950s Become More Popular
Since the beginning of the event, costumes and disguises have been a part of Halloween celebrations. But it wasn't until the mid-twentieth century that costumes began to resemble what we see now.
Costumes grew more essential at the same time when neighborhoods began organizing activities such as haunted houses to keep kids safe and entertained (and less abstract and scary). They began to take the form of characters from famous radio shows, comic books, and movies, which youngsters would have seen and enjoyed. As mass-produced box costumes became cheaper in the 1950s, more children began to dress up as princesses, mummies, clowns, and more particular characters such as Batman and Frankenstein's monster.
Lesser-Known Halloween Rituals and Matchmaking
What about the Halloween customs and beliefs that today's trick-or-treaters have completely forgotten about? Many of these out-of-date rites were centered on the future rather than the past, and on the living rather than the dead.
Many of them involved assisting young women in identifying their prospective spouses and telling them that they will marry someday—hopefully by next Halloween. On Halloween night in 18th-century Ireland, a matchmaking cook may bury a ring in her mashed potatoes, believing that the diner who discovered it would find true love.
In Scotland, fortune-tellers advised an eligible young woman to name each of her suitors a hazelnut and then throw the nuts into the fireplace. According to legend, the nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or exploding symbolized the girl's future husband. (According to certain versions of the tale, the nut that burned away indicated a love that would not last.)
Another legend claimed that a young woman would dream of her future spouse if she ate a sugary mixture consisting of walnuts, hazelnuts, and nutmeg before bedtime on Halloween night.
Young women tossed apple peels over their shoulders in the hopes of finding their future husbands' initials on the floor; tried to learn about their futures by peering at egg yolks floating in a bowl of water; and stood in front of mirrors in darkened rooms, holding candles and looking over their shoulders for their husbands' faces.
Some rituals were more competitive than others. The first guest to uncover a burr on a chestnut search at some Halloween parties would be the first to marry. The first successful apple-bobber would be the first down the aisle at other times.
Halloween today
Most American families celebrate Halloween by dressing up in costumes, going to parties, visiting haunted houses, and carving jack-o-lanterns out of pumpkins or gourds. Many people use items like fake spider webs, bones, and ghouls to decorate their homes in a gloomy, eerie style. Trick-or-treating is probably the most popular way to celebrate Halloween. "Trick or Treat!" exclaims children and adults as they dress up in costume and go door to door. This idiom means that if the homeowner does not give their visitor a gift, a trick will be played on them. Of course, if a child departs empty-handed, he or she rarely follows through on this promise. However, there have been instances of criminal mischief. If a child departs empty-handed, he or she rarely follows through on their commitment. In many locations, though, criminal mischief on Halloween night is not unusual.
For some, Halloween's superstitious element conflicts with their religious values. Many religious households choose out of celebrating or instead attend "Harvest" ceremonies. These festivals are more about the autumn season than about ghouls and goblins, and they make sure that no one is left out because of their beliefs.
Writer: Narmadha Canoosamy
Editor: Khisha Callicharrun