Halloween

Hi!

With Halloween, we don't gather around the dinner table for a big family meal but there are still food traditions involved. Some typical foods are pumpkins and lots of candy.

Samhain was the first and most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar celebrated on 31 october. It marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. In this time, spirits or fairies could more easily come into this world. The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be pleased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures troughout the world.
Another harvest festival was Pomona. Pomona was the Roman goddess of orchards and harvest. On november 1, the Romans celebrated her with offerings. As Romans and Celts intermingled over the following centuries, Samhain and Pomona merged into a single holiday.

Traditionally Halloween food is based on all that leftover pumpkin flesh. It was an tradition to give soul cakes to visitors to their household in return for promises to say prayers on behalf of dead relatives. They also put lanterns in the windows to welcome ghosts and wantering souls. Carved pumpkins are an integral part of halloween. Candies in the shape of corn kernels and pumpkins commemorated the harvest season.

Nowedays, Halloween isn't much of a holiday anymore. We oureselves don't celebrate it in any special way. Some amusement parks hold special offers and themed  around days around Halloween.

My conclusion is that is that Halloween has transitioned from a meaningful holiday to a day where people like to prank or scare each other. There aren't really food traditions that we still follow apart from candy and pumpkin. It lost it's meaning from harvest festival. We think a traditional Halloween would be nice but it would just be another day where you just eat.