día de muertos/ Halloween

Halloween

What are the origins of Halloween ? :

Linguistic contraction of « All Hallow’s Eve » The origins of Halloween go back to Celtic traditions dating back more than 2,500 years: the festival of Samhain. Celebrated on the nearest full moon day (because lunar calendars, unlike the solar calendar, do not have fixed dates), this festival celebrates the beginning of autumn, the new year and the creation of bridges between the world of living and dead in order to welcome the spirits of the deceased.

These Celtic traditions were greatly altered by the influence of the Roman conquest and the Christian religion by demonizing this pagan ritual and eliminating it from the All Saints' Day.

Disguises and trick-o-tricking is an essential stage of modern Halloween which has its origins in popular belief, the fear of ghosts gave rise to the idea of dressing up to be as terrifying as possible and to ward off evil spirits ; and of Celtic belief, they left food outside to appease the hunger of spirits.

The famous pumpkin, symbol of Halloween, comes from the Irish legend of Jack'O lantern. Jack Stingy, a rich, miserly and drunken man was banished from both heaven and hell on Halloween’s day for trapping the devil, who came to earth to claim his soul, on several occasions. He is condemned to wander eternally with a lantern carved from a turnip to light his way. Nowadays, we make our lanterns with pumpkin because it is a more aesthetic vegetable, easier to handle and grown in abundance during this season.

Halloween en Francia :

Más de 30 años después del establecimiento, la lucha de Halloween por encontrar su lugar junto a las principales fiestas tradicionales.

A pesar de la caída activa del interés por Hallowen observada en Francia a finales de los años 2010, parece que esta festividad ha experimentado un resurgimiento de la popularidad desde el fin de la crisis del Covid. Según un estudio realizado en 2022 por el Observatoire de Société et Consommation pour les confiseurs de France: seis de cada diez franceses celebran Halloween.

La mayoría de los franceses no crecieron con esta celebración, lo que explica por qué muchos la consideran poco importante o incluso superflua.

Aunque es una época del año para aumentar su facturación, esta festividad nunca tendrá el mismo estatus que en los países de habla inglesa donde las tradiciones y prácticas no han entrado realmente en nuestra cultura.